How to Recover iPhone Deleted Photos with 5 Effective Ways

By Jennifer | Last Updated January 03, 2024

I recently cleared my iPhone 5S entirely and my many important photos were deleted accidently at the same time. How can I recover iPhone deleted photos?

If this really happened out of control, please try following 5 effective ways to recover deleted iPhone photos. They apply to different kinds of situations, so you just need to find one available for your iPhone photo recovery.

1. Method 1: Recover photos from iTunes backup with iPhone photo recovery software
2. Method 2: Directly scan iPhone to recover deleted photos with iPhone photo recovery tool
3. Method 3: Restore iPhone photos from backup in iTunes
4. Method 4: Retrieve iPhone photos from iCloud backup
5. Method 5: Copy deleted photos from computer to iPhone or iCloud

Method 1: Recover photos from iTunes backup with iPhone photo recovery software

If you have an iTunes backup for your iPhone, but you are not sure which backup has the deleted photos, or you only want to recover partial data from iTunes backup, iPhone data recovery software iOS Data Genius will be helpful for you.

Steps to recover deleted iPhone photos from iTunes backup with iOS Data Genius:

Step 1: Prepare and run iOS Data Genius, and choose Recover from iTunes Backup File.

Step 2: Several iTunes backups are listed in backup list. According to Device Name, Last Backup Data and Serial Number, select the right backup for your iPhone. Click Start Scan button.

Step 3: After iPhone backup is scanned, you can see all the files of iPhone backup in the left column in new interface.

Step 4: Click on Photo Stream folder and preview photos of it on the right side. While you make sure they are the photos you want, click Recover button.

Step 5: A new dialog appears at this moment, which is ready for you to choose a folder to save recovered iPhone photos in computer. Click OK and Recover successfully message pops up instantly.

Now iPhone deleted photos have been recovered and kept on your computer. You can check them in the folder you have ever chosen to store photos.

Method 2: Directly scan iPhone to recover iPhone deleted photos with iPhone photo recovery tool

If you have iOS Data Genius in hand, you also can directly scan iPhone to recover deleted photos. It provides another chance to recover iPhone deleted data when there is no iCloud backups or iTunes backups of your iPhone, or backups are out of date.

Step 1: Connect your iPhone to computer and run iOS Data Genius after installation.

Step 2: When your iPhone is recognized by iOS Data Genius, check I have backed up my device with iTunes and click Start Scan button at the bottom side to look for what can be recovered.

Step 3: Click files to preview and choose iPhone photos to recover.

When iPhone scanning is completed, files you can recover appear in the left column of interface. There shows Camera Roll, Photo Stream, Videos, Contacts, Messages, Call History, Calendar, Notes, Reminders, Voice Mmeos and Safari Bookmark. Click Photo Stream to preview photos. Select the photos deleted from your iPhone and click Recover button.

Step 4: Save recovered iPhone photos in computer.

Choose a folder to save recovered photos in pop-up computer file explorer window. Click OK. Then Recover successfully message would prompt you that iPhone photo recovery is successful with iOS Data Genius. If you wish, you can instantly navigate to recovered photos folder on computer by clicking OK button or closing iOS Data Genius.

Method 3: Restore iPhone photos from backup in iTunes

If you have backed up iPhone data with iTunes, now it is time to make full use of iTunes backup to restore iPhone photos.

Step 1: Connect your iPhone to computer you usually sync with, or you back up iPhone with iTunes.

Note: iTunes can automatically create backups of your iPhone when iPhone is connected to computer, if you have set iPhone synced with iTunes. So don't use iTunes to sync again this time, otherwise new sync would overwrite the previous backup.

Step 2: Go to FileDevices Restore from Backup.

Step 3: iPhone will start to restore and reboot, and iPhone will be ready to use after a few minutes. Now open iPhone, and you can see the deleted photos in the Photos.

Tips:

• 1. If you choose to restore iPhone with iTunes, you will have no choices of restoring only partial data. So you cannot recover iPhone photos only.
• 2. The whole files in iPhone backup will be restored to iPhone. You may lose your new content and setting and go back to the previous status.
• 3. You cannot preview the content to be restored before you recover them. So you don't know what will be recovered to iPhone.
• 4. What you can do is to make a decision on the basis conditions of iPhone backup.

Method 4: Retrieve iPhone photos from iCloud backup

If "iCloud backup" has been enabled on your iPhone, when iPhone is accessible or before photos deletion, you can retrieve the deleted photos by restoring from iCloud backup.

Before recovering iPhone photos from iCloud backup, don't charge your iPhone and allow the screen to lock while your iPhone is connecting to the Internet over Wi-Fi network.

Step 1: Go to Settings GeneralResetErase All Content and Settings on your iPhone.

Step 2: iPhone will automatically restart, and in Setup Assistant, proceed to Set up your device and tap Restore from iCloud Backup.

Step 3: Choose one from available backups in iCloud. Enter username and password if you have ever used them to create iCloud backups. Tap Restore.

Step 4: When the process is done, all the settings of iPhone are restored and iPhone will restart again.

Tips:

• 1. All the content and settings in iPhone will be erased before retrieving data from iCloud backup.
• 2. It would take a long time to finish all the iPhone restore process with iCloud backup.
• 3. Make sure iCloud backup is up to date, so that iPhone would not lose new content and settings and restore to old ones.

Method 5: Copy deleted photos from computer to iPhone or iCloud

Why can we directly copy deleted photos from computer to iPhone or iCloud?

• 1. Nowadays, once the iPhone is connected to computer, much software for PC and Mac can back up photos on iPhone automatically.
• 2. Lots of apps (e.g. Dropbox) on iPhone have the same feature as iCloud, so your photos can be backed up to cloud services automatically and opportunely.
• 3. You can copy the Camera roll photos on your iPhone to PC or Mac manually when iPhone is connected to computer.

So if you have copies of the deleted iPhone photos on your PC or Mac, just transfer them back to your iPhone with iTunes. If the copies have been synced to cloud services, resync using cloud backups.

Though we can recover deleted photos on iPhone with above ways, such as iOS Data Genius, iTunes backup, iCloud backup or iTunes, it is still highly recommended to back up iPhone photos in time to avoid unnecessary troubles or loss. These five ways are usually used to backup iPhone photos.

1. Sync iPhone photos to computer with iTunes.
2. Back up with iCloud.
3. Copy photos from iPhone directly using AutoPlay or Windows Explorer on PC.
4. Import iPhone photos with Preview or Image Capture on Mac.
5. A lot of third-party iPhone data backup software.

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