Hello,
Yesterday either I or my iPhone threw a fit and deleted some photos for good, and now you want them back. How to recover deleted photos from iPhone? I'll appreciate your guidance!

We're there to help you on your quest. Luckily, Apple leaves you many ways to recover deleted photos from iPhone, you just need to know where to go.

So, keep calm and follow our instructions on how to recover deleted photos:

  • How to retrieve deleted photos on iPhone: first thing to check

  • Recover permanently deleted photos from iPhone: summary table

  • Recover deleted photos from iTunes or iCloud backup

    • YouTube guide
  • Restore deleted iPhone photos without backup

  • Restore deleted photos to iPhone using iTunes

  • Restore deleted photos to iPhone using iCloud

How to retrieve deleted photos on iPhone

By default, pictures taken with the Camera app are saved to Photos. The Recently Deleted folder in the Photos app is the first place where you can find deleted photos on iPhone.

  1. Go to Photos -> Albums -> Scroll down to find Recently Deleted section.

    Restore photos from Recently Deleted

  2. Click on Select in the top-right corner -> choose the images to restore -> press Recover.

    Recover deleted photos on iPhone

  3. Your recently deleted photos will be safely returned to Camera Roll.

Recover permanently deleted photos iPhone

Summary table

If your photos cannot be found in Recently Deleted, you will need to up your game and consider using specialized software. We have two options for you here, CopyTrans Backup Extractor and CopyTrans Cloudly. See what they can do below:

🖥️ iTunes 🌤️ CopyTrans Cloudly 👾 CopyTrans Backup Extractor ☁️ iCloud
Requirements iPhone and cable PC and Wi-Fi PC and Wi-Fi iPhone and Wi-Fi
Recover data from iTunes backup ✔️ ✔️
Recover data from iCloud backup ✔️ ✔️
Leave other iPhone data intact ✔️ ✔️
Recover photos without backup ✔️
Restore photos to iPhone ✔️
*you can transfer them to iPhone later

*you can transfer them to iPhone later
✔️
Extract photos to PC ✔️ ✔️


CopyTrans Backup Extractor logo png

Recover deleted photos

from iTunes or iCloud backup

If your photos are not in Recently Deleted, they may be in one of your backups – in iTunes or in iCloud.

What is a backup? Do I have any?? There is no need to worry about it with CopyTrans Backup Extractor: it will deal with any backup for you and recover deleted photos.

With CopyTrans Backup Extractor, you can:

⭐ find all your iTunes and iCloud backups (automatically!)
⭐ extract your deleted photos to PC
⭐ extract other data types to PC

You can then transfer your recovered photos back to iPhone.

Let's go through retrieving deleted photos step by step:

  1. Download and install CopyTrans Backup Extractor. If you need help, refer to the installation guide.

    Download CopyTrans Backup Extractor

  2. Start the program and click on Find Backups.

    ☁️To see iCloud backups, click on "iCloud Backups" and log in to your iCloud account first.

    Find iPhone backups with CopyTrans Backup Extractor

  3. You will see a list of all available backups: choose the one that contains your photos. If you are restoring from iTunes backup, you may be asked for a backup password. What password?

    Enter the backup password in CopyTrans Backup Extractor

    iCloud backups are never password-protected.

  4. Select Photos, then click Extract.

    How to retrieve deleted photos from iPhone backup with CopyTrans Backup Extractor

  5. Select the destination folder and confirm. Wait… CopyTrans Backup Extractor is wielding magic.

    iPhone photo recovery in progress

  6. Voila!

    Recover deleted photos iphone

    Now you can click on "Go to folder" to see all the photos migrated there. You can now transfer recovered photos back to iPhone.

How to retrieve deleted photos

YouTube guide

For those who love visual instructions, we prepared a video guide on how to get deleted photos back:

Transfer recovered photos back to iPhone

After you've recovered permanently deleted iPhone photos to computer, you can transfer them to iPhone in a couple of clicks. See how to:


Use CopyTrans Photo to transfer photos to iPhone:

See CopyTrans Photo!



CopyTrans Cloudly logo

Restore deleted iPhone photos without backup

If your photos were not in the backup, maybe they were synced to iCloud before you deleted them? If so, it is time for desperate measures: CopyTrans Cloudly. The software has a chance to recover deleted photos if they were removed from iCloud.

CopyTrans Cloudly will:

⭐ go to iCloud servers;
⭐ search for all your photos Apple hasn't deleted yet;
⭐ recover deleted photos to your computer.

You can then transfer your recovered photos back to iPhone.

We'll show you the way to recover permanently deleted photos iPhone:

  1. Download and install CopyTrans Cloudly. If you need help, refer to the installation guide.

    Download CopyTrans Cloudly

  2. Run CopyTrans Cloudly. Sign in with your Apple ID. We use SSL connection to protect your data, so you're safe!

    Recover deleted photos from iCloud

  3. To recover deleted photos from iCloud, click on "Rescue" and choose the folder you want to save them to.

    Recover deleted photos to iPhone

  4. If your deleted photos and videos are still on the Apple servers, CopyTrans Cloudly will download them back to your PC.

    Recover permanently deleted photos iphone

  5. A-and done! The photos are waiting for you in the destination folder. You can now transfer photos back to iPhone.

    Photos recovered with CopyTrans Cloudly

  6. CopyTrans Cloudly will show you the number of photos available and download the first 100 photos at once: you will be able to see if they are the ones you need. We recommend that you rescue all the photos on the same day, as Apple may swiftly delete the photos after we access them.

    Once you've decided to restore, please make haste!

    TIP: CopyTrans Cloudly can also help you:

    ⚡ download all iCloud library to PC in one go
    ⚡ upload photos to iCloud
    ⚡ delete all photos from iCloud in one click to free up your storage.

Transfer recovered photos back to iPhone

After you've recovered permanently deleted iPhone photos to computer, you can transfer them to iPhone in a couple of clicks. See how to:


Use CopyTrans Photo to transfer photos to iPhone:

See CopyTrans Photo!



iTunes logo png

Restore deleted photos to iPhone from iTunes Backup

If you managed to find a recent backup in iTunes, consider yourself lucky: it will restore deleted pictures to your iPhone.

However:

☹️ All the data and settings on your iPhone will be erased and replaced with data from the backup;
😐 You can only restore photos to iPhone, not to PC.

If you'd like to restore your photos to PC – use CopyTrans Backup Extractor.
If you'd like to restore only photos to iPhone – use CopyTrans Shelbee.

If you are OK with it, here is how to restore your photos using iTunes:

  1. Run iTunes and connect your device to PC;
  2. Wait until your iPhone appears on iTunes top panel and click on the iPhone icon;
  3. Select your device in iTunes

  4. Click on "Summary" to open a summary screen; then click on "Restore Backup";
  5. How to restore deleted photos using iTunes

  6. iTunes may ask you to turn off "Find my iPhone".

    iTunes message Find My iPhone must be turned off

  7. Choose the backup you need and click on "Restore".
  8. Recover deleted pictures on iPhone from iTunes backup

    If your backup is encrypted, enter your iOS backup password. What password?

  9. Now just wait until the process finishes.
  10. iTunes restore in progress

  11. Here you go! Your photos are safe.


iCloud logo png

Restore deleted photos from iCloud backup

However:

☹️ All the data and settings on your iPhone will be erased and replaced with data from the backup;
😐 You can only restore photos to iPhone, not to PC.

If you'd like to restore your photos to PC – use CopyTrans Backup Extractor.

  1. First, make sure that you have a valid iCloud backup that contains deleted photos. On your iPhone, go to Settings -> Apple ID -> iCloud -> Storage -> Manage Storage -> Backups. You should be able to see the device, date, and size of the last backup.

    Most recent iCloud backup

  2. If you have the backup you want to restore, go ahead and reset your device. Yes, you'll need to erase all content, but we will get everything back! Go to Settings -> General -> Reset -> Erase All Content and Settings.

    Erase all content and settings on the iPhone

  3. Restart your device. Go to Apps and Data, select "Restore from iCloud backup" and log in to your iCloud account.

    How to restore deleted pictures using iCloud

  4. Select the backup that contains your deleted iPhone photos.Choose the backup that contains the deletes photos from iPhone

Hope one of these methods will help you recover deleted photos. Please make sure that you back up your device on a weekly/monthly basis to ensure the safety of your precious memories.

Avatar for Marika CopyTrans

Marika (pronounce like 'Merica) dreams of saving the world from boredom. Fairly believes that she was the one for the part of Wonder Woman in DC movies, but for now she is eager to make your CopyTrans journey remarkable.