How Do You Undelete Photos? A Simple Guide to Photo Recovery

Accidentally deleting precious photos is a common digital mishap. Whether it’s a slip of the finger on your iPhone, a misclick on your Mac, or an unintended action within iCloud, the panic of losing cherished memories can be real. Fortunately, recovering deleted photos is often straightforward, especially if you act quickly. This guide will walk you through the steps on how to undelete photos across Apple’s ecosystem, covering iCloud, iPhones, and Macs, ensuring you can retrieve those valuable images.

Recovering Photos from iCloud.com

iCloud Photos is a fantastic service for keeping your photo library synchronized across all your Apple devices. If you use iCloud Photos and delete a photo, it’s not immediately gone forever. Apple provides a grace period, allowing you to recover recently deleted items. Here’s how to undelete photos from iCloud using a web browser:

1. Navigate to iCloud Photos: Open your web browser and go to iCloud.com. Sign in with your Apple ID credentials.
2. Access the Photos App: Once logged in, click on the “Photos” app icon.
3. Open the “Recently Deleted” Album: In the Photos app interface, look for the sidebar. If you don’t see it, click the sidebar icon. Then, locate and click on the “Recently Deleted” album. This album holds photos and videos you’ve deleted within the last 30 days.
4. Select and Recover Photos: Browse through the recently deleted items. Select the photos or videos you wish to recover by clicking on them.
5. Click “Recover”: After selecting your desired photos, click the “Recover” button. The undeleted photos will be restored to your main iCloud Photos library and will reappear on all devices connected to your iCloud Photo Library.

Recovering Deleted Photos on Your iPhone

If you deleted photos directly from your iPhone, the recovery process is just as simple. Apple iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches running iOS or iPadOS also have a “Recently Deleted” album within the Photos app. Here’s how to undelete photos on your iPhone:

1. Open the Photos App: Locate and tap on the “Photos” app icon on your iPhone’s home screen.
2. Go to the “Albums” Tab: At the bottom of the Photos app, tap on the “Albums” tab.
3. Find the “Recently Deleted” Album: Scroll down to the “Utilities” section and tap on the “Recently Deleted” album. You might need to use Face ID or Touch ID to unlock this album for security, especially on iOS 16, iPadOS 16.1, or later versions.
4. Select Photos for Recovery: Tap “Select” in the top right corner. Then, tap on each photo or video you want to undelete.
5. Recover Selected Items: Once you’ve selected all the photos you need, tap “Recover” at the bottom right. To recover all items in the album, you can choose “Recover All.”
6. Confirm Recovery: Tap “Recover Photo” to confirm the action. The recovered photos will be immediately returned to your iPhone’s photo library in their original albums.

Restoring Recently Deleted Photos on Mac

Just like iPhones and iCloud, Macs also have a “Recently Deleted” album within the Photos application. If you use iCloud Photos on your Mac, deleting photos there also moves them to this album for a 30-day recovery window. Here’s how to restore deleted photos on your Mac:

1. Open the Photos App on Mac: Open the “Photos” application on your Mac.
2. Navigate to “Recently Deleted”: In the Photos app, find the sidebar on the left. Click on “Recently Deleted.” If this album is locked, you may be prompted to use Touch ID or enter your password to unlock it for security.
3. Choose Photos to Recover: You will see a collection of recently deleted photos and videos. Select the items you wish to recover. You can select multiple items by holding down the Shift key or Command key while clicking.

The Photos window showing Recently Deleted selected in the sidebar and recently deleted items on the right.

4. Click “Recover”: Once you have selected all the photos you want to undelete, click the “Recover” button located at the top right corner of the Photos app window. The photos will be restored to your Photos library and will sync back to iCloud and your other devices if iCloud Photos is enabled.

Remember, the “Recently Deleted” album is a temporary holding place. Photos and videos remain here for 30 days. After this period, they are permanently deleted and cannot be recovered from the “Recently Deleted” album.

Beyond 30 Days: Time Machine Backup

If you realize you need to recover photos that have been deleted for more than 30 days from your Mac and you use Time Machine for backups, you might still be in luck. Time Machine can restore your entire Photos library to a point in time before the photos were permanently deleted. To do this, you would need to:

1. Open Time Machine: Connect your Time Machine backup drive and open Time Machine through the menu bar icon.
2. Navigate to a Backup Date: Use the timeline on the right side of the screen to navigate to a date before you deleted the photos.
3. Restore Photos Library: Locate your Photos Library (usually in your Pictures folder) and click “Restore” to restore your entire library to that point in time.

Conclusion

Undeleting photos on iCloud, iPhone, and Mac is usually a simple process thanks to the “Recently Deleted” feature. Always remember to check this album first if you accidentally delete a photo. For long-term protection against data loss, consider regularly backing up your devices and photo libraries using services like iCloud and Time Machine. This ensures that even if you miss the 30-day window, your precious memories remain safe and recoverable.