Recovering Deleted Photos

Updated October 2026

First, don't panic. Second, stop using the card or phone, or at least stop taking pictures with it. A deleted photo usually sits there, recoverable, until something new is written over it.

On a phone, look in the trash

Phones hold on to deleted photos for a while. On an iPhone or iPad, open Photos and find the Recently Deleted album. Things stay there for about 30 days. In Google Photos, open the Trash, which you'll find under Collections or Library. Backed-up photos generally stay about 60 days there, and others about 30. Samsung's Gallery app has a Recycle Bin. Check your cloud backup too, if you use one.

On a camera memory card

1. Take the card out and don't format it, even if the camera offers.
2. Put it in a card reader on your computer.
3. Run a recovery program, and save what it finds to your computer, never back onto the same card.

Two free programs we'd try (we're not affiliated with either). PhotoRec is open source and runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. It looks old-fashioned but it's very good with memory cards. Recuva is simpler to use, with a free version for Windows.

Your odds are best if you act quickly and nothing new has been saved to the card. A reformatted or physically damaged card is harder. If the photos are irreplaceable and the card is damaged, a professional data recovery service may be worth the cost.

To make sure it never matters again, set up an automatic photo backup.