Can lost photos be recovered after Image Capture deleted them during a failed transfer?

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Can lost photos be recovered after Image Capture deleted them during a failed transfer?

I was trying to back up photos from the year 2022 from my iPhone to an external disk connected to my Mac using Image Capture. I did not realize that the disk was full, and I had checked the option to delete photos after transfer. After many hours, I realized that the photos were deleted from my phone but did not exist on my disk. iCloud was never activated on my phone for photos, and those photos do not exist in my Recently Deleted folder on my iPhone. Preventing Image Capture from copying images to a disk that is already full is a very easy and normal option to have, but here I am with lost memories of a year of my life, is there any thing that can be done to bring back those lost memories?

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Image capture on mac ruined my life

Mac Studio, macOS 13.3

Posted on Sep 17, 2025 7:47 PM

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Answer 1

Sep 18, 2025 7:29 AM in response to kamel3d

kamel3d wrote: … I had checked the option to delete photos after transfer.

Rule #1: Don't ever, ever have a machine delete important stuff automatically. In transfers, for instance, always check!

Preventing Image Capture from copying images to a disk that is already full is a very easy and normal option to have

Perhaps, but apparently you didn't think to do this. We all make this kind of mistake, hence Rule#1

Do you have iCloud Backup turned on? It's at Settings>[name]>iCloud>iCloud Backup. If you don't use iCloud Photos, but you have Settings>Apple ID>iCloud Backup turned on, then you may be able to recover data from the last 30 days or so. You should look here:

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup - Apple Support

“Restore” is what you do when you buy a new phone, so this safety, if you have it set, requires you to erase everything on your phone and replace it with the backup.

Or do you backup to your computer? There's information here about backing up an iPhone:

Back up iPhone - Apple Support

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