How to Recover Photos You Accidentally Deleted on iPhone

Deleted photos aren't gone immediately — your iPhone keeps them for 30 days. Here's how to recover them before they're permanently erased.

Open the Recently Deleted album

~21s

Open the Photos app. Tap "Albums" at the bottom of the screen. Scroll down to the "Utilities" section. Tap "Recently Deleted." This album shows all photos and videos you've deleted in the last 30 days.

Quick Tip

On iPhones running iOS 16 or later, the Recently Deleted album is locked by default — you need to authenticate with Face ID or Touch ID to open it.

Recover a photo

~15s

Tap a photo to select it. Tap "Recover" at the bottom right of the screen. Tap "Recover Photo" to confirm. The photo moves back to your main photo library immediately and appears in the "Recents" album as well as its original location.

Recover multiple photos at once

~25s

In the Recently Deleted album, tap "Select" in the top right corner. Tap each photo you want to recover (a blue checkmark appears on each one). After selecting all the photos you want, tap "Recover" at the bottom right. Tap "Recover [number] Photos" to confirm all at once.

Quick Tip

If you want to recover ALL deleted photos, tap "Select" then "Recover All" at the bottom right — this restores everything from the Recently Deleted album in one step.

You Did It!

You've completed: How to Recover Photos You Accidentally Deleted on iPhone

Need more help? Get Expert Help from a TekSure Tech

When you delete a photo on iPhone, it doesn't disappear right away. It moves to a 'Recently Deleted' album and stays there for 30 days. During that window, you can recover it completely. After 30 days, it's permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.

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