What happens when you delete photos from your phone?
When you delete photos from your phone, they typically get removed from the phone’s storage and placed in the “recently deleted” folder. This folder acts as a holding tank, keeping deleted photos for a set period of time before they are permanently erased.
The length of time deleted photos stay in the “recently deleted” folder depends on the phone and OS. For iPhone users, deleted photos remain for up to 40 days before being permanently deleted. On Android phones, deleted items are often automatically erased after 30 days.
So in summary:
- Deleted photos get moved to a “recently deleted” folder
- They stay in this purgatory state for around 30-40 days
- After that grace period, deleted photos are permanently erased
The “recently deleted” folder gives you a chance to recover photos if you change your mind. But don’t wait too long – once photos are permanently erased, it becomes very difficult to get them back.
Where do deleted photos from iCloud go?
When you delete photos that are synced to iCloud, the deletion process works a bit differently.
Here’s what happens when you delete photos stored in iCloud:
- The photos are removed from all of your linked devices
- They are placed in the “recently deleted” folder in iCloud for 40 days
- After 40 days, the deleted photos are permanently erased from iCloud storage
So in a sense, iCloud has its own “recently deleted” purgatory state where photos reside for over a month before final deletion.
This means if you store photos in iCloud, deleting them from one device’s camera roll will remove them from your entire iCloud library across all synced devices. The photos will linger in the iCloud “recently deleted” folder for 40 days before being completely removed from existence.
What happens when you delete photos from Google Photos?
Google Photos, Google’s cloud storage service, has its own deletion rules:
- When you delete a photo that’s backed up to Google Photos, it’s removed from your synced devices and the Google Photos “library” view
- The deleted photo is moved to the Google Photos “trash” for 60 days
- After 60 days, photos in the trash are “permanently deleted” and removed from Google servers
So you get a 60-day window between when you delete a Google Photos picture and when it’s erased for good.
One thing to keep in mind is that deleting a photo from the Google Photos website or app does NOT delete it from your device’s local storage. The local version will remain untouched in your camera roll.
Can you recover permanently deleted photos?
Once photos are permanently deleted from cloud services like iCloud and Google Photos, recovery becomes very difficult. The photos are generally gone for good.
However, there are a few last ditch things you can try to potentially resurrect deleted photos:
- Use data recovery software to scan your device and find traces of deleted files. Some advanced tools can rescue deleted media.
- If you previously had the photos stored on an external hard drive or backup, you may be able to restore them from that secondary source.
- Some users have luck placing their phone in “airplane mode” right after deletion, stopping sync processes that would permanently remove files from cloud storage.
- If you deleted photos very recently, your device may still have them in cache memory, allowing recovery with data rescue tools.
But if too much time has passed, it becomes very unlikely you’ll get the deleted photos back. Prevention is key – regularly back up your photos to external drives or cloud storage to avoid permanent loss.
How can you recover photos from the “recently deleted” folder?
While photos remain in the “recently deleted” limbo state, recovering them is straightforward:
For iPhone:
- Open the Photos app
- Navigate to the Albums tab at the bottom
- Scroll down and tap “Recently Deleted”
- Tap “Select” to enter selection mode
- Tap the photos you want to recover to select them
- Tap “Recover” to move the photos back to your camera roll
For Android:
- Open the Google Photos app
- Tap on Library
- Scroll down and tap on “Bin”
- Tap the photos you want to restore
- Tap “Restore” to recover the selected photos
For Google Photos Website:
- Go to photos.google.com
- Click on “Trash”
- Select the photos to recover
- Click “Restore” to move the photos back to your library
Act quickly though – if you miss that window before permanent deletion, the photos will be gone for good!
How can you stop deleted photos from syncing across devices?
If you want to delete photos locally without having that deletion sync across devices, here are a few options:
On iPhone:
- Turn off iCloud Photos syncing in your iCloud settings temporarily
- Delete the photos – this will now only remove them from your local device
- Re-enable iCloud Photos to resume syncing
On Android:
- Disable backup to Google Photos
- Delete photos from your camera roll
- The deletions will remain local and not affect your Google Photos library
In Google Photos:
- Delete the photos directly on your device’s local storage
- This will prevent the deletions from syncing back to Google Photos
By breaking the photo sync connection temporarily, you can delete photos locally without removing them from cloud storage and other devices.
How can you recover photos after a factory reset?
Performing a factory reset on your phone erases all data, including photos. However, recovery is still possible in some cases:
If photos were backed up:
- Sign into cloud services (iCloud, Google Photos) on your newly reset phone
- Wait for your photo libraries to sync and restore your pictures
If photos were on SD card:
- Put the SD card back into your reset phone
- The photos should be accessible in your camera roll again
Using data recovery software:
- Connecting your reset phone to a computer
- Scanning it with data recovery software
- Attempting to retrieve photo files from the phone’s storage
Factory reset photos can only be recovered if you backed them up in cloud storage or stored them on an external SD card. Prevention is key – always fully back up your photos before resetting your device.
What causes photos to disappear from your phone?
There are a few common reasons photos may mysteriously vanish from your phone:
- Accidental deletion – You or someone else deleted photos without realizing.
- Sync issues – A glitch stops photos from syncing across devices properly.
- Storage full – Your phone deleted photos automatically due to storage space running out.
- Corrupted files – Software bugs or crashes leading to data corruption and loss.
- Hardware problems – Issues with your device’s internal storage caused photo loss.
Preventing disappearance comes down to:
- Backing up your photos regularly.
- Having ample free storage space on your device.
- Avoiding device damage or critical system errors.
And if some photos do go missing, act quickly to restore them from backups before they are gone for good.
How can you tell if missing photos were deleted?
Distinguishing between photos that were manually deleted vs lost due to other issues can help narrow down what happened.
Here are some signs photos may have been intentionally deleted:
- They seem to be missing in groups or batches
- An entire photo album or time period is suddenly gone
- There are some photos remaining from the same timeframe
- The amount of storage used on your phone dropped significantly
Whereas if photos disappeared due to a storage, hardware or sync issue, you may notice:
- Random photos from various time periods are missing
- Your device has little remaining storage left
- You recently experienced crashes, damages or errors on your device
- Your entire library seems to have vanished
Looking at patterns in what’s missing can provide clues on whether it was deleted intentionally vs accidentally lost.
How can you recover deleted photos through Google?
If you previously backed up your deleted photos to Google (photos, drive, etc), you may be able to find and restore some through Google services:
Google Photos Trash:
- Check if the photo is still in trash, but hasn’t been permanently deleted yet
- Restore the photo back to your library if found here
Google Takeout:
- Use Takeout to download an archive of your Google content
- Search the Photos folder in your Takeout archive for the deleted picture
Google Drive:
- Check if you have the photo stored in any previous Drive backups
- Restore the photo file from Drive if located
Google Photos Website:
- Dragging photos directly into the Google Photos website can re-upload them
- Lets you recover photos without needing the original device
As long as the photo hasn’t been permanently purged, there are ways to resurrect deleted Google Photos through backups and archives.
What’s the best way to recover deleted photos on Android?
Here are the most effective ways to attempt recovery of deleted photos on an Android device:
Restore from trash:
- Open the Google Photos app and look for the photo in the trash folder
- Tap and restore to rescure photos before permanent deletion
SD card:
- Remove SD card from phone and insert into computer
- Use recovery software to scan the card and find deleted files
Cloud backup:
- If photos were backed up to the cloud, sync to restore
- Google Photos and Dropbox have free storage and backup
Data recovery apps:
- Run a deep scan on your device storage using recovery apps
- Some advanced tools can resurrect deleted files
Using a combo of these methods gives you the best chance to get photos back on an Android device. Don’t wait too long, as permanently deleted photos become much harder to recover.
What’s the best way to recover deleted photos on iPhone?
To recover deleted photos from an iPhone most effectively:
Restore from Recently Deleted:
- Open Photos app and check if photos are in Recently Deleted
- Recover from here before they are permanently removed after 40 days
iCloud backup:
- Enable iCloud Photos to sync and restore missing images
- Ensures photos remain accessible across devices
iTunes or Finder backup:
- Connect iPhone to computer
- Restore from a saved iTunes or Finder backup containing photos
iCloud website:
- iCloud.com lets you access photos through the online interface
- Lets you restore photos without needing the original device
Leveraging iCloud backups and the limited Recently Deleted window gives you the most options for recovering lost iPhone photos.
Conclusion
While losing phone photos can feel devastating, in many cases, recovery is possible through:
- Recently deleted folders
- Backups on external SD cards and cloud services
- Data recovery software and apps
- Restoring from iTunes/Finder backups
Act quickly when photos disappear – time is critical for successful recovery. The sooner you act, the higher your chances. Prevention is also key: consistently back up photos in multiple places to avoid permanent data loss. With proper precautions, you can minimize how painful it is when some photos inevitably go missing from your phone.