Over 10,000 videos have disappeared from my iPhone. I didn't delete them, and they're nowhere to be found; they're just gone. They're not even in the cloud. Please help. I've tried everything online. It's an iPhone 16 Pro Max.
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
Original Title: Videos disappear from the Iphone
I don't know about Jeff Donald, but if my pictures disappeared from iCloud, I'd be mad, and I would restore them from my backups. That's why Apple, and everyone else, keeps advising us to keep backups of our stuff.
Sometimes with a touch screen we can accidentally swipe the wrong thing. A great safety feature on the iPhone is that deleted pictures remain in the "Recently Deleted" view for 30 days before they are removed permanently. This safety feature can be defeated, though, by choosing to prematurely delete pictures from the "Recently Deleted" view. You didn't say if you use iCloud Photos, but iCloud "synchronizes" its Photos Library with the phone, so what you see on the phone is what is at iCloud. iCloud Photos doesn't keep pictures in "Recently Deleted" any longer than the phone does.
Some pictures transferred from a computer can be viewed in Photos but they can't be modified by Photos, so there may be some operations that produce a warning about those being at risk. So if you’re missing pictures that were transferred from a computer, then you should look on the computer.
You can see this:
If you're missing photos or videos in the Photos app - Apple Support
Basically the above says to look in Recently Deleted and in Hidden. Be sure to check your Library thoroughly-- the pictures may not be where you expect, as dates may have changed. You can use the search field with the date or location. And remember, you can sort the Library by date captured or by date added. Also, your Library view now has filters, and you may not have your filter set to "All Items." It sounds like you've done this.
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.
Unfortunately, if you don't keep your own backups to an external drive, then there really isn't any place else to look. Call Apple, but they will probably say the same stuff.
I don't know about Jeff Donald, but if my pictures disappeared from iCloud, I'd be mad, and I would restore them from my backups. That's why Apple, and everyone else, keeps advising us to keep backups of our stuff.
Sometimes with a touch screen we can accidentally swipe the wrong thing. A great safety feature on the iPhone is that deleted pictures remain in the "Recently Deleted" view for 30 days before they are removed permanently. This safety feature can be defeated, though, by choosing to prematurely delete pictures from the "Recently Deleted" view. You didn't say if you use iCloud Photos, but iCloud "synchronizes" its Photos Library with the phone, so what you see on the phone is what is at iCloud. iCloud Photos doesn't keep pictures in "Recently Deleted" any longer than the phone does.
Some pictures transferred from a computer can be viewed in Photos but they can't be modified by Photos, so there may be some operations that produce a warning about those being at risk. So if you’re missing pictures that were transferred from a computer, then you should look on the computer.
You can see this:
If you're missing photos or videos in the Photos app - Apple Support
Basically the above says to look in Recently Deleted and in Hidden. Be sure to check your Library thoroughly-- the pictures may not be where you expect, as dates may have changed. You can use the search field with the date or location. And remember, you can sort the Library by date captured or by date added. Also, your Library view now has filters, and you may not have your filter set to "All Items." It sounds like you've done this.
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.
Unfortunately, if you don't keep your own backups to an external drive, then there really isn't any place else to look. Call Apple, but they will probably say the same stuff.
Hi, this is not Apple Support. Apple and Apple Support do not participate here. Everyone posting and commenting are fellow Apple users, just like you. I’ve got about 25,000 photos in iCloud and if they disappeared, I’d be calling Apple Support.
If you’re in the US please call 1-800-MY-APPLE or outside the US, consult the support articles below. In Canada call 1-800-263-3394
Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support
How do I recover missing videos on iPhone that disappeared without being deleted?
