How to Recover Deleted Photos from iPhone with/without Backup

I had an iPhone 12 Pro Max and I accidentally deleted some of my previous photos last weekend. These photos are important to me so I really want to recover my deleted photos. Please tell me how to retrieve deleted photos?

Like the user mentioned above, the unexpected deletion of our photos on an iPhone could be a disaster. Except for mistaken deletion, some other operations also can result in iPhone photos being deleted or lost: a failed jailbreak, iOS update issues, iTunes sync errors, or iPhone got viruses, etc.

Then, where are deleted photos on iPhone? How to retrieve deleted photos on iPhone? Here we will introduce everything about iPhone photos recovery, and all the proven ways to find deleted photos, including recently deleted or permanently deleted. No matter whether we have an iPhone backup or not, there is a chance to restore deleted photos, including recovering deleted photos from text messages on iPhone. Now, keep reading and get deleted photos back on our iPhone!

Where are Recently Deleted Photos on iPhone?

If you accidentally deleted photos on iPhone, you can first find recently deleted photos easily.

Apple has added a feature to iOS devices to help us recover recently deleted photos since iOS 8. If you are running with iOS 8 or later iOS version, where you can find deleted photos from the Recently Deleted album in the Photos. And, the album will store your deleted photos for 30 days, so that you can get enough time to restore them back to iPhone’s Camera Roll or other albums.

Recover Deleted Photos from iPhone from Recently Deleted Feature

Before retrieving deleted photos from iPhone via the “Recently Deleted” feature, there are several things you need to know firstly:

• You can find and recover recently deleted photos and videos from the Recently Deleted album.
• Recently Deleted album keeps deleted photos for 30 days. Once it gets to the deadline, you need to recover the permanently deleted photos on iPhone.
• Recently Deleted Feature applies you deleted a single or a small number of photos from your iPhone. You are unable to recover pictures if you get the entire Camera Roll lost or disappeared when restoring iDevice, syncing your iCloud, or updating iOS.

To recover deleted photos or pictures from iPhone via the “Recently Deleted” feature, you need to perform the following steps on your iPhone:

1. Go to Photos App > Tap on Albums > Scroll down to find the Recently Deleted album.
2. Open Recently Deleted album > Preview the recently deleted photos and check if there are photos you want to recover.
3. Click Select > Select the photos you want to recover > Tap on Recover in the bottom right corner.

Also Read:

• How to Delete Photos from iPhone but not iCloud >
• How to Delete All Photos from iPhone >

Recover Deleted Photos from iPhone without iTunes or iCloud

Restoring your iDevice with iTunes/iCloud backup will erase and replace all the existing iPhone data with backup data. And, you can not preview files in your backup.

If you want to retrieve deleted photos back on iPhone but not lose recently taken data with iTunes or iCloud, you can move to PhoneRescue for iOS. As a wonderful iOS data recovery tool and iPhone backup extractor, it enables you to find deleted photos from iPhone backup files and restore just photos according to your needs. Except for deleting photos accidentally, PhoneRescue for iOS also works when you get iPhone broken, lost, or stolen, and want to extract photos from iTunes backup.

You can check how can PhoneRescue for iOS help you find deleted photos here:

Steps to Recover Deleted iPhone Photos from iTunes Backup:

Step 1. Get PhoneRescue for iOS installed on your computer > Run it and connect iPhone to the computer > select Recover from Backup > Click Right Arrow on the bottom right corner.

Step 2. Select the right iTunes backup from the list of iTunes backups, and click Right Arrow to proceed. You can choose to scan all data on backup or get only the differences between iPhone and backup.

Step 3. By default, all categories will be selected. Please uncheck the Select All option and then choose Photos.

Step 4. After analysis and scan, preview if they are the photos you want to recover > Select them and then click the To Device button to get them back to your iPhone’s Photos app or click the To Computer button to recover them to the computer. And you can back to scan other iTunes backup list to restore more photos.

If you backed up your iPhone to iCloud before deleting your photos, you can back to the homepage of PhoneRescue for iOS and choose Recover from iCloud to view photos in the iCloud backup and recover deleted iPhone photos from iCloud backup.

Recover Deleted Photos from iPhone without Backup

If you can not find deleted photos from the Recently deleted album, and there are no backup files to find permanently or fully deleted photos. To recover deleted photos from iPhone without backup, first, avoid operating iPhone, then use PhoneRescue for iOS to get deleted photos back. Check how can it find deleted photos even without backup:

• Fitted with the advanced smart scan technique, it will scan your iPhone thoroughly for listing all deleted and hidden files and data only if they are not overwritten.
• It allows you to download software free, and scan your iPhone for deleted files for free. Before helping you finds deleted iPhone photos, you needn’t pay for them.
• Promises you “60 Days Money Back Guarantee”. Even if you purchased it, you still can ask for a refund within 60 days if it fails to recover deleted photos from iPhone. Buy Now >
• Except for recovering deleted iPhone photos, 20+ types of iPhone files are also supported, like deleted messages, contacts, notes, calendar events, call history, etc.
• Works well with all the iPhone models, including the latest iPhone 13, iPhone 12/11/11 Pro(Max), or older models.

Follow the steps below to recover permanently deleted photos after deleting from recently deleted:

Step 1. Connect your iPhone and Choose Recover from iOS

Get PhoneRescue for iOS on your computer, install and launch it > Connect your iPhone to the computer with its USB cable, and select Recover from iOS Device.

Step 2. Scan All the Photos on iPhone

By default, all categories will be selected. Please uncheck the Select All option and then choose Photos only. PhoneRescue for iOS will scan your iPhone for listing all the deleted but not overwritten photos.

Step 3. Select Photos and Recover to iPhone or Computer

When the scanning is finished, you will find all photos listed on the right, including your recently deleted items. Preview and select the photos you want to recover and then click the To Device or To Computer button to recover the photos to iPhone’s Photos App directly or download them to the computer.

[Video] How To Recover Permanently Deleted Photos on iPhone

How Do I Retrieve Photos from iCloud to my iPhone?

If you want to recover iCloud deleted photos, you can first find recently deleted photos from iCloud.com:

1. Go to the iCloud web page and sign in to your iCloud account and password.
2. Tap on Photos.
3. Click Recently Deleted from the left panel. Here you can find the deleted iPhone photos, which will be permanently deleted after the remaining days.
4. Select them and click Recover.

Further Reading:

• How to Recover Snapchat Photos on iPhone >
• How to Recover WhatsApp Images Deleted by Sender on iPhone >

Why Can’t I Find Recently Deleted Photos on iPhone?

If you accidentally deleted some photos but can not find the ‘recently deleted folder’ when you went to the album section, you can first make sure the location of the Recently Deleted album:

• On the older system version, the Recently Deleted album should be listed under Albums, you just scroll down and you can find the recently deleted album. Besides, you may try to check “Other Albums” and includes Imports, Hidden, and Recently Deleted.
  
• On the newer system versions, you can find the album under Albums > Utilities.

If you confirm there is the Recently Deleted album, but not deleted photos, you can first try to restart iPhone. Or, the photos are permanently deleted, then you can use PhoneRescue for iOS to get deleted photos back with iTunes/iCloud backup, or without backup.

How to Avoid iPhone Photos Deleted or Disappeared Again

To avoid iPhone photos or other data lost again, back up your iPhone regularly. And you can transfer photos to a computer quickly and easily with AnyTrans. Besides, you can view and manage iCloud backup files with it.

You can consider making a full backup of your iPhone with iTunes, or just transfer your iPhone photos to your computer for backup by AnyTrans just like the following screenshot shows:

Step 1. Install and launch AnyTrans on your computer and connect your iPhone. Click Photos.

Step 2. View all iPhone photos on computer, including My Photos, Photo Stream, Recently Deleted, etc. Click To PC/Mac to backup iPhone photos.

If you need to manage iCloud photos, back to the homepage and choose iCloud Manager. Log into your Apple ID. Then you can view all iCloud photos on your computer.

How to Transfer Photos from iPhone to iPhone Directly >

The Bottom Line

After reading this guide about how to recover deleted photos from iPhone, you may retrieve deleted iPhone photos successfully, or have learned lessons – once you get your iPhone photos deleted or lost, you have a chance to get them back, but no one can guarantee you “100% success rate of recovery”. Therefore, back up your iPhone photos and other content regularly to avoid such problems in the future. Don’t forget to download PhoneRescue for iOS to have a try.