Accidentally deleting important images is all too common — perhaps you were looking for the Share button but accidentally clicked the Delete button, or perhaps you were cleaning up and accidentally deleted some important photos in the process.
In the worst-case scenario, your gallery photos become corrupted while being transferred to a different device.
In any case, there are a few options for recovering permanently lost images on your Android or iOS device.
In this article, we’ll look at a few different methods for recovering deleted photos from your gallery.
How to Recover Deleted Photos in Gallery on Android Mobile
There are two basic methods for recovering lost photographs from an Android device’s gallery.
The first is to look for deleted photos in the trash section of the gallery app or the file manager app. If this does not work, you can recover files by using free and commercial recovery tools available on the Google Play Store and Windows.
Recover Deleted Photos & Videos on Android Mobile and iPhone
How to Recover Deleted Photos from Trash in Gallery
If you accidentally deleted images from your Android device, first look for a “Trash,” “Bin,” or “Recently Deleted” folder. As a result, most gallery programs include a Recycle bin.
However, the procedures for accessing the folder may differ depending on the manufacturer of your device. For example, on OnePlus devices, the system Gallery app includes a “Recently Deleted” folder under the Collections menu.
To access it, launch the app, then swipe right to access the Collections menu, then scroll down until the Recently Deleted option appears under Others. You will be given the option of regaining access to the photo or permanently deleting it.
The recently deleted folder on OnePlus keeps deleted photos and videos for 30 days before deleting them. This applies to almost every gallery app on the market.
For example, the Trash section of Xiaomi’s Gallery app keeps deleted photos for up to 30 days.
On Xiaomi devices, the folder can be found in the Album section. For recovering deleted images on Android, some file management programmes, such as Google’s Files Go, include a Trash folder. On the left side of the Files Go menu, you’ll find the trash folder.
How to Recover Deleted Photos From Google Photos
Google Photos, like system gallery apps, has a trash folder where deleted photos and videos are saved.
Given that Google Photographs is one of the most popular gallery apps, it’s natural for users to want to know how to restore photos in the app.
To recover lost photos from the Google Photos app, use the following methods:
- Launch the Google Photos application.
- In the bottom right corner, tap on Library.
- Choose the Trash option.
- Choose the photos you want to restore.
- Select Restore.
How to Recover Deleted Photos From Cloud Storage to Gallery
If you accidentally deleted images from your smartphone, they may still be available in cloud storage.
Most cloud storage services include an auto-backup feature that backs up all images and other files.
If you use Xiaomi cloud storage, for example, you will be able to restore all of your accidentally deleted images.
If you use Google Photos Backup, photos deleted from any third-party gallery app will remain in your Google cloud storage.
How to Recover Deleted Photos Using Recovery Apps and Restore to Gallery
Another way to recover deleted photos is to use a recovery app. There are numerous recovery apps available right now. EaseUS data recovery and Dr. Fone are two of the most popular.
Once you’ve lost the photos, simply connect your device to your PC using a USB cable. After launching the recovery tool, follow the on-screen instructions.
Regardless of the recovery program’s claims, there is no guarantee that the application will be able to recover your deleted photos.
Deleted files are only retained in your device’s storage for a short period of time before being overwritten by new data.
Because you can stop the overwriting process by removing the memory card, you have a good chance of retrieving photos stored on a microSD card.
How to Recover Deleted Photos on iPhone
Like Android phones, iPhones have a Recently Deleted section in their Photos app. Photos that you may have inadvertently deleted will end up there and will remain there for 30 days.
Following that, the photographs and videos are automatically destroyed.
How to Recover Deleted Photos From Trash
Here’s how to get photos off your iPhone or iPad:
- Navigate to the Apple Photos app.
- Navigate to the Albums section.
- Scroll to the bottom and select Recently Deleted.
- In the top-right corner, tap Select.
- Select the photos and videos you want to recover and press the Restore button.
How to Recover Deleted Photos From iCloud
For Apple customers, iCloud backups can also be used to recover deleted images. You can use this method if you can’t find the deleted photo in the Recently Deleted folder.
It does, however, have some drawbacks.
To begin with, this method only works if you backup your images to the cloud. Second, the backup will overwrite all of your device’s data with the backup data.
If you have a recent backup, it won’t be an issue because you won’t have much new data to begin with.
You can create a new backup if you’ve added a lot of new data to your device since the last backup. Backup your device and restore it to the most recent version of your iPhone backup once you’ve recovered all of your important photos and videos.
You will not lose any recent data and will be able to recover the deleted images in this way.
Follow these steps to recover lost photos from an earlier iCloud backup:
- First, you must perform a factory reset on the device.
- Go to your iPhone’s settings to do so.
- Go to 2 to delete all content and settings.
- Reset > Erase All Content and Settings from the General menu.
To set up your iPhone for the first time, follow the steps below.
- Choose Restore from iCloud Backup from the Apps and Data screen.
- Enter your iCloud login information and choose a backup from the list.
- Check to see if the photos you’ve misplaced have been found.
Recover Deleted Photos from an SD Card Inside Your Android Device
Using an SD card as secondary storage allows you to store far more photos than you could by relying solely on internet memory.
However, it exposes you to the risk of losing thousands of photos all at once, which is why we need to look more closely at how to recover deleted photos from SD card on Android phones using SD card recovery software applications.
Users who want to recover deleted photos from an SD card on Android can use Disk Drill, arguably the most user-friendly and powerful photo recovery software application currently available, to recover deleted photos and images even without a cloud or third-party backup.
Follow these steps to recover photos on Android:
- Download and install Disk Drill.
Connect the SD card to your computer and scan the card for recoverable photos. - Use the preview feature to help you decide which photos to select.
Click the Recover button.
