How to Recover iPhone Photos That You Accidentally Deleted

Photos in an album
Photos in an album

No more lost photos. (Thinkstock)

So you’ve set out to purge your Camera Roll of all those blurry cat pics. And maybe, while caught up in a whirlwind of power, you overzealously deleted the best of the batch. Youre not alone. Luckily, iOS 8 has a safeguard for such situations.

Heres how you can recover (or permanently delete) those images.

1. Go to Apples native Photos app.

iPhone home screen showing Photos app
iPhone home screen showing Photos app

2. Youll see your Moments section, full of all the photos youve taken recently. At the bottom of the screen, tap Albums.

iPhone Photos app
iPhone Photos app

3. You’ll see a list of albums. Scroll down until you reach Recently Deleted. Apples iOS 8 automatically stores away everything youve deleted in this folder for 30 days. Once that time passes, its gone for good.

iPhone Photos app
iPhone Photos app

This is helpful to know, because you may want to find a photo you accidentally axed. But perhaps even more important, you may want to erase an incriminating image so no snooping eyes can find it.

4. When you open the album, youll notice that each thumbnail image tells you how many days are left until it disappears for good (ranging from 30 days to one). Tap whatever image you want to recover or permanently delete. At the bottom of the screen, youll see those two options. Choose one.

iPhone Photos app
iPhone Photos app

5. Then confirm!

iPhone Photos app
iPhone Photos app

Phew, glad I saved that photo. Best dang cauliflower I ever had.

By the way, Android owners dont have it so easy. Recovering lost photos requires you to root your phone and download a third-party app. Check out the steps to make it happen here.

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