Restore Deleted or Lost Instagram Photos and Videos
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Written By Sumona Chatterjee
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Approved By Rohit Arora
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Updated on 6 Jun, 2024 -
Min Reading 6 Min - Share
Summary: Have you deleted Instagram photos or videos? Are your Instagram photos or reel videos disappearing? This blog is a step-by-step guide to recover your lost or deleted Instagram photos and videos on Android, iPhone, and computer.
You love Instagram. The magical medium not only connects you with your loved ones but also to your favorite celebrities, brands, and interesting people around the world. Further, it is fun to view and share photos with augmented reality, amazing filters, and stickers etc., that grab ‘likes’ and attention. However, with so much to offer, sometimes managing so many Instagram photos and videos also becomes a strenuous task.
You may accidentally delete Instagram posts or suddenly notice Instagram photos are disappearing. Your Instagram reel drafts are deleted. Videos you created for uploading in the app can also go missing from your device due to virus attacks, formatting, or other reasons.
So is it possible to restore lost or deleted Instagram photos, videos, stories, IGTV videos, or reels? Thankfully yes.
Watch this video to know how to see deleted Instagram posts
Here in this blog you will know the different ways to restore lost or deleted Instagram photos and videos on Android, iPhone, iPad, and computer.
How to Recover Photos & Videos from Instagram
One way to recover Instagram photos and videos is from the app’s ‘Recently Deleted’ or ‘Archive’ folder. Another location where you should look for the Instagram files is in the photo albums of your device such as Gallery, Download folder, File Manager, Camera Roll, or others. You may also search for missing photos and videos in backup folder such as iCloud or Google Photos.
If you don’t find the deleted Instagram photos and videos at any location on your device or cloud backup, use a photo and video recovery software to retrieve the lost Instagram files from the storage device.
Way 1: Recover from ‘Recently Deleted’ folder on Instagram
‘Recently Deleted’ feature of Instagram helps to restore deleted content in the app. Photos, videos, IGTV videos, reels, and stories deleted from your account are first moved to the ‘Recently Deleted’ folder. The files stay in this folder for 30 days, except the stories, which remain only for 24 hours.
If you wish to undo the deletion and restore Instagram photos and videos during this 30 days period, do it by following the below steps. Before that, just make sure you are using the latest version of Instagram.
- Open Instagram and click to follow Settings > Account > Recently Deleted.
- Tap on the required photos and videos and click on the 3 dots at the top-right corner.
- Click on Restore option. Confirm the action in the pop-up box to restore the deleted photos and videos.
If you choose Delete option, it will permanently delete the files from your Instagram account.
Way 2: Recover photos from Instagram Archive
Instagram launched the ‘Archive Posts’ feature in 2017 which proved to be of great help as it allowed the users to hide any photos and stories from being seen by anyone. You can also recover ‘deleted’ photos from the archive folder. However, if you delete a photo from the archive, there’s no guarantee that you can recover it again.
Follow the below steps to unhide or recover the deleted Instagram photos and videos from Archive:
- Open Instagram app and click on your profile picture the bottom.
- Click on the Menu icon at the top-right corner and select Archive.
- As the Archive folder opens, click on the drop down and select from Stories archive, Posts archive, or Live archive options, from where you lost photos or videos.
- Now click on the required image and click on the 3 dots. Choose Show on Profile. You will get the lost videos and photos back to your feed.
Way 3: Recover Instagram photos from Gallery/Albums on Android or iPhone
Whenever you upload any photo or video on Instagram, it gets automatically saved in Gallery Album of your Android under ‘Instagram’ named folder. On iPhone the uploaded file is saved in Albums in the Photos app.
If you have accidently deleted or can’t find photos or videos on Instagram, look for them in the ‘Instagram’ folder in Android Gallery or iPhone’s Album.
Read more: How to fix Instagram videos that won’t play.
Way 4: Restore Instagram files on Android from File Manager
If Instagram photos have disappeared, check and restore them from the File Manager on your Android device.
Follow the below steps to recover Instagram files from File Manger on Android:
- Go to My Files > Pictures.
- Select the Instagram folder. If you’re able to find the lost photos, restore select and restore them
Way 5: Recover from ‘Recently Deleted’ on iPhone or iPad
You can recover deleted Instagram photos on iPhone or iPad from the ‘Recently Deleted’ folder. The Photos app on the iOS device has the ‘Recently Deleted’ folder that keeps the deleted images and videos for 30 days. You may find here the photos and videos that you posted on Instagram but now deleted from the account.
Follow the below steps to restore Instagram photos from ‘Recently Deleted’ on iPhone/ iPad:
- On your iOS device, launch the Photos app.
- Tap on Albums > Recently Deleted.
- Tap on the required photos or videos and select Recover.
Way 6: Restore Instagram Photos and Videos from Backup
This is where the Backup files serve the purpose. When you can’t find your Instagram files, then restore them from the backup present in cloud or storage drive. Check in iCloud, DropBox, Time Machine, or any other backup drive you use. If you have the required photos and videos, simply restore them, else follow the other method.
Way 7: Utilize a Software for Instagram photo recovery
The best bet to restore lost, deleted, or disappearing Instagram photos is to use an Instagram photo recovery software — Stellar Photo Recovery. It is a media files recovery tool, which can recover deleted photos from a PC, Mac, pen drive, SD card, or other media. By using the software you can retrieve bomb Instagram images, archive photos, or other posts, provided you have anytime saved them on your storage drive. With the robust scanning algorithm and straightforward recovery process, the software ensures deleted photos and videos of any format are back on your computer.
Further, Stellar Photo Recovery has a Free Edition with which you can restore up to 10 Instagram photos or videos.
To know the quick steps to recover lost/ deleted Instagram photos and videos using Stellar Photo Recovery click here.
Tip: How to save Instagram Photos to Phone to avoid Photo Loss
- Go to your profile and tap
. - Tap
Settings > Account > Original Photos (iOS) or Original Posts (Android). - Tap next to Save Original Photos (iOS) or Save Original Posts (Android) to turn it on.
When you turn on Save Original Photos or Save Original Posts, each photo with the post also is saved to your phone’s library.
Learn more Tips to Keep Your Videos and Photos Safe on Social Media
If the photos are permanently deleted from your Instagram handle, search for them in your device storage and backup locations by using the methods given in this post. You can also use Stellar Photo Recovery software to recover the photos from computer, pen drive, memory card etc. Once you recover the pictures, you have the option to upload them again on Instagram.
Yes, you can restore the deleted Instagram posts from the ‘Recently Deleted’ folder in your Instagram account. For steps, read method 1 in the blog.
Restore the deleted Instagram Story from the ‘Recently Deleted’ folder of your Instagram account
If the Instagram account is deleted or deactivated due to some reason, you cannot recover it. However, there’s an option to contact Instagram support for help to reactivate the account.
To repair Instagram reel videos, update to the latest version of the app, and clear all the cache. Learn more methods to repair Instagram reel.
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NO About The Author
Sumona is a tech blogger, avid photographer, & technogeek with vast experience in writing about media file recovery tips and tutorials. She has over 10 years of experience in media file recovery/media file repair technology. She is passionate about Photography, Creative Designing, Music, and Exploring lesser-known destinations.
57 comments
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Hi Sumona,
Can your software recover photos directly from the File Manager of my Phone?
Hi Gab,
If the photos were on your SD card, then you can easily recover them with Stellar Photo Recovery software. Else, you can use Stellar Data Recovery for Android software. It can recover all your data in no time.
My photos are deleted from my Instagram, and it it possible to recover it from my phone? I believe that photos are automatically saved in the device when you upload them.
Hi Tiese,
Obviously, you can find your deleted photos on your device. Just open the file manager app and go to the pictures’ folder. Now, find the Instagram folder; there is a chance that you might find your deleted photos in this folder.
Earlier this year I lost my Instagram account and I was very sad because it was a business account and I had no choice but to get it back or else I will lose all the followers I have built
I am very grateful to Stellar.
Hey Leon,
We’re glad our methods helped you.
How can I recover deleted photos from Instagram Posts?
Content(Posts) that you have deleted is removed from your account immediately and moved to Recently Deleted. And, Content in Recently Deleted will be automatically deleted within 30 days or up to 24 hours for stories that aren’t in your stories archive.
Try the above steps or you can choose to download a copy of your data on Instagram.
How do I get my temporary account back
Hi Raulph, you can reactivate you temporary account. Please follow the instruction : Read More
Thanx this really helped
hi sumona,
i clicked delete instead of archive on a photo i want to retrieve with the same likes and comments is there any way to get it back? it is not in my archive folder. thanks!
Hi Teodor , As I mentioned on our blog If you delete anything from the archive folder, the recovery of your photos cannot be guaranteed. So, check in the archive album for the instant recovery.
hi sumona. i have the same problem too. at the moment there is nothing on my archives so next time i post, i will check the archive album. do you think i can still find a way to restore it or no? the post i had accidentally deleted was a really good one. i’m just hoping to regain it. does it only restore the photos and not the actual post?
Hi Cody, Archive album for the instant recovery, As you read in my post related to recover deleted or lost Instagram Photos & Videos not for the particular Instagram post. More information you can check the Instagram help centre for the privacy and safety tab!