There are many reasons why you may need to restore photos on your Samsung phone. Accidentally deleting photos is one of the most common scenarios. It’s very easy to accidentally tap delete on the wrong photo or folder and permanently erase memories you wanted to keep.
You may also need to restore photos if you performed a factory reset on your device. A factory reset wipes all user data from the phone, including photos. So if you reset your device without properly backing up your photos first, you’ll need a way to restore them after the reset.
Other situations where photo restoration may be required include SD card corruption or formatting, device theft or loss, water damage, software issues, and general hardware failure. In any case where your photos go missing from the phone’s storage, you’ll want to know how to get them back.
Back Up Photos Regularly
It is highly recommended to regularly back up your photos from your Samsung phone to avoid potential data loss and the need for restoration. You have a few options for backing up your photos:
Back up to the cloud using services like Google Photos or Samsung Cloud. These services can automatically sync your phone’s camera roll and storage to the cloud. Just make sure you have enough storage space allocated.
Back up to an external hard drive or USB flash drive by connecting your phone to a computer and transferring photo files over. You can do this manually or use backup software to automate it on a schedule.
Back up to a computer by connecting your Samsung phone with a USB cable and copying photos to a designated folder on your computer. This creates a secondary copy of your images.
The key is to back up your phone photos regularly, such as once a week or once a month, to an additional location outside your phone. This prevents you from needing to attempt restoration if your phone’s storage fails or images are accidentally deleted.
Check the Recycle Bin
Photos that have been recently deleted on Samsung phones are first moved to the Recycle Bin before being permanently erased. The Recycle Bin acts as a temporary holding place, giving you a chance to restore deleted photos if you change your mind.
To access the Recycle Bin on your Samsung device:
- Open the Gallery app.
- Tap on the three-dot menu icon in the top right corner.
- Select “Recycle Bin” or “Trash”.
You should now see thumbnails of your recently deleted photos. Tap and hold on a photo to select it, then tap “Restore” to move it back to your main Gallery. You can also tap the select all button to restore multiple photos at once.
Keep in mind that the Recycle Bin has limited storage space. Photos are automatically deleted from the Recycle Bin after 15 days. So don’t wait too long to restore anything you still want to keep. Checking the Recycle Bin should be one of the first things you do when trying to recover deleted photos on a Samsung device.
Use a File Recovery App
One of the best options for restoring deleted photos on a Samsung phone is to use a file recovery app. These apps are designed to scan the device’s storage and recover images that were accidentally or intentionally deleted. Some of the top file recovery apps for Android include:
Recuva – Free Android app that can recover deleted photos and videos even if you’ve cleared the trash. Can extract media from internal storage and SD card.
Easus MobiSaver – Recovers photos, videos, documents and more from iPhone and Android. Has a free trial version.
DiskDigger – Free photo recovery app that can recover permanently deleted files that may not be found in the trash. Easy to use with no root required.
These apps scan the phone’s storage and extract recoverable media files even if they were deleted from the device and trash cleared. They can dig deep to find photos that you thought were gone forever. Just download the app, grant it permissions, scan your device, and it will find deleted photos you can restore.
Restore From Samsung Cloud
If you had Samsung Cloud backup enabled on your Samsung device, you may be able to restore photos from your Samsung Cloud storage. Here’s how to restore photos from a Samsung Cloud backup:
First, open the Settings app on your Samsung device and tap on “Accounts and backup”. Next, tap on “Samsung Cloud” and log into your Samsung account if prompted. On the Samsung Cloud screen, tap on “Restore data”. You will see options to restore various types of data including “Gallery”. Tap on “Gallery” and you can choose to “Select photos” to restore only certain photos or “Restore all” to restore all photos from your Samsung Cloud backup.
Once you select the photos you want to restore, tap “Restore” and the photos will download from Samsung Cloud onto your device’s storage. You can find the restored photos in the Gallery app on your Samsung phone (1). Keep in mind the number of photos you can restore for free is limited based on your Samsung Cloud storage plan.
Connect to a Computer
One option for restoring deleted photos on a Samsung phone is to connect it to a computer. Once connected, you can access the phone’s storage through the computer’s file explorer. This allows you to browse deleted photos that may still be recoverable.
To connect your Samsung phone to a computer:
- Use a USB cable to connect your phone to the computer.
- On your phone, you may get a notification asking whether to allow USB debugging. Check the box to always allow this computer, and tap OK.
- Open the computer’s file explorer, and look for the phone’s storage drive.
- Navigate to the DCIM folder where photos are stored. There may be a “Recycled” folder with deleted photos.
- Select any recoverable photos and copy them to a folder on your computer to restore them.
Connecting the phone to a computer provides direct access to its storage, increasing the chances of restoring deleted photos through the file system. However special recovery software may be required if the photos were permanently deleted. Always make regular backups to avoid relying on recovery methods.
Sources:
https://mobiletrans.wondershare.com/restore/recover-deleted-files-android.html
https://www.fonepaw.com/recovery/recover-deleted-files-android.html
Reset Google Photos
If you had Google Photos set up to back up your photos before the factory reset, you may be able to restore your photos by resetting the Google Photos app on your device. Google Photos stores copies of your photos in the cloud so you can access them from any device.
To restore your photos using Google Photos:
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Open the Google Photos app on your device and sign into your Google account.
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Tap your profile icon in the top right corner.
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Tap “Settings”.
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Tap “Backup & sync”.
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Make sure “Back up & sync” is enabled.
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Your phone will start re-syncing all the photos stored in your Google Photos cloud account.
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Once completed, you should see all your backed up photos restored in the app.
This factory reset process allows Google Photos to re-download all your previously synced photos from the cloud. Just make sure Google Photos backup was enabled prior to the reset. If you maintained a consistent WiFi connection, the app may have automatically backed up new photos over time [1].
Use Device Backup
One way to restore deleted photos on a Samsung phone is by using a backup from Samsung Smart Switch or iTunes. Samsung Smart Switch is Samsung’s backup and sync software that allows you to backup your photos, messages, contacts and other data to your computer. iTunes backups similarly store data including photos from your iPhone.
To restore photos from a Smart Switch backup on your computer:
- Connect your Samsung phone to the computer using a USB cable.
- Open the Smart Switch program on your computer.
- Click “Restore” and select the backup you want to restore from.
- Check the box next to “Photo” under “Content to restore” and click “Restore.”
- Smart Switch will transfer the photos from the backup back onto your phone.
To restore from an iTunes backup of an iPhone:
- Connect your new Samsung phone to the computer using a USB cable.
- Open iTunes on the computer and select your new phone.
- Click “Restore Backup” and select the backup you want to restore.
- Check the box next to “Photos” and click “Restore” to transfer the photos onto your new device.
Device backups like Smart Switch and iTunes can be a handy way to recover lost photos if you have a recent backup available. Just connect your phone, select the backup, and restore the photo data.
Contact Samsung
In some cases, Samsung support can help recover deleted photos. If you’ve exhausted all other options, consider reaching out to Samsung directly for further assistance. Samsung may be able to use tools and access not available to regular users to attempt recovering deleted photos.
To contact Samsung support:
- Visit the Samsung support website for your country.
- Search for phone support options and contact details.
- Explain your situation and request help recovering deleted photos.
- Provide your device details like model number.
- Follow any diagnostic steps recommended by the support agent.
While Samsung cannot guarantee photo recovery, their technical experts may have specialized resources to restore deleted photos in some circumstances. Contacting support is worth trying if you’ve run out of other options and have photos you desperately want to get back.
Third-Party Data Recovery
When all else fails, professional data recovery services can help retrieve deleted photos. Third-party services use advanced techniques like chip-off recovery to directly access data chips. However, these services can get expensive. Prices often start around $300-400 and go up from there depending on the phone model and recovery method required (Data Recovery Prices & Rate Calculator). Reputable third-party services like Geek Squad and FlashFixers offer secure facilities and experienced engineers to maximize chances of recovery.
Before choosing a service, be sure to understand the pricing structure. Many charge an initial diagnostic fee, then base the full recovery cost on factors like device type, storage amount, and whether advanced techniques are needed. It’s a good idea to get a free quote first so you know what to expect. Though pricey, professional data recovery can retrieve irreplaceable photos when all other options have failed.