Learn how to recover deleted photos on your iPhone using simple methods like the Recently Deleted Album, iCloud, or iOS data recovery tools. Get your precious memories back in just a few steps!
Jason Kim 30/04/2025
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Losing important photos can feel devastating, especially when they contain memories, work files, or creative content. Whether it's due to accidental deletion, a system crash, or a factory reset, many iPhone users wonder: Is it possible to recover deleted photos—and how soon should I act?
The good news is, that Apple has built multiple layers of protection into iOS, and even if those fail, a powerful iOS data recovery tool can help retrieve data that seems permanently lost. In this guide, we'll walk through 6 proven photo recovery methods, ranging from the simplest to the most advanced.
When you delete a photo on your iPhone, it's not instantly removed from the device. Instead, Apple provides a 30-day grace period by placing deleted videos and photos into a temporary storage area called Recently Deleted. This feature is your first and best opportunity to retrieve lost images after deleting them from recently deleted ones with no external tools or backups required.
Open the Photos app.
Go to Albums, scroll down, and tap Recently Deleted.
Tap Select, choose the images you want back, then tap Recover.
This method is ideal for accidental deletions that occurred within the past month. However, after 30 days—or if you've manually emptied the Recently Deleted folder—these photos are no longer accessible via the Photos app. That’s when deeper recovery methods become necessary.
If the photos you’re looking for are no longer in Recently Deleted, your next best option is to restore from a previous iCloud backup. This approach works well when your iPhone is regularly backed up and the deletion occurs after the last backup point.
Restoring from iCloud essentially rewinds your device to an earlier state—before the data loss. It's a powerful option, but one that comes with trade-offs, as it will overwrite your current content.
Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone.
Choose Erase All Content and Settings.
Follow the setup prompts and select Restore from iCloud Backup.
Sign in and select a backup made before the deletion occurred.
While this method offers a clean and effective solution, some users may hesitate to perform a full reset. If you’re looking to avoid that, the next section introduces a non-destructive, tool-based solution.
If you don’t have an iCloud backup—or need to recover photos directly from a damaged iPhone (such as one with a broken screen, water damage, or that won’t turn on)—Gbyte Recovery is a professional data recovery tool that can retrieve lost or deleted photos, videos, contacts, messages, and more from your device.
Unlike iCloud, which relies on a prior backup, Gbyte Recovery scans the iPhone’s internal storage to recover lost photos—even if the device is physically damaged, has a crashed system, or won’t power on. Best of all, it works directly from your iPhone, with no backup required.
🔹 Recover Data from Damaged iPhones – Works with devices that are unresponsive, stuck in recovery mode, or have hardware issues.
🔹 No Backup Required – Extracts lost photos directly from the iPhone’s storage.
🔹 Supports Encrypted iTunes Backups – Can also restore data from iTunes backups if available.
🔹 Selective Recovery – Preview and choose only the photos you need before restoring.
🔹 Wide Compatibility – Works with all iPhone models, including the latest iOS versions.
Download & Install – Get the software from the official website: https://www.gbyte.com/.
Connect Your iPhone – Login to your Apple Account to connect to your damaged iPhone.
Scan for deleted photos– The software will attempt to access the iPhone’s storage or extract deleted photos from its internal memory.
Preview & Recover Photos – Select all the photos you want and save them to your computer.
Since Gbyte Recovery doesn’t rely on cloud backups, it’s an excellent choice when you need immediate recovery from a physically damaged or malfunctioning iPhone.
If you're hesitant to erase your device to restore a full backup, Apple offers a lesser-known alternative: recovering deleted photos through iCloud.com. This method provides web-based access to your Recently Deleted folder and doesn't require making changes to your iPhone’s current data.
It’s particularly useful when you're working from another device or when your iPhone is undergoing repairs.
Visit iCloud.com and log into your Apple ID.
Click Photos, then go to Recently Deleted.
Select and restore the photos you want to recover.
Although limited to the same 30-day retention period as the Photos app, this approach provides flexibility and avoids disruption. If you’ve exhausted all iCloud options, however, it's worth exploring whether a local backup was created through iTunes or Finder.
Before the rise of cloud-based backups, iTunes was Apple’s default solution for local backups. Even today, many users still create full device backups using iTunes (on Windows and macOS Mojave or earlier) or Finder (on macOS Catalina and later). If you’ve synced your iPhone this way, you may have a snapshot that contains your missing photos.
Connect your iPhone to your computer.
Open iTunes or Finder and locate your device.
Select Restore Backup.
Choose a backup from a date before the deletion.
Just like with iCloud, this method will overwrite your current data. Make sure to back up anything important before proceeding.
If you’re out of luck with backups or your iPhone is damaged, cloud-based recovery may still offer a solution—especially if you use Google Photos.
Beyond Apple’s ecosystem, cloud platforms like Google Photos offer additional safety nets for recovering deleted images. If you had Google Photos installed and syncing enabled, your photos may be recoverable from its built-in Trash folder—even if they were deleted on your iPhone.
Open the Google Photos app or visit photos.google.com.
Tap Library > Trash.
Select the photos to restore and confirm.
Google Photos retains deleted content for up to 60 days, which is double the retention period of Apple’s Recently Deleted folder. This makes it an excellent option for long-term recovery, especially if you routinely use multiple cloud platforms to manage media.
If your iPhone is physically damaged or you’ve encountered issues beyond routine deletion (e.g., failed updates or system crashes), consulting Apple Support is a good next step. They may offer guidance based on your device’s backup status, iCloud sync history, and more.
Can permanently deleted iPhone photos be recovered? Yes. If they're not in your iCloud or iTunes backup, tools like Gbyte Recovery can scan your device and restore files that iOS no longer displays.
How long do deleted photos stay on iPhone? Deleted photos remain in the Recently Deleted folder for 30 days. After that, they're marked for permanent removal—though they may still be recoverable using recovery software.
Can I recover photos from a damaged or non-responsive iPhone? Yes. Gbyte Recovery supports recovery from physically damaged devices, even if the iPhone won’t boot or respond to touch input.
No matter which method you choose, the key to recovering deleted photos is acting quickly and having a reliable backup system in place. Enable automatic backups via iCloud, iTunes, or third-party cloud apps to prevent future data loss.
If you need a powerful, user-friendly recovery tool, consider Gbyte Recovery. This trusted software can scan your iPhone, iCloud, or iTunes backups to retrieve lost photos efficiently.
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