Recover photos from iPhone Storage > Review Large Attachments

I was cleaning out storage on my iPhone yesterday, but I now realize I should have kept some of the items I deleted. I am on iOS 18.6.2. I went to Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Review Large Attachments and then deleted the items by selecting Edit > {selecting the items} > hitting the trash can.


I have tried the basic ways of recovering photos with no luck. I have gone to my Photos app and looked in the Recently Deleted folder. I have gone into the Messages app and looked in the Recently deleted folder. I have logged into iCloud and looked in both my Photos app there and the Data Recovery section. The items I deleted (photos and videos) aren't in any of them.


Is there any way to recover the items I deleted, specifically based on the way I deleted them?


iPhone 16e, iOS 18

Posted on Sep 20, 2025 10:04 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Sep 21, 2025 7:19 AM

If you have iCloud Photos turned on, then iCloud copies exactly what you do in Photos on your phone, including deleting things. Of course, there is a terrific safety feature, Recently Deleted, but if you defeat that safety, there's no further protection.


If you've been using iCloud Backup at Settings>Apple ID>iCloud Backup, then you may be able to recover data from the last 30 days or so, but it won't include Photos, since you were already storing pictures there. 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.


As razmee209 said, if you don't keep your own backups to an external drive, then there really isn't any place else to look.

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 21, 2025 7:19 AM in response to gowzer8

If you have iCloud Photos turned on, then iCloud copies exactly what you do in Photos on your phone, including deleting things. Of course, there is a terrific safety feature, Recently Deleted, but if you defeat that safety, there's no further protection.


If you've been using iCloud Backup at Settings>Apple ID>iCloud Backup, then you may be able to recover data from the last 30 days or so, but it won't include Photos, since you were already storing pictures there. 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.


As razmee209 said, if you don't keep your own backups to an external drive, then there really isn't any place else to look.

Sep 20, 2025 10:36 AM in response to gowzer8

gowzer8 wrote:

I was cleaning out storage on my iPhone yesterday, but I now realize I should have kept some of the items I deleted. I am on iOS 18.6.2. I went to Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Review Large Attachments and then deleted the items by selecting Edit > {selecting the items} > hitting the trash can.

I have tried the basic ways of recovering photos with no luck. I have gone to my Photos app and looked in the Recently Deleted folder. I have gone into the Messages app and looked in the Recently deleted folder. I have logged into iCloud and looked in both my Photos app there and the Data Recovery section. The items I deleted (photos and videos) aren't in any of them.

Is there any way to recover the items I deleted, specifically based on the way I deleted them?

If you would restore from your backup, if you have one.

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Recover photos from iPhone Storage > Review Large Attachments

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