Missing iCloud Photos from 2022-2024 after iPhone repair

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Level 1

4 points

Missing iCloud Photos from 2022-2024 after iPhone repair

Back in Nov2024 got the iPhone16pro, did the backup and everything was uploaded, nothing missing. Feb I had to get that phone “repaired”. Got a temporary phone in the meantime, when I signed into my iCloud with the temp phone half my pictures were missing. Didn’t think too much of it since it was only a temp. When I got my original phone back, turned it on & of course it synced and those pictures I was missing were still gone. Every device I logged into ended up syncing and I lost those pictures on all of them. Apple support told me it’s because my iCloud wasn’t backed up, but it was. How did I have all my pictures when I got a new phone in Nov2024 but I’m missing pictures from the years 2022-2024 when I signed into my account in Feb from a different phone? I tried everything, please help.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: iCloud Photos

iPhone 16 Pro, iOS 26

Posted on Nov 4, 2025 10:47 PM

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Answer 1

Ingo2711

Level 10

80,025 points

Nov 5, 2025 12:08 AM in response to Ideekaydrea

iCloud Photos does not back up your photos, it keeps them in sync on all of your devices.

All changes made on one device will reflect on the photos saved in iCloud Photos. If you delete some, they will also be deleted in iCloud.

The only way to back up the photos if you use iCloud Photos, is to copy them to your computer:

Archive or make copies of the information you store in iCloud - Apple Support

If you're missing photos or videos in the Photos app - Apple Support

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Answer 2

Nov 5, 2025 6:52 AM in response to Ideekaydrea

As Ingo2711 says, iCloud provides two services for pictures:

ICloud synchronizes your photos with your phone, Mac, iPad, and iCloud.com so you can see them and edit them on any device that's connected.
iCloud allows you to "Optimize Storage" of your pictures on the device.

Do you need either of those services? iCloud is great at those two things, but iCloud is not a backup service. iCloud a synchronization service. If you make mistakes in editing your pictures, or if you delete some, even accidentally then those changes will be automatically and immediately copied to iCloud. There's no backup to mistakes. A backup, like you keep on an external drive, is supposed to not ever change, so you can go back to it if something goes wrong. But iCloud Photos changes all the time. It makes exact copies of your pictures, and it makes exact copies of your mistakes.

Backups to a computer are straight forward using the links provided. But if you use "Optimize," then it's a bit more complicated, and you should let us know what your situation is if you need help with that.

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