How to Recover Deleted Photos from iPhone (6 Tested Methods)

Accidentally deleting photos from your iPhone can be an incredibly frustrating experience, especially when those images hold sentimental value—such as wedding photos, vacation memories, or family snapshots that can never be replaced. Fortunately, there are several methods you can use to recover deleted photos from your iPhone, whether they were removed due to a system crash, a failed iOS update, or a phone that’s damaged or becomes unresponsive. Thankfully, there are multiple ways to recover deleted photos from an iPhone, whether they were wiped recently or permanently removed months ago.

In this guide, we’ll explore six effective recovery methods. Whether you’re looking to recover deleted iPhone photos after 30 days, restore permanently deleted images, or just retrieve a single photo you deleted by mistake, we’ll walk you through each solution step by step.

Method 1: Recover Deleted Photos from Recently Deleted Album

The Recently Deleted Album provides iPhone users with the most straightforward photo recovery solution available within iOS. This system-designed feature automatically preserves deleted photos for 30 days before permanent erasure, creating a crucial window for recovery. This method proves most valuable for recovering recently deleted photos when acted upon promptly, serving as a convenient but time-sensitive safety net for accidental deletions.

Steps to Recover Deleted Photos from Recently Deleted Folders:

1. Open the Photos app on your iPhone which contains your complete photo library and albums.
2. Scroll down to the Albums section and tap on Recently Deleted.
3. Select the individual photos by tapping them, or choose multiple pics you want to recover by using the "Select" option.
4. After making your selections, tap Recover to restore the recently deleted photos to their original locations in your main photo library.

This method is ideal for quickly recovering images within the 30-day window. However, if your photos were deleted after 30 days or manually removed from the folder—you’ll need to try another option.

Method 2: Restore Deleted Photos Using iCloud Backup

If you have iCloud Backup enabled and your deleted photos were included in a previous backup, you can restore them through a full device reset. This method is especially helpful if you're trying to recover deleted iPhone photos after 30 days or after they’ve been removed from the Recently Deleted folder.

Steps to Restore Deleted Photos from iCloud Backup:

1. Go to Settings on your iPhone.
2. Tap General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings.
3. After your phone is erased, it will restart and prompt you to set it up.
4. Choose Restore from iCloud Backup during the setup process.
5. Sign in to your iCloud account and choose a backup that contains the deleted photos.

This method allows complete photo recovery by restoring an entire iCloud backup, but comes with critical trade-offs. While effective for retrieving photos beyond the 30-day Recently Deleted window, it requires overwriting all current device data with the backup's contents—permanently erasing any newer information.

Success depends entirely on the backup containing the target photos, and the process offers no selective recovery options. Most suitable for device initialization or when accepting full data rollback, it should only be attempted after exhausting other recovery methods and verifying backup contents.

Method 3: Recover Deleted iPhone Photos from iTunes Backup

For users who regularly back up their iPhones using iTunes, this method offers a reliable way to recover deleted photos by performing a full device restore. It works by replacing all current data on the iPhone with the contents of a previous iTunes backup stored on your computer, effectively restoring the device to the exact state it was in at the time of the backup.

Steps to Restore Deleted Photos from iTunes Backup:

1. Connect Your iPhone to Computer: Use the original USB cable to connect your iPhone to the computer containing your iTunes backups.
2. Open iTunes and Select Device: Launch iTunes and click on the iPhone icon that appears in the interface when your device is detected.
3. Choose Restore Backup Option: Under the Summary tab, click " Backup Now" and select the relevant backup file from the list.
4. Complete the Restoration Process: Confirm your selection and wait for the restoration to finish. Keep your device connected until the process completes.

Restoring deleted photos from an iTunes backup is an effective option if your backup includes the pictures you lost. By fully reverting your iPhone to a previous backup stored on your computer, this method can recover deleted photos from iPhone—even those missing from the Recently Deleted folder. However, it comes with a major trade-off: all current data on the device will be erased and replaced with the contents of the backup.

Because there's no way to selectively recover only photos, it’s best used when you're certain the backup contains your deleted pictures and when recovering lost data is more important than keeping newer files. This method is often suitable for situations like setting up a new device or dealing with severe data loss, but it should only be considered after other non-destructive recovery options—such as using Gbyte Recovery—have been tried.

Method 4: Recover Photos from a Synced Mac or iPad

If you use iCloud Photos and have photo syncing enabled across your Apple devices, there’s still a chance to retrieve deleted iPhone photos—especially if the deletion hasn’t yet synced across all devices. This often happens when another device, like a Mac or iPad, was offline at the time you deleted the photos.

To check:

1. Open the Photos app on your Mac or iPad.
2. Browse through your library to look for the missing images.
3. If found, you can re-upload them to iCloud or AirDrop them back to your iPhone.

This recovery method is most effective when iCloud sync hasn’t yet registered the deletion across all devices. It's a useful trick for those who want to get deleted pictures back on iPhones without using backups or third-party tools. While not always guaranteed, it offers a quick, risk-free way to retrieve deleted pics on your iPhone when time and device status are on your side.

Method 5: Recover Deleted Photos Using Google Photos or Other Cloud Services

If you’ve been using Google Photos or similar cloud-based services to back up your iPhone photos, you may still be able to retrieve deleted pictures—even if they’re no longer on your iPhone or in the Recently Deleted folder. This method is especially helpful for users who manage their media across platforms or who’ve enabled automatic syncing to cloud storage.

For example, in Google Photos:

1. Open the app and go to the Library > Trash folder.
2. Select the photos and choose Restore to send them back to your main gallery.

One key advantage of Google Photos is its extended retention period: deleted items stay in the Trash for up to 60 days—twice as long as Apple’s built-in Recently Deleted album. This gives users more time to recover permanently deleted iPhone photos, especially when the deletion wasn’t discovered right away.

This approach doesn’t require full device restoration and works well when you need to recover iPhone images without risking newer data. It's a practical solution for anyone wondering how to recover erased photos from an iPhone while using third-party storage apps.

Featured Image by Pixabay.