Losing photos stored on your iPhone can be devastating. Those precious memories and important images may seem gone forever when you accidentally delete them or your iPhone is damaged or stolen. Fortunately, there are several software options that can help you recover deleted photos from an iPhone.
Can You Recover Deleted Photos from an iPhone?
Yes, it is often possible to recover deleted photos from an iPhone, provided you act quickly and use the right software. When you delete photos on an 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 new data has not overwritten the deleted photos, recovery software can scan the iPhone’s storage and retrieve the photos. However, the longer you wait, the greater the risk that the deleted photos will be overwritten and unrecoverable.
Top Software Options for Recovering iPhone Photos
Here are some of the top software choices for recovering deleted photos from an iPhone:
1. iMyFone D-Back
iMyFone D-Back is one of the most popular iPhone recovery solutions. It can recover deleted photos, videos, contacts, messages, notes, and more from iOS devices. D-Back provides a user-friendly interface and detailed scanning of your iPhone storage to find recoverable data.
Key features:
- Recovers up to 30 file types from iOS devices, including photos, videos, WhatsApp data, and more
- Allows previewing recoverable files before restoring them
- Retrievable data includes both camera roll files and those saved from apps and social media
- Compatible with all iPhone models and iOS versions
2. Tenorshare UltData
Tenorshare UltData is another highly-rated iPhone photo recovery tool. It claims to achieve recovery success rates of over 98% in ideal conditions. UltData can pull deleted photos directly from an iPhone’s storage as well as extract them from iTunes or iCloud backups.
Key features:
- Recovers photos deleted by device damage, OS crash, accidental deletion, and more
- Allows preview and selective recovery of photos
- Compatible with the latest iPhone models and iOS
- Offers three different photo recovery modes
3. FoneDog Toolkit
FoneDog Toolkit is an iOS utility with dedicated photo recovery functionality. It scans all of the data on your iPhone to identify deleted photos that can be recovered. FoneDog Toolkit also lets you preview found images before recovery.
Key features:
- Recovers photos and videos from the camera roll or app storage
- Extracts thumbnails and embedded photos from the iPhone system
- Preview function to selectively choose images to recover
- Compatible with most iPhone models
Factors That Affect Photo Recovery from an iPhone
While deleted iPhone photos can often be recovered, there are some factors that affect the likelihood of successful recovery:
- Speed of action – The sooner you run recovery software after deletion, the better. As time passes, deleted files get overwritten.
- Cause of deletion – Photos deleted through standard methods like using the Camera Roll interface have the best recovery chances. Corrupted or erased data is harder to restore.
- iPhone model – Newer models have more storage space where deleted files can potentially linger before being overwritten.
- iOS version – The way iOS manages free space can impact recovery. Updated iOS versions may employ improved deletion protections.
- Photo source – Photos synced from iCloud or taken on older iPhone models are tougher to recover than those solely stored locally.
How to Recover Deleted iPhone Photos Step-by-Step
Follow these steps to recover deleted photos from your iPhone using specialized software:
- Select recovery software – Choose a trusted recovery app like iMyFone D-Back, Tenorshare UltData, or FoneDog Toolkit.
- Install and launch the software – Download, install, and open the recovery app on your computer.
- Connect your iPhone – Use the appropriate cable to connect your iPhone to your computer. The software will detect your device.
- Scan for deleted photos – The app will thoroughly scan your iPhone’s storage for any recoverable deleted photos and present options to preview and restore them.
- Preview and recover photos – Preview found photos, select those you want, and recover them to your computer or external storage. Avoid saving them back to your iPhone initially.
- Save recovered photos – Finally, you can transfer the photos you recovered back to your iPhone or photo management apps like Google Photos.
Tips for Improving Chances of iPhone Photo Recovery
Follow these tips to help ensure you can recover deleted photos from your iPhone when needed:
- Don’t overwrite deleted photos by continuing to take new ones. Stop using the Camera app.
- Avoid syncing your iPhone to erase its data after deleting photos.
- Immediately use recovery software after deletion.
- Enable iOS protections like “Recently Deleted” in Photos to preserve deleted items.
- Back up your iPhone photos regularly so you have another source if unrecoverable.
- Know reliable third-party apps can recover more than Apple’s tools.
Can You Recover Photos Without Special Software?
There are a few ways you may be able to recover deleted iPhone photos without dedicated recovery software, but they have significant limitations:
- Recently Deleted folder – iOS has an album for recently deleted photos, but it only retains items for up to 40 days.
- iCloud backup – If you have iCloud Photos enabled, you can restore from a backup, but it may lack your most recent photos.
- iTunes backup – Recovering from a full iTunes backup is an option, but the photos won’t be as accessible.
Overall, third-party software offers the most reliable and efficient way to recover deleted iPhone photos. The specialized tools are better equipped to thoroughly scan for deleted files and make them easily retrievable.
Can You Recover Photos Deleted Long Time Ago?
If too much time has passed since photos were deleted, it becomes very unlikely you will be able to recover them from an iPhone. That’s because new data writes over the storage space where the deleted photos resided.
As a rule of thumb, you should attempt photo recovery within a few days of deletion at most. The shorter the time, the better the chances. After 2-3 weeks, expect photo recovery success rates to drop considerably. After a month or longer, photos are generally unrecoverable from an iPhone.
However, there is one situation where you may recover photos deleted long ago – if you restore your iPhone from an older iTunes or iCloud backup taken before the photos were originally deleted. But this is only possible if you kept those old backups.
Reasons iPhone Photos Get Deleted
There are several common ways photos stored on your iPhone may get deleted:
- Accidentally deleting photos you still want, either individually or in bulk
- An iOS crash or iPhone defect causing data loss
- Malware or a hacked account attacking your photo library
- Accidentally restoring your iPhone to factory settings
- Hardware damage like water exposure making data unreadable
- Upgrading to a newer iPhone model without properly transferring photos
- Enabling iCloud Photo Library on multiple devices, causing sync conflicts
Being aware of the ways photos go missing can prompt you to act quickly to recover them before it’s too late.
Can You Recover Deleted Photos Without a Computer?
There are limited options for trying to recover deleted iPhone photos without a computer:
- iCloud backup – You may be able to restore recently deleted photos from an iCloud backup, but only if backup was very recent.
- iCloud web interface – View photos at iCloud.com and restore recently deleted ones if available.
- Third-party apps – Some apps promise local photo recovery, but offer limited results without a full scan.
For the best results, you will want to use a computer with data recovery software installed. The software can directly access your iPhone’s storage and thoroughly scan every bit of data for recoverable photos. This yields the most photos rescued successfully.
Conclusion
Accidentally deleting photos on your iPhone can be upsetting, but specialized recovery software makes it possible to get those memories back. Act swiftly when photos are deleted, and leverage trusted solutions like iMyFone D-Back, Tenorshare UltData, or FoneDog Toolkit to scan your device and restore all photos that have not yet been overwritten.
With the right software and quick action, you have an excellent chance of saving your lost iPhone photos. Just make sure to learn from the experience and implement regular backups for added protection in the future.
