Recover photos and videos step by step

  1. Open Recently Deleted. In Photos, tap Collections and scroll down to Recently Deleted in the Utilities section.
  2. Unlock the album. Tap View Album and use Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. The album is locked by default.
  3. Select what to bring back. Tap a photo or video and tap Recover. For several, tap Select, choose them, tap the More button and tap Recover. Recover All brings back everything.
  4. Confirm. Tap Recover again. The items go back into your library and any albums they were in.

Each item shows how many days it has left. Recover anything you may want before that counter runs out.

If the photo is not in Recently Deleted

  • Check Hidden. Photos you hid are in the Hidden collection, not deleted.
  • Check Recovered. After a library problem, items can appear in a Recovered collection. Apple covers this in its guide to missing photos.
  • Check iCloud.com. With iCloud Photos on, the same Recently Deleted album exists on iCloud.com.
  • Past 30 days. The photo is permanently deleted. Your only option is a backup you made before it was deleted.

Photos deleted from GoSwipe

GoSwipe never deletes in one step. A left swipe queues the item in the Bin; when you confirm, iOS shows its own delete dialog and the item moves to Recently Deleted, exactly like a deletion made in Photos. To restore it, use Photos as described above. You cannot restore from inside GoSwipe.

Anything still in the Bin has not been deleted at all, so you can take it out of the queue before confirming.

A safety net by design

Queue, confirm, then 30 days to change your mind.

GoSwipe asks you to confirm twice, and deleted items wait in Recently Deleted.

Get GoSwipe on the App Store

Free space or keep the safety net?

Items in Recently Deleted still use storage. You can delete them there to free the space immediately, but then they cannot be recovered. If you are short on space, see what to delete first when storage is full.

Frequently asked questions

How long do deleted photos stay on iPhone?

For 30 days in the Recently Deleted album. After that they are permanently removed from your iPhone and from iCloud if you use iCloud Photos.

Why is Recently Deleted asking for Face ID?

The Recently Deleted and Hidden albums are locked by default. You can change this in Settings → Apps → Photos.

Can I recover photos after emptying Recently Deleted?

Not from the Photos app. Check a backup you made before the photos were deleted.

Does GoSwipe delete photos permanently?

No. Deleted items move to Recently Deleted for 30 days, and you restore them from Photos.

Sources and further reading

General information, not a guarantee. Menu names can differ slightly between iOS versions.