Lost 7 years of photos. Everything was backed-up to icloud when I got a new phone this past November and now its gone. All of my photo folders I have made and kept over years are empty. Is there a way to get them back. Please help, thank you.
iPhone 13
Vanessa_Neri wrote:
Lost 7 years of photos. Everything was backed-up to icloud when I got a new phone this past November and now its gone.
How did you "back up" everything to iCloud?
Did you make an iCloud backup of the old iPhone and then restored the new device from the iCloud backup?
Do you really not remember which AppleID you used for iCloud on your old iPhone? If you restored the new device from the backup of the old device, it will have been set up with the same iCloud AppleID as before.
Do you remember, if your old iPhone has been using iCloud Photos? If iCloud Photos has been enabled, when you made the backup, the iCloud backup of your iPhone will not have included the photos, as they have been stored in iCloud by the Photos.app. You will have to enable iCloud Photos as well on the new device, so the photos can download from iCloud to the new device.
To check, if the photos are still in iCloud, sign into your iCloud web page www.icloud.com on a computer with the same AppleID you are seeing for your mail account, if you did not create a new AppleID). It is better to do this on a computer, as you need to use the Desktop version of iCloud and not mobile version. Then open the Photos.app on www.icloud.com and check, which photos are still there.
I hope, you did not accidentally delete your photos on your old iPhone, thinking they are safe in iCloud. On a device that is syncing with iCloud Photos, you have to very, very careful, when deleting photos. Deleting a photo on the device will delete them also from iCloud and all other devices also syncing with iCloud Photos. It is a common mistake to erase photos from an old device, once they have been downloaded on a new device, and thus erasing the photos from the new device and iCloud as well.
Vanessa_Neri wrote:
Lost 7 years of photos. Everything was backed-up to icloud when I got a new phone this past November and now its gone.
How did you "back up" everything to iCloud?
Did you make an iCloud backup of the old iPhone and then restored the new device from the iCloud backup?
Do you really not remember which AppleID you used for iCloud on your old iPhone? If you restored the new device from the backup of the old device, it will have been set up with the same iCloud AppleID as before.
Do you remember, if your old iPhone has been using iCloud Photos? If iCloud Photos has been enabled, when you made the backup, the iCloud backup of your iPhone will not have included the photos, as they have been stored in iCloud by the Photos.app. You will have to enable iCloud Photos as well on the new device, so the photos can download from iCloud to the new device.
To check, if the photos are still in iCloud, sign into your iCloud web page www.icloud.com on a computer with the same AppleID you are seeing for your mail account, if you did not create a new AppleID). It is better to do this on a computer, as you need to use the Desktop version of iCloud and not mobile version. Then open the Photos.app on www.icloud.com and check, which photos are still there.
I hope, you did not accidentally delete your photos on your old iPhone, thinking they are safe in iCloud. On a device that is syncing with iCloud Photos, you have to very, very careful, when deleting photos. Deleting a photo on the device will delete them also from iCloud and all other devices also syncing with iCloud Photos. It is a common mistake to erase photos from an old device, once they have been downloaded on a new device, and thus erasing the photos from the new device and iCloud as well.
Did you possibly happen to change to a different Apple ID when you changed to your new iPhone? If so, what you are encountering is what happens. You’ll need to log into the original Apple ID with the photos and other content.
Vanessa_Neri Said:
"Help with 7 years of lost photos.: Lost 7 years of photos. Everything was backed-up to icloud when I got a new phone this past November and now its gone. All of my photo folders I have made and kept over years are empty. Is there a way to get them back. Please help, thank you."
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Troubleshooting Lost Photos:
Three Tactics to Try:
A. Start here: If you're Missing Photos or Videos in the Photos app - Apple Support
B. Check iCloud, Directly:
For Photos: Go here, and see if they reside in iCloud: https://www.icloud.com/photos
C. Where Else to Check:
I tried logging into all my other possible emails and none of them are used accounts on Apple. Unless I am completely missing something. Is there a way to check the history of apple ID's on my phone someway? I could see this being the problem but am having trouble finding that account. I don't see anything in my email records from Apple other than my original account. And on that original account, I see consistent emails even during the period time where I am missing my photos. Or any other ideas for what it could be?
Thank you for your help. It is greatly appreciated.
Help with 7 years of lost photos.
