Suddenly all of my photos in iCloud taken prior to Jan 1 2022 have disappeared. Has this happened to anyone else? Who do i even contact to complain about this? No I didn’t delete them, no I didn’t hide them. Years and years of photos just stopped being there.
Hi QHudspeth
Welcome to the Apple Community.
We are all Apple users, like yourself.
Commiserations on the disappearance of those photos!
Wondering if they are still safely on your device, or whether you have a back-up to restore them from.
Re: What gives?
Could be any one of various reasons ...
(also, we don't know which Mac model, or Device you are using, or which MacOS or iOS version. you are using.)
You might want to check that your iCloud is not short on storage space for your photos:
How to: Check your iCloud storage online or on any device – Apple Support
How to Manage your iCloud storage - Apple Support
Your iCloud storage and your device storage are quite separate.
As device(s) and iCloud are in sync, both need enough storage space for everything you want to keep in sync.
(ie: I know you didn't delete photos, yet deleting on one, deletes on the other).
What's the difference between device storage and iCloud storage? – Apple Support
_________________________________________________________________________
Re: Has this happened to anyone else?
Seems so. Apple Support have an article online to help with "missing" photos.
Eg: You may be able to recover photos from the "Recently Deleted" folder for up to 30 days:
If you're missing photos or videos in the Photos app - Apple Support
or
Get help with iCloud Photos - Apple Support
______________________________________________________________________-
Re: Who do i even contact to complain about this?
If you weren't able to recover your photos:
You might want to reach out to the Photos Support Team (eg: for helpful advice).
There is a "Get Support" link (at the very bottom), on the Photos Support website (link below)
Photos - Official Apple Support
All the best :-)
Hi QHudspeth
Welcome to the Apple Community.
We are all Apple users, like yourself.
Commiserations on the disappearance of those photos!
Wondering if they are still safely on your device, or whether you have a back-up to restore them from.
Re: What gives?
Could be any one of various reasons ...
(also, we don't know which Mac model, or Device you are using, or which MacOS or iOS version. you are using.)
You might want to check that your iCloud is not short on storage space for your photos:
How to: Check your iCloud storage online or on any device – Apple Support
How to Manage your iCloud storage - Apple Support
Your iCloud storage and your device storage are quite separate.
As device(s) and iCloud are in sync, both need enough storage space for everything you want to keep in sync.
(ie: I know you didn't delete photos, yet deleting on one, deletes on the other).
What's the difference between device storage and iCloud storage? – Apple Support
_________________________________________________________________________
Re: Has this happened to anyone else?
Seems so. Apple Support have an article online to help with "missing" photos.
Eg: You may be able to recover photos from the "Recently Deleted" folder for up to 30 days:
If you're missing photos or videos in the Photos app - Apple Support
or
Get help with iCloud Photos - Apple Support
______________________________________________________________________-
Re: Who do i even contact to complain about this?
If you weren't able to recover your photos:
You might want to reach out to the Photos Support Team (eg: for helpful advice).
There is a "Get Support" link (at the very bottom), on the Photos Support website (link below)
Photos - Official Apple Support
All the best :-)
Have the photos only disappeared from your iPhone, or are they also missing from iCloud?
Have you checked your Photos Library in a web browser on the web page www.icloud.com ? Open this web page on a computer (you need the Desktop view of the page, not the mobile view), then sign in with your iCloud Apple ID and open the Photos.app there. Are the photos still there?
Sorry, I should have been more complete. They are missing from my iCloud account/storage, and therefore every linked device. Yes, checking icloud.com was the first thing I did when I noticed them missing.
Thanks for the response. It helped me think through what was going on. I think I figured it out. Luckly, I have redundant backups for my iCloud photos, so all is not lost.
Thanks!
You're welcome, QHudspeth,
Thank you for replying, and letting us know.
Grateful you were able to solve the vexing situation satisfactorily.
Cheers!
Suddenly all of my photos before Jan 1 2022 are gone. What gives?
