Restore my icloud photos through backups, is it possible?

I thought that when you delete photos from iCloud, they are not deleted from the iPhone gallery. I tried it, and that was true. I deleted half of my photos from iCloud for certain reasons. The next morning, they were also gone from my phone. I was making backup copies. How can I restore my gallery?

iPhone 16 Pro Max, iOS 26

Posted on Dec 16, 2025 12:05 PM

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3 replies

Dec 16, 2025 1:14 PM in response to maksiod

maksiod wrote:

I thought that when you delete photos from iCloud, they are not deleted from the iPhone gallery. I tried it, and that was true. I deleted half of my photos from iCloud for certain reasons. The next morning, they were also gone from my phone. I was making backup copies. How can I restore my gallery?

Read here Set up and use iCloud Photos - Apple Support

Dec 17, 2025 7:17 AM in response to maksiod

I'm sorry. A great safety feature on the iPhone and at iCloud is that deleted pictures remain in the "Recently Deleted" view for 30 days before they are removed permanently. This safety feature can be defeated, though, by choosing to prematurely delete pictures from the "Recently Deleted" view.  If you use iCloud Photos, then that "synchronizes" its Photos Library with the phone, so what you see on the phone is what is at iCloud. iCloud Photos doesn't keep pictures in "Recently Deleted" any longer than the phone does, though there may be short delays in the coordination. So it's really important to look carefully at the Recently Deleted pictures before deleting them permanently. When you select pictures to remove them from "Recently Deleted," you get this warning before the final step:

Reasonably, there is no 2nd safety feature in case you don't head the warning for the first.



You can see this:

         If you're missing photos or videos in the Photos app - Apple Support

Basically the above says to look in Recently Deleted and in Hidden. Be sure to check your Library thoroughly-- the pictures may not be where you expect, as dates may have changed. You can use the search field with the date or location. And remember, you can sort the Library by date captured or by date added. Also, your Library view now has filters, and you may not have your filter set to "All Items.”


Unfortunately, if you don't keep your own backups to an external drive, then there really isn't any place else to look.



Restore my icloud photos through backups, is it possible?

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