Hey everyone, I'm in a bit of a bind here. About ten days ago, I made a giant mistake while trying to clean up some storage on my iPad. I accidentally deleted a bunch of photos, not realizing that my devices are synced through iCloud. It turns out that this wiped all my photos from every device—just like that!
When I checked iCloud to restore them, I found out that the deletion had already synced and the backup was overwritten with an empty library. I didn't even get a chance to recover them before everything vanished. I've reached out to Apple Support for help, but it's been ten days without any response, which is really frustrating.
I know it was my mistake, but it's hard to believe something this serious can happen so easily without a warning or a way to restore old backups. I'm heartbroken and desperate to know if anyone has been through something similar or has any tips for what I can still do. Help!
5 Answers
That sounds awful! Check for a 'Recently Deleted' folder in your Photos app; it’s usually under 'Utilities'. You can recover deleted photos from there within 30 days. Make sure to check all your Apple devices for this folder too!
I'm really sorry you're going through this! Just make sure to contact Apple as quickly as possible if it ever happens again. The sooner, the better for recovery options.
Unfortunately, iCloud isn't really a backup service. If your photos aren't in the 'Recently Deleted' folder, there’s not much Apple can do. They might help if you have another device that's not synced yet, but that’s a long shot. Sorry for the bad news, but it's pretty crucial to remember that iCloud just syncs everything across devices, it doesn’t actually back things up like you'd think.
Yeah, I wanted them to roll back the old iCloud version before it got overwritten. It's just frustrating that they haven’t gotten back to me!
It seems like you might have emptied your 'Recently Deleted' folder. When I helped someone in a similar situation, we contacted Apple right away, and they managed to roll it back. Ten days may be pushing it, though. Just a reminder that iCloud Photos is mainly for syncing, not a real backup solution.
You might still have a chance! Contact Apple again and ask to speak to a senior advisor. They can sometimes retrieve things that regular support can’t. If nothing works, you might need to think about a data recovery service.
I’ve been trying to find a number to call them, but it's tough! Do you know any way to get through to Apple Support?
Right! Just keep scrolling to find it. Sometimes you have to adjust the layout settings to see it right, but it should be there. If it's there, you're in luck!