Recovering deleted videos from an iPhone after 30 days can be challenging but may still be possible in some cases. The answer depends on several factors.
Quick Answers
– After 30 days, deleted videos are typically overwritten and no longer recoverable from the iPhone storage directly.
– However, it may be possible to recover recently deleted videos using iPhone backup files like iCloud or iTunes backups, as they store previous data.
– Third-party data recovery software can scan iPhone backups to find and retrieve deleted videos in some cases.
– Preventing deleted videos from being overwritten by avoiding use of the iPhone and creating a backup immediately after deletion gives the best chance of recovery.
– The longer it’s been past 30 days, the lower the chance of recovery, as overwritten video data is essentially unrecoverable.
Can You Recover Deleted Videos Directly from iPhone Storage?
If it has been more than 30 days since a video was deleted, it is typically not possible to directly recover it from iPhone storage. Here’s why:
When you delete a video from the iPhone’s storage, it is not completely erased immediately. Instead, the space it occupied is simply marked as available for new data to overwrite it. Until new data overwrites the video’s data, it remains recoverable.
However, iOS is designed to quickly reuse storage space marked available. Any deleted videos are likely to be fully overwritten within days or weeks at most.
After 30 days or more, a deleted video is almost certain to have been partially or fully overwritten by new data. This makes direct recovery from the iPhone’s internal storage essentially impossible.
Can You Recover from iPhone Backups?
While the video data may be gone from the iPhone itself, there is still hope if you have an iPhone backup that contains the deleted videos.
iOS supports two types of backups that may retain deleted data:
- iCloud backups
- iTunes (local) backups
If you have backups that were created before the videos were deleted, and have remained unchanged since then, the videos may still be recoverable from the backup.
Recovering from iCloud Backups
iCloud automatically backs up your iPhone periodically when connected to power, WiFi and iCloud is enabled. iCloud retains previous backups for up to 30 days as long as you have enough available iCloud storage.
To recover a deleted video from an iCloud backup:
- Connect your iPhone to WiFi and power and ensure iCloud Backup is on.
- Force a manual iCloud backup to create a new backup of your current iPhone data.
- On a computer, log into icloud.com with your Apple ID and go to Manage Storage > Backups.
- Look for the backup that was created closest to when the video was originally deleted. Check the date and size.
- Click Restore to this Backup. This will overwrite your iPhone’s data with the data from the older backup.
- Once the restore finishes, the deleted video should be present again in the Photos app.
- If you need to revert back to your current data, you can then restore your iPhone again from the newer backup created earlier.
Recovering from iTunes Backups
iTunes can back up your iPhone locally to your computer. Follow these steps to try to recover deleted videos from iTunes backups:
- Connect your iPhone to your computer.
- Open iTunes and create a new backup by going to Summary > Back Up Now.
- Go to Edit > Preferences > Devices and locate the backup files.
- Look for a backup dated before the video was deleted and make a copy of it.
- Restore your iPhone to the older backup file to overwrite your data with the older version.
- See if the deleted videos are now present again.
- You can then restore back to the newer backup if needed.
Using Data Recovery Software
As an alternative to fully restoring an old iPhone backup, you can use third-party iOS data recovery software to selectively look for and retrieve deleted videos from backups.
Data recovery software can scan through iPhone backups made by iCloud or iTunes and attempt to identify and restore deleted video files from them.
Some top data recovery programs for iOS and iPhone include:
| Software | Main Features |
|---|---|
| iMyFone iBypasser | Recovers 40+ file types from iOS and iTunes backups. Works without overwriting phone data. |
| Fonelab | Advanced scanning of iOS and iTunes backups for recover photos, messages, contacts, videos and more. |
| EaseUS MobiSaver | Full iPhone data recovery from backups, including recovering deleted videos after 30 days. |
The major benefit of using data recovery software is it lets you restore only the deleted videos you want without altering your current iPhone data or settings.
Preventing Deleted Videos From Being Overwritten
To maximize the chances of recovering deleted videos from an iPhone after 30 days:
- Avoid using the iPhone or writing any new data to it until you can attempt file recovery.
- Immediately create a new backup to iCloud or iTunes after deletion to preserve the video data before it can be overwritten.
- Consider using a data recovery app as soon as possible after deletion rather than waiting longer.
The less iPhone usage there is between video deletion and file recovery, the more likely unaltered video data remains in backups and storage.
Is Recovery Guaranteed After 30 Days?
Unfortunately, there is no guarantee of recovering iPhone videos after 30 days.
While it may still be possible in some cases, the chances drop significantly over time as deleted data is overwritten.
Much depends on having a viable iPhone backup from before video deletion, and acting quickly to preserve the data before the 30 day mark.
The bottom line: try to recover quickly using backups or data recovery software for the best chance, but be prepared that videos deleted over 30 days ago may be unrecoverable.
Can You Recover Permanently Deleted Videos?
If a video was not just deleted normally, but permanently deleted from the Recently Deleted album, this also reduces the chances of recovery after 30 days.
When you permanently delete a video from Recently Deleted, it is immediately marked as available for overwriting rather than kept for 30 days.
However, data recovery software may still be able to find video fragments in backups for some time, as long as the space has not yet been overwritten.
Professional Data Recovery Services
In some cases of valuable or irreplaceable videos deleted long past 30 days, you may consider using a professional data recovery service.
They use specialized tools to physically examine iPhone storage chips and attempt to reconstruct data, even long after deletion and overwriting.
This type of recovery can be extremely expensive, often $1000 or much more, and has no guarantee of success. But for very important videos it may be worth the effort.
Preventing Video Loss in the First Place
To avoid needing to recover deleted videos after 30 days:
- Enable iCloud Photos to keep videos stored safely in the cloud automatically.
- Create regular manual backups to both iCloud and iTunes.
- Use a second cloud storage service like Google Photos to back up your videos.
- Avoid permanently deleting videos you may want later – use normal deletion so they go to Recently Deleted.
Following best practices for regularly backing up your iPhone videos reduces reliance on trying to recover deleted data later.
Conclusion
Recovering deleted iPhone videos after 30 days is difficult but sometimes possible by using backups and data recovery software quickly before the files are overwritten. However, the chances decrease over time, so act fast and back up your videos often to avoid needing to recover deleted data.
