I turned off “sync icloud photos” and now my photos in my gallery is gone.

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Level 1

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I turned off “sync icloud photos” and now my photos in my gallery is gone.

So i was trying to download a video from 2021 in my gallery, and i accidentally turned off sync photos (in settings>icloud). then now most of my photos are gone, i panicked and turned them back on, and it says it’s “syncing.” i then went to check my missing photos on icloud.com and all of them were there, just missing on my phone. how do i get them back in my phone’s gallery? i just want to undo all this :(

iPhone 15 Plus, iOS 26

Posted on Nov 3, 2025 4:15 AM

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Answer 1

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Richard.Taylor

Level 6

16,645 points

Nov 3, 2025 9:05 AM in response to hisushwue

Though you didn't say, I'm guessing that you are using "Optimize Storage" for Photos, and that keeps only screen sized images on the phone, relying on iCloud for the originals. When you turn off iCloud, you get this warning:

saying that the "Optimized" pictures and Photos will be removed, since they are not the full images. It gives you the option of downloading them first. They remain at iCloud.com, in any case.

When you turn iCloud back on, then it may take a while all the removed pictures to reappear. Since syncing uses the battery, and since lots of people are very anxious about battery drain, the iPhone will avoid syncing when not plugged in. And since syncing uses processing power, and people hate slow-downs, the iPhone will avoid syncing while you use it. And since syncing requires bandwidth, the iPhone will avoid syncing when the internet connection is weak.

So, if you want faster syncing, then find good wifi, plug the phone in, and leave it alone. All this applies to a lesser extent for the Mac.

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