How can I recover photos from my iPhone X without iCloud?

Question

How can I recover photos from my iPhone X without iCloud?

I had photos that were still on my iPhone X that I wanted to keep so I unsubscribed and unsynched the iCloud options on my iphone, or so I had thought. I could see the photos in the photos on my device but I could not open them or play videos. I then connected my device to my computer and it automatically replaced the photos with the photos in iCloud. I coud not see the photos any longer. I contacted Apple tech support/service and they gave me several excuses, a glitch, must be the phone, the computer and said I could recover the device from an earlier backup in iTunes that would have some of the photos, hopefully. Of course I had never done this before so proceeded to reset my device from the backup and of course once I got to the actual backup part, it needed the encrypted password, which I have no idea what it is or if I had even set one up those many years ago. After many further calls to Apple, they have still said nope, cant get the photos, but here is a third party data recovery company that might be able to help, but you would need to pay them. So, I am reaching out here to see if there is anyone that can suggest any actual assistance to help me possibly recover these extremely important photos. This whole ordeal and lack of accountability from Apple has changed my mind about Apple. Please help me. I am not a very tech savvy person, so please remember this if you are able to provide some guidance. Thanks.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

iPhone X

Posted on Jun 16, 2024 2:16 PM

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Answer 1

muguy

Level 10

90,704 points

Jun 17, 2024 7:51 AM in response to helpnowplease22

Not sure exactly what you did, but the photos cannot be recovered without a backup or without having been synced to iCloud.

what you posted is a bit confusing.

unsubscribed and unsynched the iCloud

if you unsubscribe from iCloud, you have 30 days to ensure you have your data downloaded. If you turn off iCloud Photos, you would be prompted to download your images.

I then connected my device to my computer and it automatically replaced the photos with the photos in iCloud

presumably, those are the same photos as you only disconnected the device as per the previous step?

coud not see the photos any longer

what photos? You just indicated that the photos were downloaded.

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Answer 2

muguy

Level 10

90,704 points

Jun 17, 2024 8:30 AM in response to helpnowplease22

Correct. If iCloud was off, photos would not sync. If it was on, the photos on your old device would be uploaded and merged into the library. Regardless, if the photos are not on your device, nor in iCloud, they no longer exist.

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Answer 3

Ralph9430

Level 7

21,992 points

Jun 16, 2024 2:44 PM in response to helpnowplease22

If you reset your device from a previous backup that had no photos stored then you have indeed lost those photos. iCloud will retain a copy of the photos that are on your iPhone if you select that to happen in the iCloud section of the Settings app. It is important, then, to maintain regular backups of your iPhone. You can have your iPhone make daily backups without you having to actually go through the process. My iPhone is backed up to iCloud usually at night when I am asleep.

You mentioned not knowing a long ago used password. It is critical that once you set a password you must have a way to retrieve it. There are some good password apps out there that will store your passwords and the next update to the iOS will have a password application as part of the system. Unfortunately these will not be of assistance now so you can use this as a lesson learned and move on.

If you don't want to trust or use iCloud to back up photos (remember if you delete a photo from your iPhone it will be deleted in iCloud) you should develop and alternative method to save your photos. This can be your computer or a hard drive connected to your computer.

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Answer 4

Jun 16, 2024 2:56 PM in response to Ralph9430

Hi Ralph, I do not know if the previous backup had photos in it as it was in 2022. I do choose photos in the backup option. Also, the password is the encrypted backup password, which, from my memory, I never chose. The photos were on a phone I did not usually use so had not been backed up.

I am looking for constructive or helpful suggestions, not things that I already know or are not helpful. I don’t need to be chastised like a child. I am aware of how I should backup and how to do that. I choose not to usually use iCloud as I feel it is just a rip off from Apple to pay for an option just to save photos. Yes, if I have lost them permanently, then that sadly is my loss.

Lesson learned and a reason why I will move to Android.

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Answer 5

Jun 17, 2024 8:03 AM in response to muguy

This might help to clarify. I had photos in an iPhone that I had not turned on for some time as I had not used it. I was trying to not have the photos uploaded to iCloud as I did not want to lose them, so I unsubscribed to iCloud and turned off photos sharing to iCloud. I thought this would not upload them. When I plugged in my phone to transfer the photos to my computer, somehow iCloud just replaced the photos in the phone with the photos in iCloud. I don’t know how or why. They are not in iCloud or my phone now. I am trying to retrieve these by data recovery or another possible option. Yes, I know about iCloud. They are not there. Just looking for some actual possible help.

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How can I recover photos from my iPhone X without iCloud?

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