Losing important photos from your cell phone is one of the most stressful situations one can experience these days. The images we save on our smartphones are often precious records of memorable moments or loved ones. Fortunately, there are several ways to recover deleted photos from your cell phone. In this complete guide, we will present all possible techniques so that you can rescue your favorite images.
Table of Contents
Before we begin
Before starting photo recovery, it’s important to know a few key points. First, the sooner you act, the greater the chances of recovering the images. Therefore, it’s crucial to stop using your phone immediately after deleting the photos. This is because when you save new files on your phone, the chances of overwriting the space where the photos were stored increase considerably.
Another important point is that it’s not always possible to recover all deleted photos, especially when they were deleted a long time ago. In any case, there are several ways to try and recover the images. Check them out below!
Check your trash can.
The first thing you should do is check your phone’s trash folder. When you delete a photo, it’s not immediately deleted from your device. Instead, it goes to the trash. Most smartphones have a trash folder or deleted photos folder where deleted photos are stored for a period of time.
To access the trash, all you need to do is open the photos app on your phone and look for a folder labeled “trash,” “recycle bin,” or “deleted photos.” If the folder is present, you will be able to see all the photos that have been recently deleted. You can select the photo(s) you want to recover and restore them to their original location.
Read also:
Check the Backup Folders
Before we move on to more sophisticated methods for recovering deleted photos, it’s important to check if they are located in system backup folders. In many cases, the phone stores backups in the cloud or on the device itself. To check if your photos are backed up on Android, simply follow these steps:
- Open Google Photos and confirm that your photos are there;
- Access the “Collection” folder, available for smartphones running Android 11;
- Check the “Trash” folder in Google Photos; even deleted photos end up there.
iPhone users can find deleted photos in the “Recently Deleted” folder or in the ” iCloud Photos” tool.
Use photo recovery software.
If the steps above don’t work, you can try recovering the deleted photos with the help of recovery software. There are many software options available on the market, but here we list the best:
- Wondershare Photo Recovery: It is one of the most reliable and powerful software programs for recovering deleted photos. It supports all major cameras and memory cards, as well as iOS and Android devices.
- EaseUS Hard Drive Recovery: Allows you to recover photos, videos, documents, or other file types accidentally deleted from your hard drive, USB flash drive, or SD card;
- Stellar Photo Recovery: It’s an extremely fast and reliable tool for recovering accidentally deleted photos, videos, or files on Windows devices.
After selecting the software, follow the steps below:
- Download and install the recovery software on your computer.
- Start the program and connect the storage drive containing the photos to your computer.
- Select the memory drive to scan and click ‘Start Scan’.
- After the scan is complete, select the photos you want to recover and click the ‘Recover’ button.
- Save the photos to another location so you can access them later.
With these steps, you should be able to easily recover your deleted photos. However, remember that the process may take some time, so be prepared to wait. Also, make sure not to save the recovered photos to the same drive where they were lost. This way, you can ensure that your photos will not be overwritten. Finally, remember to keep a backup of your important files somewhere to avoid losing them again in the future. This is the best practice for preserving and protecting your precious photos.
Ask a Specialist for Help
If your efforts to recover deleted photos have been unsuccessful, you may need to seek the help of a data recovery specialist. These professionals possess advanced equipment and expertise to access data that is beyond the reach of standard software.
However, it’s important to note that hiring a specialist can be expensive, and there are no guarantees they’ll be able to recover all your photos. Therefore, reserve this option as a last resort in very critical situations.
Conclusion
Losing important photos from your phone can be a major inconvenience, but there are solutions to this problem. Start by checking your system’s backup folders and always keep a secure copy of your images in the cloud or on an external device. If your photo has been permanently deleted, use photo recovery software or consult a data recovery specialist. With these tips, you will be able to recover most of your lost images.
