Level 1

29 points

Restore deleted photos on iPhone after iCloud backup erased them

I used to have photos in the iPhone and backed up to iCloud. I didn't have enough iCloud storage so I was downloading photos from the iCloud account to my PC then deleting from the iCloud to make storage space available for more iPhone pictures to be uploaded. At some point, I noticed no more photos were in the iPhone, just a few (same from the iCloud). Is it possible that when I erased from iCloud, an automatic backup ran and replaced photos in the iPhone, deleting whatever was there? If so, is there a way to restore them? Found some options on internet that don't seem safe (Photos+, iRecovery - all showing to download from sites like Taptweak.com, appgeeker.com or Plugineasy.com).

thanks!

iPhone 13

Posted on Feb 25, 2026 7:43 AM

Top-ranking reply

opodw

Level 1

74 points

Posted on Aug 28, 2026 1:45 PM

I don't think an automatic iCloud backup would have replaced the photos on your iPhone. The important distinction is between iCloud Photos and iCloud Backup.

If you had iCloud Photos turned on, your iPhone and iCloud were being synced rather than iCloud simply keeping a separate backup copy. That means when you deleted the photos from iCloud on your PC, those deletions would eventually sync back to the iPhone as well. An iCloud Backup doesn't normally restore an older photo library over the current one. Photos already synced with iCloud Photos aren't included in the normal iCloud Backup.

Before trying any third-party recovery software, I'd check these places:

Photos > Recently Deleted on the iPhone.
iCloud.com > Photos > Recently Deleted.
Your PC's folder where you downloaded the photos — make absolutely sure the downloaded originals are still there and open correctly.
Any other computer, external drive, Windows Photos/iCloud Photos folder, or backup you may have used.
Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos and confirm whether iCloud Photos is currently enabled.

If the deletions happened within the last 30 days, Recently Deleted is your best and safest recovery option. Apple normally keeps deleted iCloud Photos there for 30 days. There is one important catch: if your iCloud storage was already over its limit, Apple says deleted photos may be removed immediately rather than being recoverable from Recently Deleted.

I would not install random recovery programs from sites such as Taptweak or similar sites yet. They aren't necessary to determine what happened, and some recovery software can make promises that aren't realistic.

If the photos aren't in Recently Deleted and the originals aren't on the PC, the next question is whether you have an older iPhone/computer backup from before the photos disappeared. Don't erase or restore the iPhone yet,

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108 replies

TheLittles

Level 10

210,315 points

Mar 28, 2026 4:49 PM in response to Tosin2

“I want to restore all my deleted photos on my iCloud”

———-

Troubleshooting Lost Photos and Videos:

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 it 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:

For Photos: Go here, and see if they reside in iCloud: https://www.icloud.com/photos

C. Restore your iPhone from a Backup:

Have any backups of this iPhone prior to this occurrence? If so, restore your iPhone from one that has these photos (the most recent backup, ideally). If not, then take this as a learning experience, knowing to always back up your device for recovery purposes. Important: Back up you iPhone prior to performing this restoration, should anything go wrong from here on out.

D. Where Else to Check:

PC
PDA
eMail
Mac Device
Cloud Storage
Android Phone
USB Flash Drive
External Hard drive
Secure Digital Card
Compact Flash Card

Aug 7, 2026 9:47 AM in response to arshat65

Re: “I want back up my photos permanently deleted”

You cannot back up permanently deleted photos, unless you already have copies outside of the system.

Permanently means permanently, and backups must be made before catastrophe happens. Afterwards is too late.

Aug 9, 2026 10:03 PM in response to Assanheliphaz

Assanheliphaz wrote:

i wants all my deleted photos

Your last chance to recover them resides in your Recently Deleted album for 30 days in case you change your mind. If it has been longer than 30 days or you chose to permanently delete them from that album before that time, then they are gone. You would need to have saved them in another location yourself as a backup. It really is that simple.

Sep 19, 2026 12:16 AM in response to ashiq26

ashiq26 wrote:

My personal photo recover 2 day ago, please recover

Photos that you delete remain in the Recently Deleted folder for 30 days

Sep 6, 2026 8:06 AM in response to alokozai

alokozai wrote:

How I bring back my deleted photos 2 years ago

You would have needed to save them in another location yourself as a backup. They are only saved in the Recently Deleted album for 30 days in case you change your mind after deleting them.

TheLittles

Level 10

210,315 points

Jun 1, 2026 11:26 PM in response to human289

"How to recover deleted photos and videos after 1day days"

-------

If not backed up, then, sadly, they are gone. So, have you looked in Recently Deleted?

Aug 5, 2026 6:29 PM in response to pragyan129

There are many ways of preserving photos and videos. Did you do any of these?

iCloud photo sync (go to http://icloud.com/photos and log in with your Apple ID to see any synced photos)
Manual iCloud backup
Automatic nightly iCloud backup
iTunes backup
Transfer your photos and videos to your computer via USB cable
emailed, texted or messaged the items to friends or family
Sync to Google Photos
Sync to some other photo archiving service such as Shutterfly
Sync to Dropbox
Sync to box.com
Sync to Microsoft OneDrive
Sync to Amazon Photos
back up to Livedrive
Backup to any other backup or archiving service
Transfer them to a Flash drive through the lightning port on your iPhone, using a product such as SanDisk 64 GB iXpand Flash Drive Go - Apple

A final option is if you synced your photos to iCloud, you have a Mac, and you use Time Machine to back up your Mac automatically, you can open Time Machine and restore the photo library to an earlier date. To do this on your Mac open Finder, then click on Pictures in the sidebar and launch Time Machine. Go to a time before the photos were deleted and restore

Photos Library.photoslibrary. (If you had ever changed the name of the photo library restore that file instead).

If the answer is no to all of the above your photos are gone forever.

Jul 11, 2026 11:09 AM in response to mos192

See my previous post in this thread: Restore deleted photos on iPhone after iC… - Apple Community

Sep 8, 2026 1:48 PM in response to henrry193

henrry193 wrote:

I want to recover my accidentally deleted photos from my iPhone gallery please recover them please

There is a lot of valuable information and advice about photo recovery options in the 5 pages of the thread you just added to, so start by reading the thread, and post back if anything needs further clarification.

Sep 10, 2026 8:22 AM in response to venu163

venu163 wrote:

deleted photo 2025 back up

There is a lot of valuable information and advice about photo recovery options in the 6 pages of the thread you just added to, so start by reading the thread, and post back if anything needs further clarification.

Sep 12, 2026 7:10 AM in response to alishba208

alishba208 wrote:

How can I get my photos back after permanently delete it

Sep 12, 2026 2:51 PM in response to Henrimazombo

Henrimazombo wrote:

Restore my videos deleted on my iPhone

There is a lot of valuable information and advice about photo recovery options in the 6 pages of the forum thread you just added to, so start by reading the thread, and post back if anything needs further clarification.