Apple's iCloud Photo Stream allows you to automatically upload photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to iCloud, and then view those photos on your other devices or the iCloud website. It can be a convenient way to access your photos from multiple devices without having to manually transfer them.
However, sometimes photos can go missing from your Photo Stream, or you may delete a photo only to later realize you still need it. The good news is that, in many cases, you can recover deleted photos from iCloud Photo Stream and restore them to your devices.
In this comprehensive guide, we will provide step-by-step instructions on how to recover photos from iCloud Photo Stream using various methods.
Before attempting to recover your photos, make sure:
It is also helpful to understand how iCloud Photo Stream works:
Keeping these key points in mind will help maximize your chances of recovering photos.
If you have recently deleted photos from your iPhone, you may be able to recover them from the Recently Deleted album:
The Recently Deleted folder stores deleted photos for up to 40 days, so this method works if the deletion was recent. However, it doesn't help retrieve older deleted photos.
The iCloud website provides access to all of your Photo Stream photos as a backup. Follow these instructions to recover deleted pictures:
This method allows you to recover photos deleted from devices and Photo Stream over the last 30 days. The only catch is that the photo must still be stored in your iCloud account.
If the above methods do not help recover your deleted photos, your best option is to use third-party software. These tools can retrieve photos from iCloud backup and extract them for you to save and view once again.
Some top options include:
Disk Drill features powerful photo recovery tools, including the ability to restore images from iCloud. Follow these steps:
iMyFone iBypasser is designed specifically for iCloud recovery. To use it:
EaseUS is another highly-rated photo recovery software with iCloud support:
The advantage of using software is it thoroughly scans your iCloud storage and pulls even very old deleted photos for recovery. Just be sure to download from trustworthy sources.
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In addition to the recovery methods above, you can take proactive measures to avoid losing iCloud photos in the first place:
Recovering lost photos from iCloud can seem daunting, but is possible in many cases using the iCloud website, iPhone storage, or third party software. The key is acting quickly while deleted photos are still stored in iCloud. Enabling iCloud backup provides another layer of protection against permanent loss.
With the recovery methods in this guide, you should be able to rescue deleted photos from your iCloud Photo Stream, provided they were deleted recently. Just remember - prevention is easiest by downloading photos frequently and not over-relying on Photo Stream for photo storage and backup.
Deleted photos remain in iCloud Photo Stream for 30 days before being permanently removed. However, photos may also be stored in iCloud backup for longer periods.
If a photo is deleted from both your devices and Photo Stream longer than 30 days ago, complete recovery becomes difficult but may still be possible using third party software.
If Photo Stream disappears from your iOS device, it is likely because iCloud Photos has replaced Photo Stream. Check your iCloud settings to confirm it is still enabled.
Yes, restoring your iPhone or iPad from an iCloud backup will recover photos that were saved in the backup, including deleted ones.
On your Windows PC or Mac, you can connect your device and open Image Capture or Photos app. Select all photos and click Import or Download.
With iCloud Photos disabled, your photos are no longer stored in iCloud. So recovery depends on whether they still exist on your local device storage.
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