This how-to is part of our iOS Help feature, where every week I try and help you fix the problems you're having with your iPhones and iPads. If you have a question or need help with something iOS related that you just can't figure out, I encourage you to drop a question in our iMore forums, no registration required!
This week's question comes to us from Sascha:
Hello. I was trying to free up some space on my iPhone and so I deleted a bunch of photos but I accidentally deleted a photo that I shouldn't have. Do you have any idea how to get it back?
Sascha:
If you're running iOS 8, and it's been under 30 days since you deleted the photo, you can easily get it back. Here's how!
How to recover deleted photos on your iPhone or iPad
- Launch the Photos app on your iPhone or iPad running iOS 8 or later.
- Tap on the Albums tab in the bottom navigation.
- Tap on the album titled Recently Deleted.
- Tap on the photo you'd like to recover and tap on Recover in the bottom navigation.
- Tap on Recover Photo in the popup menu.
How to recover multiple deleted photos on your iPhone or iPad
- Launch the Photos app on your iPhone or iPad running iOS 8 or later.
- Tap on the Albums tab in the bottom navigation.
- Tap on the album titled Recently Deleted.
- Tap on Select in the top navigation.
- Tap on all the photos you'd like to recover — or tap on Recover All at the bottom to recover all deleted photos.
- Tap on Recover in the bottom right hand navigation.
- Tap on Recover Photos in the popup menu.
Alternatives
If you aren't using iOS 8 or it's been more than 30 days, here are some other things you can try:
- Check Messages or Mail. If you ever sent the photo to someone else, it might still be in the message.
- Check your social networks. If you ever shared the photo on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc. it's almost certainly still there.
- Check your other devices. If you sync via iCloud or Dropbox or any other service, the photo might have ended up on your computer and might still be there.
I hope this helped, and I hope you got your photo back!
Have an iPhone or iPad question for us? Send your e-mail to ioshelp@imore.com and we might feature it in a future column.
Reader comments
iOS Help: I accidentally deleted a photo off my iPhone, how can I get it back?
I disliked all the photos changes with the first ios8. But once the library came back in the updates, I love having recently deleted. Great little column and should be very helpful for many!!!
Photos can not be easily recovered after it is lost for over 30 days. I always back up my iphone staff whenever I can. You have to take precautions before it is too late, isn't it?
HELP! I have an iPhone 6 Plus S. Can I recover a deleted photo that I accidentally deleted before saving?
I think you may use the 3rd party recovery tools. You should recover the deleted photos as soon as you can, and you don't use the iPhone frequently, because it might cover the data of your deleted photos, then you will have a little chance to recover them. I recommend you the Wondershare or the FonePaw iPhone Data Recovery which are popular data recovery now. You can have a try.
I remember they have tutorials on their websites. Like this.