How to Recover Deleted Photos on Android and iPhone

By Ammar Aslam · Updated September 7, 2026 · 7 min read

That sinking feeling after deleting an important photo is something almost everyone has experienced. The good news is that modern phones and cloud services are designed with mistakes in mind. In many cases, a deleted photo is not actually gone yet; it has simply been moved somewhere else for a while.

Act quickly, because most "recently deleted" folders empty themselves automatically after a set time. Work through the places below in order.

First: stop and do not panic

Before you start searching, avoid taking lots of new photos or installing big apps. On phones without a recycle bin, new data can overwrite deleted files and make recovery harder.

iPhone: check Recently Deleted

Open the Photos app.
Scroll to Utilities (or Albums, depending on your iOS version) and tap Recently Deleted.
Unlock it with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.
Select the photos and tap Recover.

Photos stay in Recently Deleted for about 30 days before being permanently removed.

Android: check the gallery's trash

Where you look depends on which app you use for photos:

Google Photos: tap Collections or Library → Trash (or Bin). Backed-up items stay for 60 days; items that were not backed up usually stay for 30 days.
Samsung Gallery: tap the menu (three lines) → Recycle bin. Items stay for 30 days.
Other brands such as Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and Realme: open the Gallery app and look for Recently deleted in the Albums section or settings.

Select the photos and tap Restore.

Check your cloud backups

If the photo is no longer in the trash on your phone, it may still be safe in the cloud.

Google Photos: open photos.google.com on a computer and check both the main library and the Trash.
iCloud: sign in at icloud.com, open Photos, and check the Recently Deleted album there.
OneDrive, Dropbox, Samsung Cloud: if you had camera upload turned on, check their photo folders and recycle bins.

Check chat apps and other places

If you ever shared the photo, a copy may exist somewhere else:

WhatsApp, Telegram, Messenger or Instagram chats where you sent it.
Your email sent folder.
The WhatsApp media folder on Android, where received and sent images are saved.
Friends or family who were with you and may have the same photo.
Your computer, if you ever copied photos across with a cable.

Restore from a full phone backup

If you had a full device backup made before the photo was deleted, restoring it can bring the photo back. However, this replaces the current contents of your phone with the backup, so any newer photos and data not included in that backup could be lost. Only consider this carefully, and back up your current phone first.

What about recovery apps?

You will find many apps and programs claiming to recover permanently deleted photos. Be careful:

Modern phones encrypt storage, which makes recovering permanently deleted files very difficult or impossible for ordinary software.
Many such apps only find thumbnails or cached images, not full-quality originals.
Some are scams that show "found" photos and then demand payment, or request excessive permissions.

If the photos are extremely important, a professional data recovery service is a safer option than random apps, but success is not guaranteed.

Photos deleted from an SD card

If the photos were stored on a removable memory card, stop using the card immediately. Remove it and use a card reader with reputable desktop recovery software on a computer. Recovery chances are better on memory cards than on internal phone storage.

Make sure it never happens again

Turn on automatic photo backup with Google Photos or iCloud Photos.
Follow the 3-2-1 rule in our backup guide.
Check the trash before emptying it, and do not use "cleaner" apps that auto-delete files.

Check in this order: phone's Recently Deleted/Trash → cloud library and cloud trash → chats and email → computer → full backup.

Frequently asked questions

Can photos be recovered after 30 days?

Only if a copy exists somewhere else, such as a cloud backup, computer, chat or older device backup.

Does a factory reset delete photos permanently?

Yes, a factory reset erases the phone's storage. Photos can only be recovered from a backup made beforehand.

Ammar Aslam
Ammar writes clear, practical tech guides that help everyday users fix problems, stay safe online and get more from their devices.