How to restore photos that turned black on iPhone?

I was taking photos in 16:9 format, edited them a little (crop, exposure, auto correct on some), after i wasn't satisfied with some photos, i selected those and clicked Revert to original, and suddenly, all of the selected photos turned black, one by one.


How do i get them back?


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Photos bug, photos turned black, how to get them back?

iPhone 16, iOS 18

Posted on Aug 16, 2025 7:42 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 16, 2025 8:46 AM

I've never had that happen. I think first, I would try a forced restart: 

Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

This is different from a simple Power Off. I had to continue holding the button down past the "slide to power off" message, and then I released the button only after  the Apple Logo appeared indicating a re-start. 


If that didn't change anything, try "Share>Export Unmodified Original" to the Files app, and see what you get. You can also try sending this copy back to Photos from Files with "Share>Save Image"


Let us know what happens…

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 16, 2025 8:46 AM in response to sloppyslurp

I've never had that happen. I think first, I would try a forced restart: 

Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

This is different from a simple Power Off. I had to continue holding the button down past the "slide to power off" message, and then I released the button only after  the Apple Logo appeared indicating a re-start. 


If that didn't change anything, try "Share>Export Unmodified Original" to the Files app, and see what you get. You can also try sending this copy back to Photos from Files with "Share>Save Image"


Let us know what happens…

Aug 16, 2025 12:24 PM in response to Richard.Taylor

Forcing restart didn't help, and it's still happening after. But Exporting unmodified original worked great. Thank you!


Can you maybe try to recreate this:


  1. take a photo in 16:9 format.
  2. Click to edit that photo and choose some other Style (i went from Standard to Neutral).
  3. Add some values to Exposure, Brilliance and highlights.
  4. Crop photo to original 3:4 format.
  5. Go back to all photos, and hold click on this photo until a menu pops up.
  6. Click on Revert to Original
  7. Tap to view photo in full screen mode


I only have this Iphone 16 since June. This is my first time i made some edits to photos, since i got it. Somehow this only happens in 16:9 format,so i will just shoot in original format (4:3) from now on, but still, this shouldn't be happening. I will also try to fully restore my phone.


I'm on latest update 18.6.1.

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How to restore photos that turned black on iPhone?

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