what can i do if i lost my data in changing my phone

If you lost data while changing your phone, but you had performed a backup and still can't find your photos, here are some steps you can try to recover them:

1. **Check your cloud storage:**

- If you were using iCloud or Google Photos, log into those accounts via a web browser or the app to check if the photos are still stored there.

- Sometimes, backups might not fully sync if your previous phone had limited internet access or if the photos were stored in a folder not synced with the cloud.

2. **Look in trash/recycle bin:**

- Both Google Photos and iCloud have trash or recently deleted folders that hold deleted files for a certain period (usually 30 to 60 days). Check there to see if your photos were deleted accidentally.

3. **Restore from other backups:**

- If you had backups on a PC or external storage, check for older versions of your backups. You may have saved your data somewhere before the switch.

4. **Third-party recovery tools:**

- There are several third-party apps like Dr.Fone or DiskDigger that can help you recover lost files if the data hasn't been overwritten.

5. **Check the old device:**

- If you still have access to the old device, even if it's not fully functional, you might be able to retrieve your photos by connecting it to a computer or using specialized data recovery software.

6. **Check any memory cards or external storage:**

-(most likely not) If your old phone had an external SD card, ensure that you’ve checked all the data stored there, as it might have been missed during the backup.

These steps might help recover your lost data, but it's important to act quickly before new data overwrites the lost files.

Unfortunately the previous post relied heavily on generative AI and none of the information was actually verified. This is apparent with the DiskDigger recommendation that is only available for Windows and provides no help for your iPhone. In addition, you cannot choose which folders to be backed up when using the Photos app, so that obviously makes no sense.

There are 4 additional bits of information that may help with a solution:

• Did you use iCloud Photos?
• Do you know the backup file size or the amount of storage used for photos on your previous phone?
• Are you paying for additional iCloud storage or just have the free 5Gb of storage.
• Do you still have access to your previous phone?

If you did use iCloud Photos, then you can verify the photos there using the iCloud website. When iCloud Photos is not used, then the photos are stored in your backup file. If you have a lot of photos that take up more than 5GB and do not pay for additional iCloud storage, your phone will quit syncing the photos and no longer backup your iPhone. Since your new phone has half the storage of your previous phone, it is possible that all the data you had on your previous phone will now not fit on the newer phone with less storage.

If you still have your previous phone, you can remove unnecessary data to make the backup file smaller and if you chose to backup the previous phone immediately before transferring the data, it may not have finished updating the backup file.

Do not attempt Data Recovery software as recommended by MaxGabriel1219. They are scams and you will be paying money and not get any results. The Flash drive on an iPhone does not work like the old HD drives where you could recover data. With the old HD's the space was simply marked available, but the data still remained, but on the iPhone, the data must be erased first before it can be made available.