iPhone & Mac

How to Recover Permanently Deleted Photos from iCloud

Accidentally deleting photos can happen to any user cleaning their iPhone photo gallery or even due to other errors within your iPhone. Fortunately, there are several methods to recover permanently deleted photos from iCloud. The sooner you detect permanently deleted pictures and other files from your iPhone, the greater the chances of data recovery.

Recovering deleted photos from iCloud after 30 days can be more difficult, but it’s still possible. If you turned on iCloud Photo Library, there’s a good chance your photos were also synced to your PC or Mac.

If you’ve made a backup of your iCloud Photo Library during that time, you can simply transfer the backed-up photos to your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or even PC. A third-party Apple recovery application may help you recover your deleted images even if you don’t have a backup.

Common reasons that lead to photo loss from iCloud

Opening the iCloud and discovering that the photo you are looking for is missing is a situation no one can find themselves in. You can prevent your iCloud photos from disappearing once you learn the causes of this issue.

  • Human errors: Accidental deletion of photos from iCloud.
  • iOS upgrade: iOS upgrades can be another reason for photo loss, as they might create incompatible issues and lead to data loss.
  • Jailbreak: Jailbreaking your Apple device can be risky as it might void your warranty and cause data loss.
  • Factory reset: A factory reset will erase your device’s data, including photos. It is usually done when you want to sell your device or give it away. But it 

How to back up photos to iCloud

To back up your iPhone photos to iCloud, you can follow these steps:

  1. On your iPhone, open the Settings app.
  2. Tap on your name at the top of the Settings menu to go to your Apple ID page.
  3. Tap iCloud.
  4. In the Apps Using iCloud section of the iCloud page, tap Photos.
  5. Tap the iCloud Photos toggle switch to turn it from gray to green.

Once you turn on iCloud Photos, every photo you take will automatically be uploaded to your iCloud account in full resolution.

How to recover deleted photos from the recently erased folder on iPhone

If you accidentally delete some photos from your iCloud, check the Recently Erased folder first. This folder contains every photo deleted in the last 30 days.

  1. Open the Photos app on your iCloud on any device.
  2. Find Albums at the bottom of the screen.
  3. Go to the Recently Deleted album.
  4. Tap on Select at the top right of the screen.
  5. Select all of the photos that you want to recover.

Source: Apple support

  1. Tap on Recover at the bottom right of the screen.
  2. Confirm that you want to Recover Photos.

How to recover iCloud photos permanently deleted using your iPhone

If the iCloud Photo Library is turned on, your pictures and videos are stored on iCloud. This means you can often recover permanently deleted photos by downloading them from iCloud again.

You can go to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud > Photos on your device and check if you can restore your deleted photos.

If not, you can follow the next steps:

  1. Go to Settings > iCloud > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings.

Warning: This will delete everything on your device. Don’t proceed unless you’re sure you have a recent backup.

  1. Restart your iPhone or iPad, following all the on-screen instructions, and go to Apps & Data Screen.

    Source: Apple support

  2. Choose the iCloud backup you wish to restore. Sync the device to the iCloud account so that the photos can also be restored there.

How to restore photos from iCloud using your computer

If you can’t find your photos in the Recently Deleted folder, you can restore them from an iCloud backup.

  1. Go to https://www.icloud.com on your computer.
  2. Enter your login name and password to log in to your cloud account.
  3. Go to the Photos tab.
  4. Find the Recently Deleted album.

There, you’ll see the photos that will be deleted within the next forty days.

  1. Choose the photos you wish to restore, then click the Recover button.

When your Apple device synchronizes with the iCloud service, all your photos will appear in its photo gallery.

Use data recovery software to restore permanently deleted photos from iCloud

If you don’t have a recent backup or iCloud Photo Library turned on, you can still retrieve deleted photos from iCloud with a third-party data recovery application.

There are different applications available online. Look for software with good reviews and security certificates.

SalvageData iOS’s dedicated recovery software and service can help you retrieve and recover deleted pictures. 

To use the SalvageData free iOS data recovery software to restore your permanently deleted photo from iCloud, you must download and install the software. Then, agree with the terms and conditions.

  1. Click on the DATA RECOVERY button.
  2. Select the drive from which you wish to retrieve your files. 
  3. Click on RECOVER.
  4. Choose the file system and click on SCAN.
  5. Once the scanning process is complete, you can choose from the list which files you want to recover.

Quick summary on how to recover photos from iCloud

If you accidentally delete some photos from your iCloud, check the Recently Erased folder first.

If you have turned on the iCloud Photo Library, your photos will probably be stored there. You can quickly recover permanently deleted pictures by downloading them from iCloud again.

However, if you don’t have a recent backup or iCloud Photo Library turned on, you can still try to recover permanently deleted photos from iCloud with a third-party recovery application or contact a professional iPhone data recovery service.

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Heloise Montini

Heloise Montini is a content writer whose background in journalism make her an asset when researching and writing tech content. Also, her personal aspirations in creative writing and PC gaming make her articles on data storage and data recovery accessible for a wide audience.

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Heloise Montini

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