How do i find old pictures on my phone

Check places such as your Recently Deleted or Hidden albums and iCloud Photos.

Check your Recently Deleted album

If you've deleted a photo or video accidentally, it will appear in the Recently Deleted album. Go to Photos > Albums and tap Recently Deleted in the Utilities section.

On your iPhone or iPad

1. In iOS 16, iPadOS 16.1 or later, use Face ID or Touch ID to unlock your Recently Deleted album.
2. Tap a photo or video, then tap Recover. To recover multiple photos, tap Select, select your photos or videos, then tap Recover.
3. Confirm that you want to recover the photos or videos.

On your Mac

1. In macOS Ventura or later, use Touch ID or your login password to unlock your Recently Deleted album.
2. Click the photo or video.
3. Click Recover.

Anything in your Recently Deleted album will stay there for 30 days. After 30 days, it will be deleted permanently and you can't get it back.

Unhide your photos

If you hide photos and videos, you'll only see them in your Hidden album, so it may seem like they're missing. But you can unhide your photos and videos whenever you want to. With iOS 14 and later, you can hide the Hidden album so it won't appear anywhere in the Photos app. If you're missing photos or videos, make sure the Hidden album is turned on so you can see it.

If you use iCloud Photos, the photos that you've hidden on one device will be hidden on your other devices too.

On your iPhone or iPad

1. In the Photos app, go to the Albums tab.
2. Tap Hidden under Utilities.
3. In iOS 16, iPadOS 16.1 or later, use Face ID or Touch ID to unlock your Hidden album.
4. Select the photo or video you want to unhide.
5. Tap the More button 
   
   , then tap Unhide.
   

On your Mac

1. Open Photos and in the menu bar, click View, then select Show Hidden Photo Album.
2. In the sidebar, select Hidden.
3. In macOS Ventura or later, use Touch ID or your login password to unlock your Hidden album.
4. Select the photo or video you want to unhide.
5. Control-click the photo, then choose Unhide Photo. You can also choose Image > Unhide Photo from the menu bar or press Command-L.

Make sure iCloud Photos is turned on

iCloud Photos stores all of your photos and videos securely in iCloud, so you can access them on all of your devices. If you've taken a photo on your iPhone with iCloud Photos turned on but later turned the feature off, you may still be able to find a missing photo in iCloud Photos.

On your iPhone or iPad

1. Go to Settings > [your name], then tap iCloud.
2. Tap Photos.
   
3. Turn on iCloud Photos.
   

On your Mac

1. Go to Photos > Settings.
2. Click the iCloud tab.
3. Select iCloud Photos.

After you've turned on iCloud Photos, you may need to connect to Wi-Fi and wait a few minutes. Then look for your photos again.

Sign in with the same Apple ID

For your photos and videos to stay up to date on all of your devices, make sure you sign in to iCloud with the same Apple ID on every device.

You can check which Apple ID your device is using in Settings. You'll see your name and email address. Your email address is your Apple ID.

Learn more

• If you organise a photo or video into an album and then delete it from Photos, it will be deleted everywhere, including that album. You can recover the photo in the Recently Deleted album for 30 days.
• If you're having trouble with iCloud Photos or managing your photos, get help with iCloud Photos.
• If you're using My Photo Stream instead of iCloud Photos, your photos or videos may appear to be missing. Find out more about My Photo Stream.

Published Date: September 28, 2022

Check places like your Recently Deleted or Hidden albums and iCloud Photos.

Check your Recently Deleted album

If you accidentally deleted your photo or video, it goes to the Recently Deleted album. Go to Photos > Albums, and tap Recently Deleted in the Utilities section.

On your iPhone or iPad

1. In iOS 16, iPadOS 16.1, or later, use Face ID or Touch ID to unlock your Recently Deleted album.
2. Tap a photo or video, then tap Recover. To recover multiple photos, tap Select, select your photos or videos, then tap Recover.
3. Confirm that you want to recover the photos or videos.

On your Mac

1. In macOS Ventura or later, use Touch ID or your login password to unlock your Recently Deleted album.
2. Click the photo or video.
3. Click Recover.

Anything in your Recently Deleted album stays there for 30 days. After 30 days, it's permanently deleted and you can't get it back.

Unhide your photos

If you hide photos and videos, you'll see them only in your Hidden album, so it might seem like they're missing. But you can unhide your photos and videos whenever you want. With iOS 14 and later, you can hide the Hidden album so it doesn't appear anywhere in the Photos app. So if you're missing photos or videos, make sure the Hidden album is turned on so you can see it.

If you use iCloud Photos, the photos that you hide on one device are hidden on your other devices too.

On your iPhone or iPad

1. In the Photos app, go to the Albums tab.
2. Tap Hidden under Utilities.
3. In iOS 16, iPadOS 16.1, or later, use Face ID or Touch ID to unlock your Hidden album.
4. Select the photo or video that you want to unhide.
5. Tap the More button 
   
   , then tap Unhide.
   

On your Mac

1. Open Photos and in the menu bar, click View, then select Show Hidden Photo Album.
2. In the sidebar, select Hidden.
3. In macOS Ventura or later, use Touch ID or your login password to unlock your Hidden album.
4. Select the photo or video that you want to unhide.
5. Control-click the photo, then choose Unhide Photo. You can also choose Image > Unhide Photo from the menu bar, or press Command-L.

Make sure that iCloud Photos is turned on

iCloud Photos securely stores all of your photos and videos in iCloud, so that you can access them on all your devices. If you took a photo on your iPhone with iCloud Photos turned on but later turned the feature off, you might still be able to find a missing photo in iCloud Photos.

On your iPhone or iPad

1. Go to Settings > [your name], then tap iCloud.
2. Tap Photos.
   
3. Turn on iCloud Photos.
   

On your Mac

1. Go to Photos > Settings.
2. Click the iCloud tab.
3. Select iCloud Photos.

After you turn on iCloud Photos, you might need to connect to Wi-Fi and wait a few minutes. Then look for your photos again.

Sign in with the same Apple ID

For your photos and videos to stay up to date on all your devices, make sure that you sign in to iCloud with the same Apple ID on every device.

You can check which Apple ID your device is using in Settings. You'll see your name and email address. Your email address is your Apple ID.

Learn more

• If you organize a photo or video into an album, then delete it from Photos, it will delete everywhere, including that album. You can recover the photo in the Recently Deleted album for 30 days.
• If you have trouble with iCloud Photos or managing your photos, get help with iCloud Photos.
• If you're using My Photo Stream instead of iCloud Photos, your photos or videos might appear to be missing. Learn more about My Photo Stream.

Published Date: September 14, 2022

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