How to recover recently deleted pictures on Apple devices

Have you accidently deleted a picture? No worries. Here is how to quickly recover it!

First step, check the Recently Deleted folder

If you delete photos or videos by mistake, you can recover them from the Recently Deleted folder. Go to the Photos app > Albums and tap Recently Deleted in the Utilities section. If you see the missing photo or video, you can move it back to your Recent album.

On iPhone, iPad or iPod touch

1. Tap the video or photo and then tap Recover.
2. Confirm that you want to recover the photo.

To recover multiple photos

1. Tap Select.
2. Tap the photos or videos and then tap Recover.
3. Confirm that you want to recover the photos or videos.

On Mac

1. Click on the photo or video.
2. Click Recover.

Items remain in the Recently Deleted folder for 30 days, after which they will be permanently deleted and you will never be able to recover them.

Make sure iCloud Photos is turned on

With iCloud Photos, you can securely store all your photos and videos in iCloud, so you can access them from all your devices. If you’ve taken a photo on your iPhone but don’t see it on your other devices, check your settings with these steps.

On iPhone, iPad or iPod touch

1. Go to Settings> [username] and then tap iCloud.
2. Tap Photos.
3. Turn on iCloud Photos.
   

On Mac

1. Go to Photos> Preferences. 
2. Click on the iCloud panel.
3. Select iCloud Photos.

After turning on the iCloud Photos option, you may need to connect to Wi-Fi and wait a few minutes. Then, search your photos again.

Sign in with the same Apple ID

To have your photos and videos synced across all your devices, sign in to iCloud with the same Apple ID on all devices.

You can check which Apple ID is linked to the device from Settings or System Preferences. You will see your name and email address. The email address is your Apple ID.

Show photos

If you hide the photos and videos, you will only see them in your Hidden album so it may appear that they are not there. However, you can show them at any time. With iOS 14 and later, you can hide the Hidden album so it never appears in the Photos app. So, if you can’t find any photos or videos, make sure the Hidden album is activated  so you can see it.

If you use iCloud Photos, the photos you hide on one device are also hidden on the other devices.

On iPhone, iPad or iPod touch

1. Open Photos and go to the Albums panel.
2. Tap Hidden under Utilities.
3. Select the photo or video you want to show again.
4. Tap the Share button and then tap Show.
   

On Mac

1. Open Photos and in the menu bar click on View and then select Show Hidden Albums.
2. In the sidebar, select Hidden.
3. Select the photo or video you want to show again.
4. Ctrl-click the photo, then choose Reveal Photo. You can also choose Image> Reveal Photo from the menu bar or press Command-L.