My phone automatically downloaded the ios 15.5 update and suddenly after a few hours almost all of my photos are gone. I tried uploading from icloud but not all were backed up even though there was storage available, and I looked in the recently deleted and hidden folders and there is nothing. Almost three years worth of memories are gone.
iPhone 12, iOS 15
It is hard to say what may have caused this, as we cannot see your device and do not know how you have been using your iPhone. A system update does not delete photos from iCloud.
Where are you looking for your photos? In the All Photos album? In the Days? The Recents album may be sorted differently from before after an update. Look in All Photos for your photos. And check the Filter (in the menu with the three dots (...) in the upper right corner. A filter could be hiding some of your photos.
Photos will only be removed from iCloud Photos, if you delete them from any of your devices that are syncing with iCloud Photos as well (or someone else, who is sharing your AppleID). If you are running out of Cloud Storage, iCloud Photos may delete some of your older photos after some time.
Turning on iCloud Photos will however delete photos, that have been synced to the device from a computer, as synced photos are not compatible with iCloud Photos. when you backup your iPhone to iCloud, the iCloud backup of the iPhone does not include the photos, if iCloud Photos is enabled. Do you have a backup of your iPhone on a computer, that you made, before you started using iCloud Photos? A backup on a computer will be saved, until you delete it, while the iCloud backups are rolling backups, that may be automatically deleted after some time.
After a system update it may take a while, until photos have been restored from iCloud to your Photos Library.
It is hard to say what may have caused this, as we cannot see your device and do not know how you have been using your iPhone. A system update does not delete photos from iCloud.
Where are you looking for your photos? In the All Photos album? In the Days? The Recents album may be sorted differently from before after an update. Look in All Photos for your photos. And check the Filter (in the menu with the three dots (...) in the upper right corner. A filter could be hiding some of your photos.
Photos will only be removed from iCloud Photos, if you delete them from any of your devices that are syncing with iCloud Photos as well (or someone else, who is sharing your AppleID). If you are running out of Cloud Storage, iCloud Photos may delete some of your older photos after some time.
Turning on iCloud Photos will however delete photos, that have been synced to the device from a computer, as synced photos are not compatible with iCloud Photos. when you backup your iPhone to iCloud, the iCloud backup of the iPhone does not include the photos, if iCloud Photos is enabled. Do you have a backup of your iPhone on a computer, that you made, before you started using iCloud Photos? A backup on a computer will be saved, until you delete it, while the iCloud backups are rolling backups, that may be automatically deleted after some time.
After a system update it may take a while, until photos have been restored from iCloud to your Photos Library.
Are you signed into iCloud Photos with the same AppleID as before, Greta?
it may take several days for thousands of Photos to come back from iCloud. You may want to check which photos are still on iCloud on your iCloud web page in a browser on a computer, at www.icloud.com
greta_van_fleet Said:
"Almost 2,000 photos disappeared: My phone automatically downloaded the ios 15.5 update and suddenly after a few hours almost all of my photos are gone.[...]"
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Troubleshooting Lost Photos:
Loss of data is something you would have agreed to upon opening an Apple Account. So, if the following does not work, then they are gone. That's just the way is is.
Four Tactics to Try:
A. Start here: If you're Missing Photos or Videos in the Photos app - Apple Support
B. Check iCloud Directly:
See if they reside in iCloud Photos. Log in here: https://www.icloud.com/photos
C. Use a Time Machine Backup:
Did you backup your Mac, recently? If so, then restore your Mac from that. You'd backup you Mac prior to doing so, and then restore your data from the backup you just created, through use of Migration Assistant.
D. Where Else to Check:
This happened to me too! My photos and albums disappeared from iCloud too. (they were older and definitely backed up). Please let me know if you found a solution! The pics and videos were of my dog and friend who both died last year and I’m devastated.
I’m still logged into the same apple id as i was almost a year ago when I got my phone. Nothing was done except for the IOS update and almost all of my photos and videos disappeared. I only have the photos that are on my icloud remaining and I don’t know what happened.
I have been having the same issue for 2 years. Disappearing pictures randomly. I have tried everything including changing my phone, and resetting it twice. It is just awful that one has to lose their memories, especially if relying on the Cloud for everything.
Almost 2,000 photos disappeared
