Smartphone photography helps you to keep up with your everyday tasks, and capture important moments at any time- without worrying about missing the moment. Users prefer sharing images and videos on various social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and more to keep them engaged and feel good. But the constant influx could fill up your smartphone's memory, which would often prompt you to delete files hastily.
Unfortunately, in the process, many users accidentally delete a few important photos or documents. If you are someone who finds yourself stuck in a situation like this, then you don't have to worry- there are simple yet straightforward ways to recover your precious memories.
Here is a guide to help you restore your accidentally deleted photos, videos or documents, from your smartphone. There are two effective methods to do the needful:
Method 1: Recover from the recently deleted folder
It's almost with every smartphone- they come with a built-in safety net for deleted files. In it, when you delete a photo or video (intentionally or by mistake), it does not vanish immediately. Instead, it goes to the ‘Recently Deleted’ folder, from which the photo/video/document can be restored easily. Here's how you can access and restore your files from the folder:
For Android users:
- Open the Gallery App and navigate to your phone’s gallery or photo app.
- Find the ‘Recently Deleted Folder’ which is usually named ‘Recently Deleted’ or ‘Trash’.
- Restore your files: Browse through the folder to find your deleted photos or videos. Select the ones you want to recover and tap ‘Restore’ or a similar option.
Note: Photos and videos remain in this folder for 30 days before being permanently deleted.
For iOS Users (iPhone):
- Open the Photos App on your iPhone
- Access the Recently Deleted Album
- Go to recover your files and there, select the photos or videos you wish to restore
- Tap on Recover
Note: Like on Android, files in this folder will only be available for 30 days.
Method 2: Recover from Google Photos Trash
If you have Google Photos set up on your smartphone, then there is another layer of backup available for the users. Deleted photos and videos are stored in Google Photos' Trash for a longer time, which gives an extended window to recover the mistakenly deleted files.
Steps to recover from Google Photos Trash:
- Open the Google Photos App
- Navigate to the Trash Section
- Browse through the deleted files which you would like to retrieve by clicking on the ‘Restore’ button.
Note: Google Photos keeps the deleted files in the Trash for 60 days, which is comparatively a longer recovery period.
Additional Tips for iPhone Users:
iPhone users can have the option to recover photos via iCloud. Here are the steps:
- Visit iCloud.com and sign in with your Apple ID.
- Open the photos section to navigate to the Photos section
- There, find the ‘Recently Deleted’ album.
- Recover Your Files by selecting the photos which you wish to recover and click on ‘Recover’.
ALSO READ: New AI chatbot set to debut on iPhone as a new competitor to ChatGPT
