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How to recover recently deleted photos on iPhone and Android

Updated

If you deleted a photo in the last 30 days, you can almost certainly get it back. Both iPhone and most Android phones keep deleted photos in a holding folder for a while before they are gone for good. The fastest route is to open that folder and tap Recover or Restore.

If it has been longer than that, or you emptied the folder, the news is worse. The last section is honest about what is and isn’t possible. Whatever you do, don’t delete more photos while you look.

iPhone: the Recently Deleted album

Apple keeps deleted photos and videos for 30 days. After that they are permanently deleted and can’t be brought back.

  1. Open the Photos app.
  2. Swipe up to Utilities and tap Recently Deleted. (On some versions you tap Collections first.)
  3. Tap View Album. Unlock it with Face ID or Touch ID. (Recently Deleted and Hidden are locked by default. Your passcode works too.)
  4. Tap a photo or video, then tap Recover. For several, tap Select, tap the ones you want, tap the More button, then tap Recover.
  5. Confirm when your phone asks.

Recovered items go back into your library. Apple’s page was published in September 2025, so the wording on your phone may differ slightly if you are on an older version of iOS.

The same album on iCloud.com

If you use iCloud Photos, a photo deleted on one device is deleted everywhere, and you can recover it from any browser.

  1. Go to icloud.com/photos and sign in with your Apple Account.
  2. Click Recently Deleted in the sidebar. If you don’t see the sidebar, click the Show Sidebar button.
  3. Select the photos, then click Recover.

The same 30 days apply. Photos you delete from a shared album are not kept this way, so save a copy to your own library first.

Android: Google Photos Trash

  1. Open the Google Photos app.
  2. Tap Collections, then Trash.
  3. Touch and hold a photo or video, then tap Restore.

It goes back to its albums, your library and your phone’s gallery app. Google’s help pages say items stay in Trash for 30 days, whether or not they were backed up, and that you can’t restore anything you removed by emptying Trash or deleting it from Trash. You can also check on a computer at photos.google.com.

Some older articles online say 60 days for backed-up items. Google’s current help pages say 30, so plan on 30.

Samsung’s Gallery app has its own trash, separate from Google Photos. Check both if you use both.

  1. Open Gallery.
  2. Tap Menu (the three lines), then Trash.
  3. Touch and hold an item, then tap other thumbnails to add more. Tap All to pick everything.
  4. Tap Restore at the bottom.

Items stay for 30 days, then they are permanently deleted. On some phones the folder is called Recycle bin.

Check the Hidden album

Sometimes the photo isn’t gone. It is hidden.

On iPhone, open Photos, swipe up to Utilities and tap Hidden. Tap View Album and unlock it. Tap the photo, tap the More button, then tap Unhide. If you can’t see a Hidden album at all, it has been switched off. Go to Settings > Apps > Photos, scroll down and turn on Show Hidden Album.

On Android, Google Photos has a Locked Folder and Samsung phones have a Secure Folder. Photos moved there don’t show in the main library.

Restoring from a backup

If the photo is older than 30 days but you have an iCloud or computer backup from before you deleted it, a restore may bring it back. Be careful here. Restoring a backup on an iPhone that is already set up means erasing the phone first. Apple’s instructions say so directly. Everything on the phone since that backup is replaced: new photos, messages, apps and settings.

Before you try it:

  1. Back up the phone as it is now, to your computer or iCloud, so nothing recent is lost.
  2. Check that the backup you plan to restore from is dated before the deletion.
  3. Know that you are trading everything new for one old photo. If the photo matters that much, this can be worth it. If not, it isn’t.

After the trash has been emptied

Once the 30 days are up, or the trash has been emptied, the photo is almost always gone. Modern phones encrypt their storage, so deleted data usually can’t be read back. This is why the recovery apps in the app stores rarely find anything useful. The most they can usually show you is a small preview image or a copy that was already in another cloud account.

Before you give up, look in the other places a copy might live: iCloud.com, Google Photos on a computer, a text or email you sent the photo in, a shared album, a computer you once synced to, or someone you sent it to.

When to stop and get help

Stop and don’t keep experimenting if the phone won’t turn on, the screen is broken, or you are about to wipe or restore it. A professional data-recovery lab is the right call for a damaged phone. For a phone that works but is missing photos, the steps above are all there is to try.

If you’re a Photo Organizing Co client

Please don’t delete anything from your phone before we start, and don’t restore it from a backup. If you already deleted something by accident, check Recently Deleted or Trash first, recover it, and tell me about it. I’ll include whatever you recover in your library.

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