Free up iPad Air (5th generation) storage by safely removing photos

123Sueb wrote: How can I safely remove photos from my iPad Air (5th generation), not lose them, but free up my storage so I can update my ipad

Do you use iCloud Photos? If so, you apparently know that, when connected to iCloud Photos, deleting pictures on the phone also deletes them at iCloud. So you could run a Mobile Backup at Settings>[name]>iCloud>Backup, turn off iCloud Photos, update the iOS, and then turn on iCloud Photos when you're through. This will work, but it's a little scary to me to have all the pictures in only one spot.

As Kilgore-Trout suggested, to back up your pictures you can just plug in an external drive, select the pictures, and use Share>Save to Files. For a full backup, you may also want to use Share>Export Unmodified Original to get those copies. This is really easy if your iPad has a USBc port. If it's older and has a lightning port it should work, but I always found those ports a little flaky. But this is the most fool-proof way to preserve pictures on an iPhone.

Alternatively, you can backup to a computer:

Transfer photos and videos from your iPhone or iPad to your Mac or PC

Really, if you haven't done one of those backups, then your pictures will continue to be in peril. 

Back the photos up to an external drive (SSID or online repository) before deleting. Depending on how much space you need to gain, you can also optimize the photos library (Settings > Apps > Photos > iPad storage). This could take a bit to complete.

"Free up iPad Air (5th generation) storage by safely removing photos: How can I safely remove photos from my iPad Air (5th generation), not lose them, but free up my storage so I can update my ipad"

-------

Saving Storage on an iPhone:

For Thought...

Rather than removing the photos, see just how much System Data is being taken up on your iPad. The way to perform this on an iPad is the same as an iPhone.

Clearing System Data (Formerly Called "Other"):

Use my User Tip: How to Clear "System Data" in your iPhone's Storage: - User Tip. Caches would be being used for remembrance of application use. You'd back up your iPad to a computer, and then restore your iPad from the backup you've just created. All System Data will delete.