The Recently Deleted folder in the Photos App on iPhone is there to recover accidentally deleted photos. However, even if your important photos are deleted from ‘Recently Deleted’ you are not yet out of luck. This post shares how to recover deleted photos after deleting them from ‘Recently Deleted’ on iPhone.
‘I deleted some important pictures on my iPhone and also deleted them from the ‘Recently Deleted’ folder. Is there any possible way to recover photos after permanently deleting them from the iPhone?’
When you delete photos from your iPhone, they first go to the ‘Recently Deleted’ folder of the Photos App. Here the photos remain for 30 days. Hence, any picture deleted 30 days ago automatically gets removed after this period, and this time permanently.
However, sometimes you may accidentally delete valuable pictures too. To make the situation worse, even remove image files from ‘Recently Deleted’ or realize the mistake 30 days after deleting!
In any case, can you get photos back after deleting from ‘Recently Deleted’ on your iPhone?
This post addresses the problem situation of permanently deleted photos from iPhones and finds the appropriate solution.
Let’s read on…
Understanding permanently deleted photo recovery from iPhone
You can recover deleted photos from your iPhone after deleting them from the Recently Deleted folder or 30 days of automatic deletion.
Of course, backups — iCloud and iTunes are the immediate go-through solution in such a case. However, Apple backups have their own disadvantage. Photo recovery with iCloud and iTunes results in the loss of your current data on your iPhone!
Risk of Current Data Loss by Using iCloud or iTunes Backup:
- When you restore an iPhone using iCloud or iTunes, the device is reset to the state of the backup. Any data added to the phone after the backup was made will be erased unless it has been separately backed up.
- For example, if you create or save new files, messages, or photos after the backup date, those items will be overwritten during the restoration process.
Limitations:
Apple's backup solutions are all-or-nothing approaches. They do not allow selective recovery of specific data, such as only recovering photos without overwriting other data. Third-party data recovery tools often provide more flexibility in this regard.
Methods to Recover Deleted Photos after Deleting from ‘Recently Deleted’ on iPhone
Recover Recently Deleted Photos with iPhone recovery software [Recommended]
Some of you may not have photos backed up in iCloud or iTunes. It's also possible you couldn’t find the desired picture in the backup. In any case, use the best iPhone recovery software to get pictures back after deleting from Recently Deleted on iPhone 6, 7, 8, X, etc., but also the latest series of iPhone 16. You also get the latest iOS 18 support.
Stellar Data Recovery for iPhone can help to recover photos from the iPhone without backup. Additionally, you can retrieve lost or deleted contacts, messages, chat messages, Notes, Reminders, etc.
Besides, when you recover photos by using iTunes or iCloud, it gets back all data from the backup file whereas with the software you can select and recover only what you require. Unlike photo recovery from backup, the software doesn’t replace the existing data with old backup data on your iPhone.
Here are the steps to recover deleted photos after deleting them from the Recently Deleted folder on your iPhone:
- Connect your iPhone to your PC or Mac computer.
- Download and launch Stellar Data Recovery for iPhone on a computer.
- On the first screen, select Recover from iPhone on the left pane. If required, you can choose the ‘Recover from iCloud’ or ‘Recover from iTunes’ option.
- Check-in Camera Roll and Photo Stream and click Next.
- The software scans and displays the recovered pictures. See preview, select, and save the desired photos.
Recover ‘Recently Deleted’ photos from iCloud backup
Use an iCloud backup to recover deleted photos from your iPhone after 30 days of deleting them from the ‘Recently Deleted’ folder. iCloud backup is the best solution to retrieve permanently deleted photos from iPhone free.
Just get on to the below steps to recover deleted photos from iCloud:
- On your iPhone, go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings.
- Confirm by selecting Erase Now, and follow the prompts until you reach the Apps & Data screen.
- Choose Restore from iCloud Backup.
- Sign in with your iCloud account credentials.
- From the list of backups, select the most recent one that contains the deleted photos.
- Tap Restore, and wait for the process to complete. The deleted photos will be restored to your iPhone.
Important Notes:
- Restoring from a backup will erase all current data on your iPhone. Be sure to back up your current data separately before proceeding.
- This method only works if the photos were included in a backup made before they were deleted.
Recover permanently deleted photos from iTunes
If you have an iTunes backup, look for the deleted photos after deleting from ‘Recently Deleted’ in your iTunes backup.
Below are the quick steps:
- Connect your iPhone to your PC or Mac and launch iTunes.
- Click on your iPhone under the device list and select the recent backup date that may contain the permanently deleted pictures.
- Click Restore Backup.
That’s it. You get back the deleted photos on your iPhone. However, this will replace the current data on the iPhone with the old backup data.
Recover recently deleted photos from other cloud storage
iPhone users, who don’t completely rely on iCloud and iTunes for backup, use third-party cloud backup solutions. If you are one of those, check your cloud storage for permanently deleted photos on your iPhone. Cloud backups such as Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc., are efficient ways to save and protect your photos on your iPhone from permanent loss. You can restore photos on a PC, Mac, or iPhone by using cloud storage.
Conclusion
An iPhone recovery software is the perfect approach to recover deleted photos from an iPhone after 30 days of deleting them from the ‘Recently Deleted’ folder. We recommend Stellar Data Recovery for iPhone. It is fast and can retrieve permanently deleted photos without affecting the current data of your iPhone. Unlike iCloud and iTunes backup, which annoyingly replace existing data with the old backup data, the software can restore only those photos, which you have deleted.
Take the free trial and ensure that Stellar Data Recovery for iPhone can retrieve permanently deleted photos from your iPhone.