I have an issue with lost photos on my MacBook

Question

I have an issue with lost photos on my MacBook

I have an issue with lost photos on my MacBook. I had transferred photos via AirDrop and stored them in folders on my Desktop. After changing my Apple ID password and deleting some files from iCloud, all folders with my photos disappeared. I suspect they were part of iCloud Drive or a synced Desktop folder.

I would like to know if it’s still possible to recover those deleted photos, especially since it’s been less than 30 days. I do not see them in iCloud → Photos → Recently Deleted, but they were very important.

I would appreciate any help or advice.

Best regards,

Ni*****e@gmail.com

[Edited by Moderator]

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 14.6

Posted on Jul 12, 2025 03:25 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 13, 2025 07:43 AM in response to nikakalandadze

iCloud Drive is really just a folder on your Mac-- the difference is that its contents are copied to iCloud.com. So if you deleted your pictures in iCloud Drive, you were deleting them from our Mac. Then that deletion was copied to iCloud.com, so they would disappear from there, too. That's why we say that iCloud isn't a backup service; it's a Synchronization service. While it copies your stuff, it also copies your mistakes. I use Time Machine with my Mac to provide a robust backup.

Did you delete your files from Recently Deleted at iCloud.com? That's the big safety feature that iCloud provides.

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