I use an iPhone 15 running iOS 18.5. I permanently deleted some important personal photos and videos about four months ago.

Hello Apple Support,


I use an iPhone 15 running iOS 18.5. I permanently deleted some important personal photos and videos about four months ago. iCloud Photos was turned off, and I have no iCloud or computer backup.


I have checked the Recovered album, but it is not available. Is there any official way to recover my permanently deleted photos and videos?


Thank you.

iPhone 15, iOS 18

Posted on Oct 17, 2026 11:01 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 18, 2026 4:11 AM

sankar274 wrote:
Hello Apple Support,


This is a user-to-user forum. You are not talking to Apple Support.


I use an iPhone 15 running iOS 18.5. I permanently deleted some important personal photos and videos about four months ago. iCloud Photos was turned off, and I have no iCloud or computer backup.


Permanently deleted means just that. Your photos are gone.


Is there any official way to recover my permanently deleted photos and videos?


Based on what you have told us, there is no official or unofficial way to recover your permanently deleted photos and videos. The only copies existed in your iPhone's internal storage. You told the iPhone to destroy them – and the iPhone did.

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 18, 2026 4:11 AM in response to sankar274

sankar274 wrote:
Hello Apple Support,


This is a user-to-user forum. You are not talking to Apple Support.


I use an iPhone 15 running iOS 18.5. I permanently deleted some important personal photos and videos about four months ago. iCloud Photos was turned off, and I have no iCloud or computer backup.


Permanently deleted means just that. Your photos are gone.


Is there any official way to recover my permanently deleted photos and videos?


Based on what you have told us, there is no official or unofficial way to recover your permanently deleted photos and videos. The only copies existed in your iPhone's internal storage. You told the iPhone to destroy them – and the iPhone did.

Oct 18, 2026 1:10 AM in response to sankar274

If it is not in the Recently Deleted Album then either you have deleted them 30 days earlier or have never deleted any.


Please check the following

  1. When you create a backup of your iPhone using iTunes or iCloud, it captures a snapshot of your device's data at that specific moment. If you later delete any data from your iPhone, such as photos, messages, contacts, or any other information, and then perform a new backup, the deleted data will also be removed from the new backup. The backup process essentially reflects the current state of your iPhone, and any changes made to the data will be mirrored in subsequent backups. So, be cautious when deleting data from your iPhone, as it will be permanently removed from future backups as well. If you wish to preserve specific data, it's important to keep it on your device until after the backup has been completed. Backup methods for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch
  2. If you sign out of Apple ID sign backing with another Apple ID after you had turned on Messages in iCloud & iCloud Photos, your content is safely stored in iCloud and is available on all devices that use the same Apple ID.
  3. If you have restored your iPhone with a backup that does not contain the Photos that you are looking for then please look for the correct backup on your PC/Mac --> Locate backups of your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Apple ...
  4. Do you have a correct backup (iTunes) --> Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup ...
  5. If you have restored from iCloud backup, then note the following
    1. iCloud backup doesn’t include information that is synced and stored in iCloud, like Contacts, Calendars, Bookmarks, Mail, Notes, Voice Memos, shared photos, iCloud Photos*, Health data, call history, and files you store in iCloud Drive.
    2. *-If you had turned on iCloud Photos, your content is automatically stored in iCloud and is not backed up.
  6. Probably you may have un-synced photos with Mac / PC, sync them again
    1. For PC: --> Sync photos in iTunes on PC with devices - Apple Support
    2. For Mac --> Sync photos between your Mac and iPhone or iPad - Apple ...
  7. Have you ever imported your photos to Mac/PC and used "Delete After Import" --? Transfer photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod ...
  8. If not found anywhere, have you ever uploaded them to any Cloud Drives (iCloud Drive, Google Drive, OneDrive, DropBox, Flickr, box, AmazonDrive, Adobe Creative Cloud etc)



I use an iPhone 15 running iOS 18.5. I permanently deleted some important personal photos and videos about four months ago.

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