How to Recover Permanently Deleted Photos from iCloud

“I recently deleted some photos from my iPhone because the storage was full. The next day, I searched for a photo I needed for work and couldn’t find it. Apparently, every photo of my cats, all of my wedding photos and work photos are gone. Please, what can I do to recover them?”

iCloud is an online storage created by Apple to store all file types, including photos, videos, documents, etc. Every photo taken by Apple devices, such as your iPhone or iPad automatically saves on iCloud.

But what if you permanently delete your photos? In this post, we will show you how to recover permanently deleted photos from iCloud in different scenarios.

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How Can I Retrieve Deleted Photos from iCloud

Explained below are 5 simple methods to restore photos from iCloud. You can choose the best solution that addresses your needs.

Recover Deleted iCloud Photos from the Recently Deleted Album (in 30 Days)

If you enable iCloud photos for all your devices, you can access your pictures on the other devices. In the same vein, if you delete photos from any device, it will automatically be deleted from other devices.

Fortunately, deleted photos are stored in the Recently Deleted album for 30 days, allowing you to restore them within this duration. After 30 days, you will completely lose your pics.

👉Follow these steps to recover deleted iCloud photos from Recently Deleted album:

Go to iCloud.com and sign in with your Apple ID.
Click on Photos.
Select Recently Deleted.
Pick the photos you want to restore and click Recover.

Restore Photos from iCloud via the iCloud Website

When you disable iCloud Photos for your current device, then delete some pictures, you can manually recover them from the iCloud website. All you have to do is enable iCloud photos, then download the pictures from the iCloud website to your device.

❗NOTE: If the photos were taken when the iCloud Photos was enabled, your photos would be saved on iCloud. So, if you deleted them when iCloud Photos is disabled, you can still recover them.

👉Follow these instructions on how to recover photos from iCloud website:

Open your browser and go to iCloud.com.
Log in with your Apple ID.
Select Photos and choose the photos you want to recover.
Click Download (symbolized by a cloud with downward arrow) to retrieve the pictures to your device.
Select Unmodified Originals to restore your pics in their original form.

Go to your Photo app, you will find your pictures there.

Recover Permanently Deleted iCloud Photos from iCloud Backup

This solution is only suitable for users who frequently back up their photos on iCloud. You risk losing all your data if you don’t have a backup and attempt this method.

If your iCloud Photo Library is turned on, there is every chance that your photos are backed up in iCloud. To confirm this, follow these steps:

Go to Settings.
Click Your Name, then tap iCloud.
Select Photos and check if you can restore your deleted pictures.

If not, follow these steps on how to recover deleted pictures on iPhone, Mac, iPad, and other devices:

Go to Settings.
Click on Reset.
Select Erase All Content and Settings.

Your iPhone will restart, then display a new page. Choose Restore from iCloud Backup.

Sign in to your Apple account.
From the list of backups displayed, choose the one you want to restore to.
Click Recover.

Try Photo Recovery Software to Restore Pics from iCloud

If you’ve tried all the solutions above and are still looking for how to restore pictures from iCloud, it is time to explore one of the top 10 photo recovery software. Amongst the vast array of options, ONERECOVERY stands out as a highly reliable iCloud photo recovery tool with its user-friendly interface that enables easy retrieval of all image formats, such as JPEG, GIF, PNG, WebP, Raw, etc.

The retrieval process is similar to recover files deleted from recycle bin after empty. To get started on how to restore pics from iCloud using ONERECOVERY, download the software on your Mac or Windows device, install it, and launch it. Then, in 3 simple steps, you recover your photos.

Select the location where the photos were saved before deletion.

Scan the storage to display deleted pictures. This software offers QUICK SCAN and DEEP SCAN. While the former conducts a fast scan, the latter carries out a thorough scan, displaying all lost pictures, including corrupted, overwritten, and deleted pics.

Preview the photos before restoring them to verify the accuracy of the scan. After previewing, click Recover and your deleted photos will be back on your computer’s drive. Then upload them to iCloud.

Call Apple Support to Recover Deleted iCloud Photos

If you’ve tried all the solutions on how to recover permanently deleted photos from iCloud and none worked, the last resort is to contact Apple Support. Communicate your problem with the representative who attends to you and give detailed answers to the questions you will be asked.

Some of these questions are:

When was the photo(s) deleted?
What recovery method have you attempted? You will most likely be asked to recover your files from the Recently Deleted album.

You might have to specifically ask to speak to a Senior Advisor in the team to recover your photos. These are some reviews from users who contacted Apple Support.

Conclusion

Judging from the solutions cited above, you can see that how to recover permanently deleted photos from iCloud doesn’t require a high level of expertise. Just follow the instructions and you will get back your lost pictures.

If the deletion is not more than 30 days, retrieve your pics from the Recently Deleted album. To download the pics to your current device, go to iCloud Website or iCloud Backup. For photos that were deleted more than 30 days ago, use ONERECOVERY. If all these don’t work, call Apple Support.

FAQs on iCloud Photo Recovery

Here are answers to additional salient questions about how to restore pics from iCloud.

How to recover deleted photos that weren’t backed up?

Recovering deleted photos that weren’t backed up on iCloud is possible through various methods, such as:

Recently Deleted Album: You will find the missing photos if the deletion happened within 30 days ago.
iCloud Website: If “Enable iCloud Photos” was turned off before deletion, you can download the pictures from the iCloud website.
Photo Recovery Software: Use a reliable photo recovery tool, such as ONERECOVERY.
Call Apple Support: A customer care representative will help you retrieve your photos back or return it to the Recently Deleted album.

Zedd

Zedd is a tech enthusiast, and editor in the AI and data technology realm. With a master's in Computer Science, Zedd passionately explores and shares insights into the ever-evolving world of technology. Outside of work, he loves to play badminton.