Do not delete anything on the Mac yet. If the Mac uses your iCloud Photos, a delete there also deletes the photo on your iPhone. Close the Photos app or lock the Mac first, so nobody sees the library. Then find out why your photos are there.
With iCloud Photos on, Apple says a photo you delete on one device goes from all devices where you use iCloud Photos. In a Shared Library, any member can delete items, and they vanish for everyone.
Two causes, one quick check each
The Mac uses your Apple Account. On the Mac, open the Apple menu, then System Settings, and read the name at the top. If it is yours, the Mac is one of your devices.
You are in a Shared Library. On the iPhone, open Settings, Apps, Photos, Shared Library. An iCloud Shared Photo Library lets up to 5 other people add, edit and delete items.
If the Mac is signed in as you
- Open System Settings on the Mac and click your name.
- Click Sign Out.
- Choose whether to keep a copy of your iCloud data on the Mac, then confirm.
Signing out turns off iCloud Photos and iCloud Shared Photo Library on that Mac, and your photos stay in iCloud. Apple warns that the iCloud data leaves the Mac unless you choose to keep a copy. Wait until your recent changes have synced before you sign out. Afterwards, the person who uses the Mac can sign in with their own Apple Account.
If the cause is a Shared Library, tap Leave Shared Library in the same Shared Library settings on your iPhone. Choose to copy everything or only your own items. Stay signed in to iCloud with iCloud Photos on until it finishes.
A vault is a place the Mac cannot see
Account settings decide who sees your Photos library. A Vault9 vault is a different place. Its items are not in your Photos library. The vault opens with your pattern or passphrase and your Secret Key, or Face ID if you turn it on.
To move a photo, import it from Photos and open it in the vault to check it. Then delete the original in Photos, and delete it from Recently Deleted. With iCloud Photos on, that delete also removes the photo from the Mac, so check the vault copy first.
The vault does not open on the Mac. The iCloud backup is a backup in your own iCloud storage, not a copy on other devices. Vault9 does not protect a vault that is open on an unlocked phone. The app locks when it goes to the background, after a time you set, or when you lock it.
If the Mac keeps pulling in your photos, read how to stop iCloud Photos syncing to other devices.
Sources
- Apple Support: Delete photos on your iPhone or iPad (checked 2026-11-06)
- Apple Support: How to use iCloud Shared Photo Library (checked 2026-11-06)
- Apple Support: Leave iCloud Shared Photo Library (checked 2026-11-06)
- Apple Support: Sign out of your Apple Account and iCloud on your devices (checked 2026-11-06)
