Quick Summary
There are a few key reasons why you may not be able to find recently deleted photos on your iPhone:
- The Recently Deleted album only stores deleted photos for 30 days before permanently removing them.
- If you have enabled iCloud Photos, deleted photos may be removed from your iPhone but still stored in iCloud.
- Third-party apps like WhatsApp or social media apps may delete photos without putting them in the Recently Deleted album.
- Restoring your iPhone from a backup or updating to a new iOS can remove deleted photos.
What is the Recently Deleted Album?
The Recently Deleted album on your iPhone is designed to give you a limited window to recover photos, videos, or other media that you’ve deleted from the Photos app.
When you delete media from your Photos Library or Camera Roll, the items are moved to the Recently Deleted album instead of being permanently erased. They will remain in this album for 30 days before being removed forever.
During those 30 days, you have the option to recover items from Recently Deleted back into your Photos Library if you change your mind.
However, once the 30 day period expires, the media is permanently deleted. At that point, you will no longer be able to retrieve the photos or videos if you still need them.
Why Deleted Photos Disappear from Recently Deleted
There are a few reasons why you may notice photos, videos, or other media disappearing from the Recently Deleted album before the 30 days are up:
1. The 30 Day Limit Expires
The most straightforward reason that deleted content disappears from Recently Deleted is that it has been more than 30 days since you originally deleted it.
The 30 day limit exists to save storage space on your device. iPhone won’t indefinitely store your deleted photos and videos taking up valuable storage.
So if you don’t recover the media before 30 days pass, the iPhone will automatically and permanently remove it from Recently Deleted.
2. iCloud Photo Library is Enabled
If you have iCloud Photos enabled, then deleting photos or videos from your iPhone doesn’t necessarily delete it from your iCloud storage as well.
When you turn on iCloud Photo Library, your media is stored in the cloud. This means your photos and videos can be automatically accessed or downloaded onto any of your devices connected to iCloud.
So if you delete a photo from your iPhone, it may be removed from local storage but will continue to exist in your iCloud account online. The item would then disappear from Recently Deleted on your device since it technically still exists in the cloud.
To fully delete the photo everywhere, including iCloud, you would need to go into your iCloud account online and delete it there as well.
3. A Third-Party App Deleted the Photo
Some third-party apps have access to your photo library and can delete photos and videos independently of the native Photos app.
For example, if you delete a photo from within WhatsApp or Instagram, that app may bypass the Recently Deleted album and permanently erase the item.
Since it wasn’t deleted using the Photos app itself, it won’t send the photo to Recently Deleted before being removed.
Check within the app where you originally deleted the photo to see if there is any way to recover it. But if an app has permanently erased the photo itself, it will not be sent to Recently Deleted.
4. Your iPhone Was Restored or Updated
Doing a major reset or update on your iPhone can sometimes remove items from the Recently Deleted folder before the 30 days are up.
For example, restoring your iPhone from a backup, erasing all content and settings, or updating to a new version of iOS can all potentially wipe the Recently Deleted album clean.
This is because those types of system-level operations often do a full reset of temporary storage and caches on your device. Recently Deleted gets cleared out in the process.
So if you performed a major restore, erase, or update shortly before noticing missing photos from Recently Deleted, that may explain why they disappeared.
How to Recover Deleted Photos from iPhone
If you act quickly, you may still have options for recovering recently deleted iPhone photos, even if they are no longer in the Recently Deleted album:
Restore from iCloud Backup
If you have iCloud backup enabled, you may be able to restore photos from a previous backup where the deleted picture still existed.
Go into Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups to view and restore from your iCloud backups.
However, this will only work if the photo was deleted AFTER your latest backup.
Restore from iTunes or Finder Backup
Similarly, you can restore from a local iTunes or Finder backup on your computer if available.
Connect your iPhone to your computer, open iTunes or Finder, and see if you have any saved backups that contain the missing photos that you can restore from.
Again, the backup must have been created prior to the initial deletion for this to work.
Use iPhone Data Recovery Software
If you don’t have an iCloud or local backup to restore from, third-party software like iMyFone D-Back or EaseUS MobiSaver for iOS offer data recovery capabilities that may find residual traces of your photos and restore them.
These advanced recovery tools can scan your iPhone storage and extract media that might otherwise appear deleted or missing. They represent one last option to salvage your photos before they are gone for good.
Prevent Photos Disappearing from Recently Deleted
To avoid this issue in the future, here are some tips:
- Check Recently Deleted regularly and recover anything you want to keep before the 30-day limit passes.
- Disable iCloud Photos if you only want to store photos locally on your device.
- Use the native Photos app to delete photos instead of third-party apps.
- Double-check Recently Deleted after doing any restore, update or system reset.
- Back up your iPhone regularly either locally or to iCloud.
Following those best practices will minimize the chances of losing photos permanently from your iPhone in future.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are my deleted photos not in the Recently Deleted album on iPhone?
If deleted photos are not appearing in Recently Deleted, it’s likely because:
- The 30 day retention period expired and they were permanently removed.
- They were deleted from a third-party app like WhatsApp rather than the Photos app.
- Your iPhone was restored or updated, wiping the Recently Deleted album.
- You have iCloud Photos enabled so the photo still exists in the cloud.
Can I recover permanently deleted photos from my iPhone?
If it has been over 30 days, then no – the photos are likely gone for good from your iPhone storage. However, data recovery software or restoring from an iCloud/iTunes backup from before the deletion are options worth trying.
Why do deleted photos keep coming back on my iPhone?
If deleted photos reappear, it’s likely because you have iCloud Photo Library enabled. The photos are being deleted from your iPhone but not from iCloud online, so they get re-downloaded to your device. Turn off iCloud Photos or delete the photos from iCloud as well.
How can I delete photos permanently from my iPhone without Recently Deleted?
To skip the Recently Deleted album when deleting:
- Use a third party app like WhatsApp or social media instead of Photos.
- Plug your iPhone into a computer and permanently delete photos from there.
- Delete the photos from iCloud online if you have iCloud Photos enabled.
What is the best way to make sure I never lose iPhone photos?
To ensure you have backups of all photos:
- Enable iCloud Photo Library to store a copy securely online.
- Sync photos to computer periodically for a local backup via iTunes.
- Use a cloud storage service like Google Photos to backup photos.
- Save any irreplaceable photos elsewhere like an external hard drive as well.
Conclusion
It can certainly be alarming to find photos or videos missing from your iPhone’s Recently Deleted album before the 30 days is up.
But in many cases, the media is still accessible whether it is still stored in iCloud, available through a backup, or recoverable by data recovery software.
Knowing exactly where your photos are being stored, backing up regularly, and acting quickly after deletion will help ensure you don’t lose any valuable iPhone media permanently.
Implementing the best practices outlined here will minimize the chances of important photos, videos, and other data disappearing from your iPhone before you are able to recover them.