Losing photos from your iPhone can be devastating, especially if they are irreplaceable memories. Thankfully, there are several methods you can try to recover deleted photos from an iPhone.
Can I recover deleted photos from my iPhone?
Yes, it is often possible to recover deleted photos from an iPhone, as long as you act quickly and do not overwrite the data. When you delete photos from your iPhone, they are not immediately erased from the device’s storage. Instead, the space they occupied is marked as available to be overwritten by new data.
As long as those deleted photos have not yet been overwritten, recovery software can scan your iPhone and retrieve the deleted photo data. However, the longer you wait, the greater the risk that your deleted photos will be lost forever.
How does iOS delete photos?
When you delete a photo from your iPhone’s Camera Roll in the Photos app, it is moved to the Recently Deleted album. The Recently Deleted album stores deleted photos for 30 days before removing them permanently. This provides a grace period in case you change your mind and want to recover recently deleted photos.
If you manually delete photos from the Recently Deleted album, or if the 30 day period expires, iOS will mark the storage space used by those photos as available to be overwritten. Once photos are overwritten, they are generally unrecoverable.
How can I recover deleted photos before they are overwritten?
To recover deleted photos before they are lost forever, you need to act quickly while they are still in the Recently Deleted album or have not yet been overwritten. There are a few options for photo recovery:
- Restore from a recent iPhone backup – If you have an iTunes or iCloud backup that contains the deleted photos, you can restore your iPhone to that backup to retrieve them.
- Use photo recovery software – Specialized iOS photo recovery tools can scan your iPhone and recover deleted photos even if you no longer have a backup.
- Recover from iCloud – If you had iCloud Photos enabled, you may be able to recover deleted photos from the Recently Deleted folder in iCloud Photos for up to 40 days.
Restore from a backup
One of the fastest ways to retrieve deleted iPhone photos is to restore your device from a recent backup that contains the photos. This replaces any data on your iPhone with the data in the backup.
To restore from a backup:
- Connect your iPhone to your computer and open iTunes.
- In iTunes, select your iPhone, then click Restore Backup in the Summary pane.
- Select the desired backup containing your photos, then click Restore.
Once the restore is complete, your deleted photos should be back on your iPhone, as long as they were present in the backup. Keep in mind this will also revert any other data, apps, and settings on your iPhone to the state in the backup.
Use photo recovery software
If you don’t have an applicable backup, you can use third-party iOS photo recovery software to rescue deleted photos. These tools scan the iPhone’s storage for photo data that has been marked as deleted but not yet overwritten.
Some top photo recovery apps include:
- Fonelab iPhone Data Recovery – Allows scanning and retrieval of deleted photos even without a backup.
- Dr. Fone – Extensive iOS data recovery software with a photo recovery feature.
- EaseUS MobiSaver – Scans iPhone directly or image backups for retrievable photos.
To use photo recovery software:
- Download and install the recovery app on your computer.
- Connect your iPhone to your computer.
- Grant the app access to scan your device’s contents.
- Select the photo recovery or data recovery scan option.
- Preview and recover all restorable deleted photos.
Recover from iCloud
If you have iCloud Photos enabled, your iPhone photos are backed up to iCloud automatically. When you delete photos on your iPhone, they are moved to the Recently Deleted folder in iCloud Photos.
You can browse and restore photos from the Recently Deleted folder in iCloud for up to 40 days after deletion. To do so:
- Go to iCloud.com/photos and sign in.
- Navigate to the Recently Deleted folder.
- Select the photos you want to recover.
- Click Recover to move them back to your iCloud Photos library.
The recovered photos should sync back down to your iPhone automatically.
Best practices for iPhone photo recovery
To increase your chances of successful iPhone photo recovery, follow these tips:
- Act quickly – Your chances of recovery decrease over time as deleted files get overwritten.
- Avoid actions that overwrite data – Don’t take or save new photos, install apps, or update iOS until recovered.
- Disable iCloud Photos – This pauses local deletions from syncing up to iCloud.
- Put the iPhone in Airplane Mode – This prevents any data transmission that could overwrite deleted files.
- Keep your storage at least 20% free – This reduces the risk of overwritten deleted files.
- Create regular backups – Backups give you a greater safety net in case of data loss.
What if I permanently deleted photos from Recently Deleted?
If you manually deleted photos from the Recently Deleted album, or allowed the 30 day retention period to expire, then those photos are no longer easily retrievable. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean all is lost.
As long as the storage sectors holding your deleted photos have not yet been overwritten, data recovery software still has a chance of retrieving them. Although more challenging, you can attempt recovery by:
- Using advanced iOS recovery software with deep scanning capabilities.
- Enlisting a professional mobile phone data recovery service.
- Restoring from an iTunes or iCloud backup that still contains the photos.
Just keep in mind, the more time that passes, the lower your odds of recovery become.
Can I recover deleted photos without a backup?
Yes, there are options to recover deleted iPhone photos even without an existing backup containing them:
- iPhone photo recovery software – As mentioned above, these tools can retrieve deleted files before they are overwritten.
- iCloud Recently Deleted – If you have iCloud Photos enabled, you have about 40 days to recover deletes.
- iPhone data recovery services – Professionals use specialized equipment to extract data from storage.
The lack of a backup does make complete recovery less likely. However, advanced recovery tools and techniques can often recover at least some deleted photos by essentially “unerasing” them from your iPhone’s storage prior to overwriting.
How can I avoid losing photos in the future?
To avoid having to recover lost iPhone photos in the future, implement some of these proactive strategies:
- Enable iCloud Photo Library for automatic cloud backups.
- Manually back up to iTunes or iCloud occasionally.
- Use a third-party cloud storage app like Google Photos.
- Import photos to a computer periodically.
- Turn on Recently Deleted album to access deletes for 30 days.
- Don’t store irreplaceable photos only on your iPhone.
Essentially, having multiple backups and limiting permanent deletions will go a long way in protecting your iPhone photos.
iPhone photo recovery FAQs
How much does iPhone photo recovery cost?
If you can restore from a backup, iPhone photo recovery is free. Third-party software costs from $30-$60 for a one time license. Professional recovery services typically charge $300-$1000 or more depending on the device and number of photos.
What is the best free photo recovery app?
iMazing HEIC Photo Recovery is one of the best free photo recovery apps for iPhone. It allows recovery of up to 30 HEIC images without paying. Fonelab also offers free photo previews before purchasing.
Does iCloud keep deleted photos?
Yes, iCloud Photos stores deleted photos in its Recently Deleted folder for up to 40 days before permanent removal. You can recover deletes from iCloud during this period.
Can deleted photos be recovered after a factory reset?
It’s very difficult to recover deleted photos after a factory reset. A full reset erases all data no longer marked as active. However, advanced data recovery tools sometimes find remnants of erased files.
How long are deleted photos kept on an iPhone?
Deleted photos remain in the Recently Deleted album for 30 days after initial deletion. After 30 days they are permanently erased. However, data remnants may still exist until storage sectors are overwritten.
Can iPhone pictures be recovered after restore?
If you restore from a backup, photos present in the backup will return. However, photos taken after the backup will be lost unless you use recovery software before restoring.
Is iPhone photo recovery worth it?
If the photos have sentimental or irreplaceable value, paying for photo recovery can certainly be worth the cost compared to losing them forever. But it depends on your personal situation and budget.