Accidentally deleting your important photos can be a nightmare. Whether you lose your cherished memories from a family vacation, an important professional photo, or personal keepsakes, losing photos can put you in trouble. If you ever encounter sudden loss of photos on your device, don’t lose hope. Luckily, there are several free photo recovery methods available that you can try to recover your lost photos without any cost.
In this article, we’ll explore 05 free methods to recover your photos after an accidental deletion, including manual methods and third-party free photo recovery software. So, let’s get started!
What Happens When Photos Get Deleted Accidentally on Your Device?
When you delete any photo, either accidentally or intentionally, it is not immediately removed from your storage. Instead, it is moved to temporary folders such as the Recycle Bin (Windows), Trash (Mac), or Recently Deleted (on Android and iOS). Photos remain until these temporary folders are emptied or storage runs out.
If this folder is emptied or bypassed, the storage space occupied by the photos is marked as “available” for new data, but the files still exist on the device until overwritten. In the meantime, you can use any free photo recovery software or manual recovery workarounds to get your deleted photos back. Acting quickly is crucial, as continued use of the device increases the risk of overwriting the deleted files, making recovery difficult or impossible.
How do I Recover Accidentally Deleted Photos?
In this part of the blog, we will explore 05 free methods to recover deleted photos after an accidental deletion and that’s too without any cost:
Method 01: Check the Recycle Bin or Trash Folder
As mentioned above, every file including your photos, after deletion goes to the Recycle Bin (Windows) or Trash folder (Mac). Before you use any free photo recovery software or apply other manual methods, it is important to check these temporary storage areas. Here’s how to recover deleted photos from:
Recycle Bin (Windows)
- Launch the Recycle Bin folder by double-clicking its icon on the desktop.
- Search for your deleted photos and right-click on the photo(s) you need to restore.
- Select Restore to save the selected files to their original location.
Trash Folder (Mac)
- Open the Trash folder by clicking its icon in the Dock.
- Browse through the files or use the search bar to locate your deleted photos.
- Drag the photos back to your device or right-click and select Put Back.
Method 02: Recover Your Photos from a Backup
If your deleted photo is not present in the above Temporary folders, then you should check for the previous backups. Restoring deleted photos from a backup is one of the most reliable and straightforward methods. For this, check the following backup options:
Google Photos
- Launch the Google Photos app or open it in your browser.
- Now, go to the Trash folder (found in the sidebar menu).
- Select the photos you want to recover and click Restore to save selected photos to your library.
iCloud
- Go to icloud.com and sign in with your account credentials.
- Click Photos and then go to the Recently Deleted folder.
- Select the photos you want to restore and click Recover.
External Backups
If you back up your files to an external hard drive or other storage media, you can use it to recover photos after accidental deletion. For this, connect the device to your computer and search for your photos. Programs like Windows File History or Mac Time Machine can help you restore specific files.
Method 03: Recover Lost Photos Using Device’s Built-In Features
Along with the above backup options, you can check your device’s built-in backup utilities to recover deleted photos. These tools are easy to use and don’t require any additional software.
Recover Photos on Windows
If you are using Windows 10 or later, the built-in File History backup utility is a great option to recover your deleted photos. All you have to do is:
- Firstly, go to the folder where your deleted photo was earlier stored.
- Right-click anywhere on the empty area within the folder. Then, select “Restore previous versions” from the context menu.
- Go through the list of available backups and select the version that contains your deleted photos.
- Once you find the desired version, click the Restore button to recover the deleted photos to their original location.
Recover Photos on Mac
- Connect your Time Machine backup drive to your Mac.
- Go to the folder where your photos were stored before deletion.
- Click the Time Machine icon in the menu bar and select Enter Time Machine.
- Navigate through the timeline on the right side of the screen and select the version that contains your deleted photos.
- Lastly, click the Restore button to recover selected files to their original location.
Method 04: Use a Free Photo Recovery Software
Instances may occur when the aforementioned free photo recovery methods get failed to restore your accidentally deleted photos. In such cases, you can use a free photo recovery software such as Stellar Photo Recovery Free to get your photos back. This all-in-one free photo recovery tool supports the recovery of photos deleted due to multiple reasons, including accidental deletion, formatting, virus attacks, and many more.
- Not only photos, you can use this free software to recover deleted video and audio files of multiple formats.
- The Stellar Photo Recovery Free software supports the recovery of media files deleted from several storage devices, including memory cards, HDDs, SSDs, etc.
- Compatible with both Windows and Mac devices.
- Allows you to preview the recoverable files before saving them on your device.
Important Tips for Recovery:
- Stop using the storage device immediately to avoid overwriting deleted files.
- Save recovered files to a different drive to prevent data corruption.
Method 05: Use Professional Data Recovery Services
Sometimes the above workarounds get failed to provide you with the desired result. If you don’t want to download any software, some professional data recovery services may help. These services specialize in retrieving lost data from various devices by charging some fees. Always act quickly to maximize recovery chances and avoid writing new data to the affected device. Opt for well-reviewed services to ensure data security and successful recovery.
Additional Tips to Prevent Photo Loss in the Future
Prevention is better than cure. You can consider the below-mentioned preventive measures to reduce the risk of losing photos again:
- Enable Automatic Backups: Use cloud services like Google Photos or iCloud to back up your photos on a regular basis.
- Use External Storage: Transfer your photos to external hard drives or USB sticks for extra security.
- Be Cautious When Deleting Files: Double-check before emptying the Recycle Bin or Trash or even deleting any file on your device.
- Invest in Reliable Antivirus Software: Prevent attacks from malicious programs such as viruses or malware by installing a reliable antivirus software.
Final Thoughts
Recovering accidentally deleted photos doesn’t have to be stressful or costly. You can easily recover your lost photos using methods such as: checking the Recycle Bin, restoring from backups, using free photo recovery software such as Stellar Photo Recovery Free, etc. Remember to act quickly and avoid saving new files to the affected storage device to increase your chances of success. Moreover, you can consider the aforementioned preventive measures to prevent accidental deletion of photos on your device.
