iPhone Photos Were Permanently Deleted？Here's How to Get Them Back

Accidentally deleting precious photos is something that many people have experienced. If you are looking for a way to recover deleted photos on your iPhone without a backup, you definitely shouldn't miss this article. This part of iOS is searching for the answer to the question "Can you recover permanently deleted photos on an iPhone?" The answer is yes, in certain circumstances. For users who regularly back up their data, restoring permanently deleted iPhone photos is very simple. And for users without any available backup data, you also have a chance to recover. Let's take a look at the specific situation together.

PART 1 Are Permanently Deleted iPhone Photos Really Gone Forever?

No. On one hand, permanently deleted iPhone photos may exist in your backup database. If you have made a backup, they will be saved in the backup database, whether on an SD card or through an online backup tool. On the other hand, they may also be temporarily stored in the database storage system of the iOS device. The data on an iPhone is stored using SQLite. In fact, SQLite is the database storage system on iOS devices. When data is generated on an iOS device, it is saved in an "allocated" state, and the deleted data will have its status marked as "unallocated" after deletion. Therefore, when you accidentally delete a voice memo on your iPhone, it is only marked as "unallocated" from the "allocated" state. That means it is still retained in the storage system until new data is written and occupies that field. In general, before the deleted data is overwritten by new data, it can be recovered. The same is true for the deleted photos on your iPhone.

PART 2 How to Recover Deleted Photos on iPhone? Restore from The "Recently Deleted" Folder

The specific method is as follows: Start your iPhone, then open "Photos" > "Albums" > "Recently Deleted" folder. Find and select the photos you want to recover, click "Restore", and then click "Restore Photos". The drawback of this method is that the "Recently Deleted" folder only retains photos deleted within the last 30 days. If the deletion date is more than 30 days ago, it is impossible to recover the photos using this method. If you click "Delete" in the "Recently Deleted" folder, the photos will be permanently deleted. Therefore, we recommend that you operate with caution.

PART 3 How to Recover Permanently Deleted Photos on iPhone? Use The Geekersoft Data Recovery (iOS) to Restore

If you also want to retrieve the photos that were permanently deleted from your iPhone without having a backup, then you might want to try the Geekersoft Data Recovery (iOS) - this professional data recovery software specifically designed for Apple users. Based on advanced algorithms, the Geekersoft Data Recovery (iOS) can directly scan, preview, and restore the deleted photos on your iPhone without the need for a backup. Before the restoration, it also supports users to preview the photos through thumbnails to improve the accuracy of the recovery.

The core advantages of the Geekersoft Data Recovery (iOS):

- It can recover photos in the "Recently Deleted" album as well as those that were permanently deleted for over 30 days.

- It does not damage or overwrite the existing data on your iPhone and does not require a factory reset of the device.

- It supports previewing and restoring permanently deleted photos from iCloud or iTunes backups.

- It has good compatibility and supports all iPhone models and iOS versions, including the latest iPhone 17 and iOS 26.

Option 1 Use The Geekersoft Data Recovery (iOS) to Restore Permanently Deleted iPhone Photos from iOS Device Directly

With the Geekersoft Data Recovery (iOS), without the need for a backup, you can retrieve deleted iPhone photos. Please refer to the following steps.

Step 1 Install and launch the Geekersoft Data Recovery (iOS) tool on your computer (compatible with Mac and PC systems), and connect the iPhone to the computer via a USB data cable. Then click on "Restore from iOS Device" in the main interface of the data recovery software.

Step 2 The Geekersoft Data Recovery (iOS) will automatically check and scan all photo files on the device. You can check the boxes for "Photos", "Photos and Videos", "Thumbnails", etc. even without an iPhone backup, and still retrieve the permanently deleted photos from the photo library.

Step 3 After the scan is completed, you will see all the photos on the iPhone, including the lost ones. Preview and confirm the photos you want to restore, then click "Restore to Device" to directly restore the selected photos to the iPhone; or choose "Restore to Computer" to store the photos on the computer.

Option 2 Use The Geekersoft Data Recovery (iOS) to Restore iPhone Permanently Deleted Photos from iCloud.

The Geekersoft Data Recovery (iOS) app also enables users to retrieve deleted photos from iCloud backups or iTunes backups. Whether you have previously backed up your iPhone data using iCloud/iTunes, you can use the software's "Restore from iCloud" or "Restore from Backup" functions to search for deleted photos. The Geekersoft Data Recovery (iOS) allows users to selectively restore specific types of data and does not affect the existing data on the device. Its advantages are as follows.

- You can restore specific types of data from iCloud or iCloud backups, such as iPhone photos, without erasing the existing data on the device.

- It supports previewing deleted files and restoring them to a new iPhone, or a Windows PC, Mac computer.

- It can fix iOS update issues, devices stuck in recovery mode, iPhone locking, and other problems.

To restore iPhone deleted photos from iCloud backups or iTunes backups using the Geekersoft Data Recovery (iOS), follow these steps.

Step 1 Install and launch the Geekersoft Data Recovery (iOS) app on your computer (Mac and PC systems are supported). Click on the "Restore from iCloud" option in the main interface of the data recovery software. If you need to directly restore the photos to the iPhone, connect the iPhone to the computer at the same time.

Step 2 Enter your iCloud account password on your computer and complete the login. Ensure that the account is consistent with the iPhone for which you need to restore the data.

Step 3 You will see various types of data files that can be restored from iCloud. Check "Photos"; if you need to restore the photos from the iCloud backup, click on the "iCloud Backup" option to search.

Step 4 After confirming, follow the software instructions to complete the subsequent operations, and you can restore permanently deleted photos from iCloud to the specified device or computer.

Summary

The above is the effective method we have introduced for restoring permanently deleted photos on an iPhone. In the case of no backup data, the Geekersoft Data Recovery (iOS) is the first choice for many users. It enables users to recover various types of data lost for various reasons without backing up, such as deleted photos, videos, messages, contacts, call records, notes, etc.