All my deleted photos keep reappearing

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Level 1

22 points

All my deleted photos keep reappearing

I recently started having a problem with my photos not deleting. I don't have a lot of space, so hundreds of random and unwanted photos won't go away. It's not synced to anything, so it's not. Everything I find when looking up this problem says something about iCloud. I do not now, nor have I ever had an iCloud. First thing I did when I got my phone is turn off all iCloud stuff. I delete a photo, and then it's just there on my photos. I can click on the photo and instead of a trash can on the right hand side, it's just the share button, but it's moved to the middle, and no trash can or favorite icon. Nothing has changed on my phone, so I don't know what prompted this. I can find a lot of people also having this issue, but no one who has answer other than iCloud. I can't turn off iCloud, as I've never made on and never used it and have ALWAYS had it turned off. I also tried deleting them from recently deleted, but that didn't help either. How do I permanently delete my photos?

iPhone 6s

Posted on Oct 10, 2021 5:32 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Brittany1416

Community Specialist

Oct 11, 2021 2:04 PM in response to dstryker120

Hello dstryker120,

We understand that you're experiencing an issue with photos returning or not deleting completely, and we'd love to help.

To help us get a better understanding of the issue, we’d like to ask a few questions.

Just to confirm, are you using the exact steps outlined in the "Delete photos permanently" part of this page to delete your photos? Delete photos on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
Do the photos seem to come back after doing something specific on the device, or does it seem to be completely random? For example, do they return after taking a new photo?
What is the exact iOS version your device is running at this time? Find the software version on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod

Thanks!

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Answer 2

Oct 12, 2021 7:47 AM in response to dstryker120

dstryker120,

Thank you for answering those questions.

To help narrow this down further, can you let us know if any errors appear when attempting to delete photos? If so, what does the error say?

Does restarting correct the issue temporarily, or is there no change? Restart your iPhone

If your device is running an older iOS version, you may wish to update it to the latest compatible version: Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

We know you mentioned that you're not able to update; can you let us know more about that? Do you experience a specific issue when attempting to update? If you're unable to update, the steps here may help: If your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch won’t update

Thanks!

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Answer 3

dstryker120 Author

Level 1

22 points

Oct 11, 2021 3:10 PM in response to Brittany1416

I tried everything in the first step.
None of them delete ever. After I delete a photo, it acts like it deletes, but it's still on my camera roll but gone from my album.
12.3.1 I haven't updated it in a long time and I cannot do so. No update promoted this, it just started happening. And again, I cannot update it now either.

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Answer 4

dstryker120 Author

Level 1

22 points

Oct 12, 2021 9:44 AM in response to Brittany1416

I don't get any error message. It deletes it normal, but then when I go to my camera roll it's still there. It doesn't act like there's a problem in any way.

I tried restarting a couple times, it didn't do anything all the deleted photos are still there and there is no change.

I don't have an issue with updating, I just don't do it. I haven't in a long time and it works for me. Every time I update it takes up space, or changes something around, or just updates things in general. I use my phone for taking pictures with my nieces and texting, that's it. It's pretty simple and I would rather it be a little slower and the same than updated.

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