How to restore photos from iCloud (iPhone & iPad supported)

Effortlessly get previous photos back! Learn how to restore photos from iCloud backup with simple steps. Regain your cherished moments in no time!

Quick summary: iCloud securely stores your uploaded and synced photos and videos. If you accidentally delete a photo or video from iCloud, fear not. You can easily recover photos from iCloud by accessing iCloud Photo Library, restoring from iCloud backups, or using the powerful software iPhone Data Recovery to selectively restore iCloud photos by a full scanning.

Recover iCloud photos from the Recently Deleted album, a recent backup, iCloud Drive or using 3rd-party tools.

iCloud backup and iCloud Photos Library are ideal for anyone relying on Apple to store their camera roll photos, videos and online images. In case of data loss, these services make it possible to restore photos from iCloud to your iPhone, iPad or computer.

In this post, we'll guide you through various ways for efficient iCloud photo recovery, whether you've accidentally deleted your entire iCloud photo gallery, or your iPhone photos disappeared from iCloud for unknown reasons. Now, explore simple solutions on how to retrieve photos from iCloud and regain your pictures and albums in full quality.

Table of contents:

• How to recover photos from iCloud Recently Deleted album
• How to restore photos from iCloud backup to iPhone / iPad
• How to recover iCloud photos from backup selectively
• How to retrieve photos from iCloud Drive
• How to restore iCloud photos to iPhone, iPad or computer
• FAQs about iCloud Photo Recovery

How to recover photos from iCloud Recently Deleted album

Apple's iCloud Photos conveniently stores and syncs photos across all your devices linked to the same iCloud account. With iCloud Photos enabled, all photos and videos in your local Photo Library are automatically uploaded to iCloud, and any videos and photos already in iCloud Photos are restored back to your iPhone or iPad.

When you accidentally delete an iCloud photo, it moves to the Recently Deleted album for 30 days, allowing easy photo recovery from iCloud without backup. If you change your mind within 30 days after deletion, visit iCloud.com to restore iCloud deleted photos from the Recently Deleted album before they are permanently deleted:

• Sign in to iCloud.com with the same Apple ID and password used on your iPhone.
• Go to Photos from iCloud interface and select Recently Deleted on the left sidebar.
• All photos and videos deleted from iCloud in the last 30 days are available here.
• View and select one or more photos or videos you want to get back. To select multiple items, hold the Command key on your Mac or the Control key on PC.
• Click the Recover button at the upper-right corner.

Find and restore recently deleted photos from iCloud to their original location.

This will instantly restore the deleted pictures to iCloud Photos Library and sync the recovery across any of your devices. You can then access the recovered iCloud photos on iPhone or iPad by opening the Photos app.

How to restore photos from iCloud backup to iPhone / iPad

If your photos are not in iCloud Recently Deleted folder or were permanently removed after 30 days, try restoring a previous iCloud backup to retrieve permanently deleted photos on iPhone / iPad. Note that the process will erase your iPhone and wipe all data and settings, letting you set it up again and restore from the last iCloud backup to recover photos, videos, and anything else.

Check if you can restore from a recent iCloud backup for photo recovery through Settings > [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Backup. All available iCloud backups will list on the screen. You may select your device to see the date and size of its last backup.

Ensure there's a useful backup made before your photos went missing, and connect to a stable Wi-Fi or cellular network. It's also helpful if you're wondering how to get old photos from iCloud to a new or newly erased iDevice.

How do you retrieve photos from iCloud to your iPhone

• Erase the iPhone through Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Erase All Content and Settings.
• Tap Continue and verity your Apple ID password to initiate the erasing process.

• After erasing, set up your iPhone as a new one when it restarts.
• When reaching the Transfer Your Apps & Data screen, select From iCloud Backup.
• Log in to your iCloud account with the same Apple ID and password
• Choose the most relevant backup that contains the lost iCloud photos.
• Wait for the iCloud restoration to complete.

The old iCloud photos are restored to iPhone Photos app. If you don't have enough iCloud storage, consider alternative ways to get old iPhone photos back after factory reset.

How to recover iCloud photos from backup selectively

If the Recently Deleted folder in iCloud doesn't include photos or videos you seek, or you're unsure which iCloud backup contains your old photos, try using iPhone Data Recovery software.

With a built-in backup extractor, this tool scans iCloud backups for deleted and missing photos, letting you preview individual photos or albums and recover only the iCloud pictures you want. Instead of a full restore, this iOS photo recovery solution supports selective photo recovery from iCloud backup directly to your computer without erasing any current device data.

Additionally, it can thoroughly scan an iPhone or iPad's internal storage to recover deleted and lost photos directly, even without a backup. If you've previously created an iTunes backup, it also allows selective photo recovery from that backup.

Without performing a reset, here's how to recover photos from iCloud to iPhone easily:

Step 1: Open iOS Data Recovery and sign in to iCloud account.

Install and launch the software, choose Recover from iCloud mode from the left list, then enter your Apple ID and password to sign up to your iCloud account.

Step 2: Choose and download iCloud backup.

Once you're in, this tool will list all backups stored in your iCloud. Select an iCloud backup created before your photos were deleted, then click Download button.

Step 3: Preview and select recoverable photos in iCloud.

All iCloud backup files are accessible now. Select media categories on the left, including Camera Roll, Photos Library, App Photos and more. Preview the images or search for specific ones, then select whichever iCloud photos you want back.

Step 4: Recover photos from iCloud and save them on computer.

Click Recover button. When a dialog box opens, pick a local path to save the iCloud photos. If needed, check Automatically convert HEIC files to JPEG format for more compatibilities.

Click Recover again. All photos recovered from iCloud will be saved on computer without data or quality loss. This method also works for separate message recovery from iCloud backup.

Once you get original photos back from iCloud, feel free to transfer photos to your iPhone from your PC or Mac for potential use.

How to retrieve photos from iCloud Drive

iCloud Drive would be another option to recover photos deleted from iCloud. If your photos were uploaded to iCloud Drive before being permanently removed from Recently Deleted folder after 30 days, simply log in to your iCloud Drive and download the photos to your computer. Check out these easy steps to recover deleted iCloud photos from iCloud Drive:

• Visit iCloud.com on a browser and sign in with your Apple ID and password.
• Once in, select Drive option on iCloud interface.

• Click Browse from the left sidebar to access all saved files.
• Select the photos, videos or picture folder you want to get from iCloud.
• Click the Download button at the top toolbar to download iCloud photos.

If possible, navigate to the Recently Deleted folder in iCloud Drive for recovering photos if you've mistakenly deleted them.

How to restore iCloud photos to iPhone, iPad or computer

Whether you're looking to get old photos from iCloud to your iPhone or iPad, PC or Mac, here are the steps to download iCloud photos and restore them to local photo library.

On iPhone, iPad

• Open Settings app on iPhone or iPad.
• Tap [your name] and head to iCloud > Photos.
• Toggle on Sync this iPhone or Sync this iPad (or iCloud Photos on older iOS versions).
• Choose Download and Keep Originals.

All original photos and videos currently in iCloud photos will be restored to the Photos app on iPhone or iPad in full resolution.

On Windows

• Download iCloud for Windows if you haven't the app on your computer.
• Open iCloud for Windows.
• Click Options next to Photos to check your photo settings.
• Select iCloud Photo Library.
• Check Download new photos and videos to my PC.
• Click Done, then click Apply to start downloading iCloud photos.

It's also helpful when you want to access your iPhone photos on a PC.

On Mac

• Open Photos app on your Mac.
• In the top menu bar, go to Photos > Preference > iCloud. Sign in with your Apple ID if asked.
• Check Download Originals to this Mac if it's not already enabled.
• Close preferences once the update completes.
• Click on Photos in the sub-menu.
• Hold command key to select several photos, or hit command + A to select them all.
• Go back to top menu bar, select File > Export.
• Select either Export Items or Export Unmodified Original For Items per your preference.
• Select a location to store full-resolution versions of iCloud photos.

This way, you can regain photos from iCloud to your iOS device or computer in minutes!

FAQs about iCloud Photo Recovery

Where do deleted iCloud photos go?

When photos are deleted from iCloud, they typically move to the Recently Deleted album, where they remain for another 30 days before being permanently removed.

If iCloud Photos syncing is enabled, deleting a photo on your iPhone or iPad will remove it from iCloud as well. Conversely, if you recover deleted photos on your iPhone with iCloud Photos enabled, the restored photos will get back to iCloud as well.

I've accidentally deleted my whole photo library. How can I regain my photos from iCloud?

If you're using iCloud for photo syncing and backup, it's easy to recover your deleted photos. After deleting a photo or video, it moves to your Recently Deleted album for temporary 30 days before they're permanently removed. Hence, you can check the Recently Deleted album either in your iPhone Photos, iCloud Photos, or iCloud Drive to find deleted pictures and videos.

If none of them works, the iPhone Data Recovery software can help you recover deleted photos directly from your iPhone without backups, whether they're recently or permanently deleted.

Can I recover permanently deleted photos from my iCloud after 30 days?

It's possible to restore photos deleted for over 30 days if there are available iCloud backups created before the permanent deletion. To make it, you'll need to reset your iPhone and erase all data and settings. When your iPhone restarts, the setup process allows you to select an iCloud backup to restore photos and everything else. If this isn't helping, try using the backup extractor tool iOS Data Recovery to restore only photos from iCloud backup or iTunes backup separately.

Can you recover deleted photos without iCloud backup?

Yes. If you mistakenly deleted your iPhone / iPad photos and cannot find them in the Recently Deleted album, there's still possibility that they remain in your device's internal memory storage. At this point, try scanning your device deeply via iPhone Data Recovery to find these lost photos and recover them directly from your iPhone or iPad without needing any backups.

• Install and open up iPhone Data Recovery on PC or Mac.
• Move to Recover from iOS Device and connect your iPhone / iPad.
• Click Start Scan button to perform a deep scanning.
• From the scanning results, choose the media categories on the left menu.
• Preview and select whichever pictures you wish to retrieve and click Recover.
• Set an output folder to save all recovered iOS photos on computer.

By following these steps, you can get photos back without iCloud backup, even if they were deleted for over 30 days.

Why it says Restoring from iCloud when I open the Photos app?

If you see Restoring from iCloud message when opening the Photos app, it might be due to a recent iOS update, re-connection to a Wi-Fi or cellular network, re-enabling iCloud Photos and in the middle of syncing. If you just restored your iPhone / iPad from an iCloud backup, the photo downloading will proceed in the background, displaying Restoring from iCloud message.

Is it possible to recover photos using an iCloud backup without restoring my iPhone?

Generally, restoring from iCloud backup will replace the current data and settings on iPhone. But using some 3rd-party services, such as iPhone Data Recovery program, you're able to extract photos from an iCloud backup individually, with no need for a complete restore.