How to recover deleted photos on iPhone

Recover from Recently Deleted

1. Open Photos and scroll down to Utilities.
2. Tap Recently Deleted, then View Album, and unlock with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.
3. Tap a photo and choose Recover, or tap Select, choose several, tap the More button and tap Recover.
4. Confirm. The items return to your Library in their original place in the timeline.

Apple says anything in Recently Deleted stays there for 30 days. Each item shows how many days it has left. After that it is permanently deleted.

If you want everything back at once, tap Select and look for Recover All. That is handy after an accidental bulk delete, but check the album first, because it may also hold things you meant to remove weeks ago.

Recovered photos keep their original date, location and any edits, so they slot back into the right place in your Library rather than appearing as new pictures.

Recover from iCloud.com

If iCloud Photos is on, the same album exists online. Sign in at iCloud.com, open Photos, and choose Recently Deleted in the sidebar. Select what you want and click Recover. This helps when your phone is lost, broken or out of reach.

Recovering on iCloud.com syncs back to your devices, so the photo reappears on your iPhone once it reconnects. If it does not show up, check that iCloud Photos is on for the phone and that you are signed in with the same Apple Account.

Two cases skip this safety net. Apple notes that if you are over your iCloud storage limit, the device removes deleted photos immediately rather than moving them to Recently Deleted. And in a Shared Library, only the person who added an item can recover it from Recently Deleted.

Not in Recently Deleted? Check these first

• The Hidden album. Hidden photos disappear from the main Library. It sits under Utilities and needs Face ID to open. See our Hidden album guide.
• Your Apple Account. If you signed in with a different account, or iCloud Photos is off on this device, part of your library may not be showing.
• Other apps. Photos you received in Messages may still be in the conversation, and apps like Google Photos keep their own trash.
• A computer. If you ever imported photos to a Mac or PC, look there, including the Pictures folder and any import folders.
• Shared albums. Photos you posted to a shared album stay there even after you delete the original from your Library.
• An older backup. A device backup made before the deletion may contain the photo, but restoring a backup replaces what is on the phone now. Back up the current state first and weigh it carefully.

Once something is deleted from Recently Deleted, it cannot be brought back from the phone. If you are cleaning up a big batch, our guide on permanently deleting photos explains when that final step happens.