Check places like your Recently Deleted or Hidden albums, your Shared Library, and iCloud Photos.
Check your Recently Deleted album
If you accidentally deleted your photo or video, it goes to the Recently Deleted album. 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.
On your iPhone or iPad
In iOS 16, iPadOS 16.1, or later, go to Photos > Albums and tap Recently Deleted in the Utilities section.
Use Face ID or Touch ID to unlock your Recently Deleted album.
Tap a photo or video, then tap Recover. To recover multiple photos, tap Select, select your photos or videos, then tap Recover.
Confirm that you want to recover the photos or videos.
On your Mac
In macOS Ventura or later, open Photos and select Recently Deleted in the sidebar.
Use Touch ID or your login password to unlock your Recently Deleted album.
Click the photo or video.
Click Recover.
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
In the Photos app, go to the Albums tab.
Tap Hidden under Utilities.
In iOS 16, iPadOS 16.1, or later, use Face ID or Touch ID to unlock your Hidden album.
Select the photo or video that you want to unhide.
Tap the More button, then tap Unhide.
On your Mac
Open Photos and in the menu bar, click View, then select Show Hidden Photo Album.
In the sidebar, select Hidden.
In macOS Ventura or later, use Touch ID or your login password to unlock your Hidden album.
Select the photo or video that you want to unhide.
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
Go to Settings > [your name], then tap iCloud.
Tap Photos.
Turn on iCloud Photos.
On your Mac
Open Photos, then choose photos > Settings (or Preferences) from the menu bar.
Click the iCloud tab.
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.
Check your iCloud Shared Photo Library
In iOS 16.1, iPadOS 16.1, and later, you can start or join an iCloud Shared Photo Library with up to five contacts. Some photos might only appear in certain library views.
Switch between your Personal Library and Shared Library on your iPhone or iPad
Open the Photos app.
At the top of the Albums or Library tabs, tap the more button in the upper right corner.
Choose Personal Library, Shared Library, or Both Libraries.
In Both Libraries or Shared Library view, photos that are in the Shared Library are marked with the Shared Library icon
. Photos that are in the Personal Library are marked with the Personal Library icon
.
Learn more about how to switch between your Personal Library and Shared Library on your iPhone or iPad
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.
Learn what to do if your photos aren't syncing to your device.
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