"I recently accidentally deleted photos from my iPhone and permanently deleted them from Recently Deleted Album. I tried restoring from iCloud backup. But it restores images to how they were after the pictures were permanently deleted. Are they gone for good? How to recover permanently deleted photos from iPhone? Any tips?"
Photos on iPhones record treasured moments of our daily life. But for such reasons as physical damage, misoperation, OS update, etc., they may seem to have been permanently deleted, leaving you feeling disappointed. As described in the preface (from Apple Forum), the deleted photos cannot be found from the iCloud backup after the accidental deletion. Probably, there's something wrong with the backup file itself.
Anyway, today we'll have an in-depth analysis of iPhone photo recovery in this passage and hope it helps you out.
- Way 1: How to Get Recently Deleted Photos Back from Recently Deleted Album
- Way 2: How to Recover Permanently Deleted Photos from iPhone with Doctor for iOS
- Way 3: How to Recover Permanently Deleted Photos On iPhone with iTunes Backup
- Way 4: How to Recover Permanently Deleted Photos from iCloud
- Way 5: How to Recover Deleted Pictures on iPhone from Finder on Mac
Way 1: How to Get Recently Deleted Photos Back from Recently Deleted Album
Large numbers of Android users have an idea of how to recover deleted videos/photos from Android Recently Deleted folder. Yet, some Apple owners might not know how to see deleted pictures on iPhone similarly.
Actually, the recently deleted album is under "Other Albums" on an iPhone often, and the items there can only be restored within 30 days. Namely, you cannot undo deleted photos from iPhone's Recently Deleted album after a month.
How to find deleted photos on iPhone from the Recently Deleted album?
- Run the Photos app on your iPhone.
- Scroll down to choose the "Recently Deleted" album.
- Select "Recently Deleted", followed by "Select" from the top right corner of the screen.
- Tap on the pictures you want to retrieve.
- Touch "Recover"/"Restore" at the bottom to get the deleted photos back.
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Way 2: How to Recover Permanently Deleted Photos from iPhone with Doctor for iOS
As its name indicates, MobiKin Doctor for iOS can get unlimited access to your iPhone files in a quick manner. Further, this top-notch utility applies to recovering various iPhone photos. What's more important, it is capable of retrieving deleted photos from iPhone without doing any harm to the existing content on your device.
Brief Overview of Doctor for iOS:
- Recover permanently deleted iPhone photos from iTunes backup, without overwritting the existing data on the device.
- Export existing photos from iPhone to computer for backup or further using.
- Data like videos, contacts, messages, call history, notes, calendar, etc., can also be retrieved.
- Allow you to preview and select the files for recovery.
- Work well with overall Windows and Mac computers.
- Run smoothly on a full range of iDevices, including iPhone 14/13/12/11/11 Pro (Max), iPhone X/XS/XR/XS Max, iPhone 8/8 Plus, iPhone 7/7 Plus, iPhone 6/6s/6 Plus, iPad, and iPod touch, etc.
- It never tracks its users' privacy.
How to access deleted photos on iPhone and recover them using iPhone Data Recovery?
Step 1. Launch Doctor for iOS
Launch the utility after downloading and installing it on your computer. Choose the "Recover from iTunes Backup File" module and it will automatically scan out the iTunes backup file on your computer.
Step 2. Get access to the lost pictures
Click "Start Scan" on the bottom right, and all your iPhone data types will be categorized and displayed. Here, just select "Camera Roll" and "Photos", and click "Start Scan" to move on.
Step 3. Recover permanently deleted photos from iPhone
Preview the images before selecting the desired ones, and then press "Recover to Computer" to restore deleted pictures on your computer. Good work!
You can also go for "Recover from iOS Device" modes from the primary interface of the program to get back deleted contacts and text messages from iPhone directly.
Way 3: How to Recover Permanently Deleted Photos On iPhone with iTunes Backup
You need to back up your iPhone before recovering permanently deleted photos from iTunes (including iCloud and Finder below), as this is the prerequisite for restoring files from backups. Plus, with these traditional recovery tools or services, the previous data on the device will no longer exist.
Here's how to restore deleted pictures on iPhone from iTunes Backup:
- Open iTunes on your computer and connect your iPhone to this computer via a USB cord.
- You'll see the iPhone icon on the iTunes interface after the device is detected. (What if iPhone not showing up on iTunes? Click here.)
- On iTunes, click the device icon from the upper-left corner.
- Choose "Restore Backup..." at the right column.
- Select the backup file you need to restore and be patient to wait for the procedure to finish.
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Way 4: How to Recover Permanently Deleted Photos from iCloud
Likewise, if you have backed up your iPhone to iCloud, you can make the iPhone photo recovery with this service. Before retrieving, you need to reset the device. Assume you don't mind having the current content on your iPhone replaced, just try this method.
How to recover permanently deleted photos on iPhone 12/11/XR/XS, etc., from iCloud?
1. On your iPhone, head over to Settings > General > Reset > Erase all Content and Settings.
2. Then, you'll get the Apps & Data screen. You ought to tap "Restore" from iCloud Backup.
3. Log in to your iCloud account before choosing the backup from the list for restoring. Next, click on "Restore" again.
Once done, the iPhone should reboot, and all the backup files will be back, containing the permanently deleted photos.
If you had iCloud Photos enabled before photo loss, you could also try to recover permanently deleted iPhone photos online. (Quick Look: go to icloud.com > log in to your iCloud account > choose "Photos", followed by "Albums" from the webpage > pick "Recently Deleted" > select images to recover > Recover.)
Way 5: How to Recover Deleted Pictures on iPhone from Finder on Mac
In macOS Catalina and later, Finder has been equipped with another function - backing up and restoring the data on your iOS device. That is to say, to use it to recover permanently deleted photos from iPhone, you need to back them up before. Similarly, the entire process will erase the existing media and other data on your phone.
Let's check out how to get old pictures back on iPhone from Finder on Mac?
- Run Finder on your Mac computer and link your iPhone to the Mac with a USB cable.
- Tap your iPhone icon from the list of locations on the left menu.
- Click "Restore iPhone" from the "General" section.
- Let Finder back up this iPhone before the restore.
- Tap on the "Restore" button to regain your iPhone data, including photos from a chosen backup.
Verdict
We outlined how to recover permanently deleted photos from iPhone in 5 ways. Well, if you cannot find the deleted photos in the Recently Deleted album, MobiKin Doctor for iOS is a great recovery expert out there. Different from directly using iTunes to restore data, this product can selectively restore the data you want without overwriting the existing data on the phone.
Finally, here's a tip for restoring pictures from a backup: before getting deleted photos back, check the time of the backup records, and you might as well select the latest backup; again, suggest you not deleting old backups if you don't have to, for they can come in handy in the event of some problem with the last backup.
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FAQs
5 Tips to Recover Permanently Deleted Photos from iPhone? ›
Go to the Data Recovery panel on the left âž™ iPhones & iPads. Connect your iPhone to Mac with a USB cable. Select your iPhone from the list âž™ Search for lost data. Choose Photos from the panel on the left to preview images that can be recovered.
Is it possible to recover permanently deleted photos on iPhone? ›Go to the Data Recovery panel on the left ➙ iPhones & iPads. Connect your iPhone to Mac with a USB cable. Select your iPhone from the list ➙ Search for lost data. Choose Photos from the panel on the left to preview images that can be recovered.
How to recover permanently deleted photos on iPhone in settings? ›- Go to Settings>General > Transfer or Reset iPhone.
- Select Erase All Content and Settings to format the phone's memory.
- Follow on-screen instructions to get to Apps and Data.
- Set up your iPhone and select Restore from iCloud Backup.
To restore from a Google backup, go to Settings > System > Backup and Restore > Restore. Select the backup you want to restore from and then follow the on-screen instructions. If all of the above options failed for you, then you can use reliable data recovery software to recover permanently deleted photos and videos.
Where do permanently deleted files go on iPhone? ›Delete files on your iPhone or iPad
When you delete files from iCloud Drive or On My [device] in the Files app, they go into your Recently Deleted. After 30 days, your files are permanently deleted. Files deleted from Recently Deleted are deleted immediately and are not recoverable.
TL; DR: If you accidentally delete some photos from your iCloud, the first thing you should do is check the Recently Erased folder. Your photos are probably stored in iCloud if you have iCloud Photo Library turned on. You can often recover permanently deleted photos by simply downloading them from iCloud again.
Why can't I recover permanently deleted photos? ›If a deleted photo or video isn't in trash, you can't restore it. You won't be able to restore a photo if: You moved it to trash more than 60 days ago. You moved it to trash, then emptied your trash.
Where do permanently deleted photos go? ›How do photos get permanently deleted? Photos on your smartphones don't immediately vanish off the device when you tap on Delete. Instead, they are moved to Trash (Android) or Recently Deleted (iOS) folders after deletion.
Can I recover permanently deleted photos from my iPhone without computer? ›Step 1: Open the Photos app on your iPhone and tap "Albums". Step 2: Find and tap on “Recently Deleted” Album in the list. Step 3: Find your deleted photos in this album, then click the “Recover” button to retrieve deleted photos without computer.