Recovering deleted photos from iPhone connected to Lenovo laptop

I connected my phone to a laptop (Lenovo) and wanted to add some videos to the laptop, to recover some memory on the phone. When I connected the phone to the laptop, a new category appeared: Apple iPhone and I saw that I had all the photos and videos there, in fact I only had the phone memory there, and I thought that everything I had on the phone, now I have on the laptop. Without realizing it, I deleted most of the photos, just wanting to clear the memory on the laptop, and then I realized that I had deleted what I actually had on the phone, and now I am left without photos and I have no idea how to recover them, because they are neither in the recently deleted category, nor have they been added to iCloud… I really need help because they were important photos!



[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Deleted photos

iPhone 16, iOS 26

Posted on Oct 27, 2025 3:12 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 27, 2025 8:00 AM

It sounds like you were synchronizing your iPhone Photos Library with iCloud Photos-- is that right? Of course, "synchronize" means "keep exactly the same," so what you see on your phone should be exactly what you see at iCloud.  iCloud Photos doesn't keep pictures in "Recently Deleted" any longer than the phone does.


You can see this:

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

Basically the above says to look in Recently Deleted and in Hidden. Be sure to check your Library thoroughly-- the pictures may not be where you expect, as dates may have changed. You can use the search field with the date or location. And remember, you can sort the Library by date captured or by date added. Also, your Library view now has filters, and you may not have your filter set to "All Items."


If you don't use iCloud Photos, but you have Settings>Apple ID>iCloud Backup turned on, then you may be able to recover data from the last 30 days or so. You should look here:

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup - Apple Support 

“Restore” is what you do when you buy a new phone, so this safety, if you have it set, requires you to erase everything on your phone and replace it with the backup. However, iCloud Backup doesn't include pictures that were at iCloud Photos.


Unfortunately, if you don't keep your own backups to an external drive, then there really isn't any place else to look.


2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 27, 2025 8:00 AM in response to tibsee7173

It sounds like you were synchronizing your iPhone Photos Library with iCloud Photos-- is that right? Of course, "synchronize" means "keep exactly the same," so what you see on your phone should be exactly what you see at iCloud.  iCloud Photos doesn't keep pictures in "Recently Deleted" any longer than the phone does.


You can see this:

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

Basically the above says to look in Recently Deleted and in Hidden. Be sure to check your Library thoroughly-- the pictures may not be where you expect, as dates may have changed. You can use the search field with the date or location. And remember, you can sort the Library by date captured or by date added. Also, your Library view now has filters, and you may not have your filter set to "All Items."


If you don't use iCloud Photos, but you have Settings>Apple ID>iCloud Backup turned on, then you may be able to recover data from the last 30 days or so. You should look here:

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup - Apple Support 

“Restore” is what you do when you buy a new phone, so this safety, if you have it set, requires you to erase everything on your phone and replace it with the backup. However, iCloud Backup doesn't include pictures that were at iCloud Photos.


Unfortunately, if you don't keep your own backups to an external drive, then there really isn't any place else to look.


Recovering deleted photos from iPhone connected to Lenovo laptop

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