How to recover missing photos in People & Pets in iPhone Photos?

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How to recover missing photos in People & Pets in iPhone Photos?

Recently I found two photos of me nowhere in the Photo app but only in the "Review Photos" function of People and Pets; yet I could not click into them and view the full pictures.

I clearly remember not deleting them and looked through all sections such as hidden and different media types, but they are just nowhere. I do not have many selfies and losing two would be a great toll. How can I recover these two?

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Photos shown in People&Pets not found else where

iPhone 13 mini, iOS 17

Posted on Aug 26, 2025 9:09 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 27, 2025 8:29 AM in response to Vincent_W

It looks like these are "thumbnail" pictures, and the originals are lost, somehow. It sounds like you can't open the Info Window to get any information about them-- is that right?

Before anything else, I would get these thumbnails on the screening make a screenshot of the pictures you see

Take a screenshot on iPhone - Apple Support

to preserve them.

You might be able to find more with a computer. On a Mac we use the app Image Capture which may find something like that. Windows Explorer may allow you to look around inside-- I don't know. But I'm afraid there's not much there to find.

Let us know how it goes…

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