"The Photos disappeared from my iPhone 7 after iOS 11 update. What can I do to recover the disappeared photos?"
"My iPhone photos disappeared from Camera Roll, which is really a disaster. Is there any method to get the photos back?"
It's really annoying when encountering the photos disappeared from iPhone issue. However, it's not uncommon for this issue to happen. According to some iPhone users, their iPhone photos disappeared from Camera Roll unexpectedly, which always occurred after iOS update. If you are facing the very same issue, don't bother reading this article to get the possible solutions to recover your disappeared iPhone photos. (You can also try the methods in this article if the photos disappeared from your iPad instead of iPhone.)
Applies To: iPhone XS/XS Max/XR, iPhone X, iPhone 8/8 Plus, iPhone7/7 Plus, iPhone 6/6s
The possible tips to fix the iPhone photos disappeared from Camera Roll are detailed below, which are arranged in an increasing order of difficulty. The tip works well for others may not solve your iPhone problem. Just keep trying and find the one that can help you out.
Solution 1 Restart your iPhone
No matter the photos disappeared from your iPhone suddenly or after iOS 11 update, you can perform a restart on your iPhone to have a try.
How to restart iPhone:
Solution 2 Check the Recently Deleted folder on iPhone
It's possible that the photos disappeared from your iPhone due to unintentionally deletion. Go to Photos > Recently Deleted to check whether the photos disappeared are in that folder. If you find the missing photos in that folder, you just need to select the pictures, and click Recover to get the photos back to your iPhone Camera Roll.
Solution 3 Make sure iCloud Photo Library is enabled
If the photos on your iPhone are synced from your other devices and you find the photos disappeared from iPhone, do check the iCloud Photo Library option under Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos. If iCloud Photo Library is disabled, turn it on, connect your iPhone to a stable Wi-Fi network, and then wait for your disappeared photos to reappear on your iPhone.
Note: You can also try this tip when your find iCloud photos not syncing on Windows 10.
Solution 4 Check your Apple ID
Similarly, if you use iCloud to sync photos across your devices, do make sure you have signed in to iCloud with the same Apple ID, or you may report the photos disappeared from iPhone issue. (Forget your Apple ID and password? Learn how to reset Apple ID and password here.)
If none of the four tips above works to get the disappeared photos back, you can try the two methods below to recover the photos from an earlier backup.
Solution 5 Restore disappeared photos on iPhone from iTunes Backup
However, if you have backed up your iPhone with iTunes before the photos disappeared from your iPhone, you can get them back by restoring your iPhone from iTunes Backup. Here are the steps to do it.
Step 1: Connect your iPhone to the computer on which your iPhone backup exists, and run iTunes if it doesn't open automatically.
Step 2: Click the Device button in iTunes. (If your iPhone not showing up in iTunes, fix it immediately.)
Step 3: Go to Summary > Restore Backup. Choose the latest backup, tap Restore, then wait for the restoring process to be finished.
Solution 6 Recover disappeared photos on iPhone from iCloud Backup
You can also recover the disappeared photos on your iPhone from iCloud Backup if you have one available. What you need to know while using this method is that restoring a used iPhone needs you to erase your iPhone first, which means it may cause data loss on your device. To keep the existing data on your iPhone safe, you need to back up your iPhone to computer first and then restore your disappeared photos from iCloud backup.
To back up all your iPhone content at no cost, you need the FREEWARE for iOS data transfer and file management, Qiling MobiMover Free, with which you can not only transfer files between an iOS device (iPhone/iPad in iOS 8 or later) and computer (Mac or PC) but also sync data from one iOS device to another. Here are the file types MobiMover can back up for you without any cost or limitations.
Photos: Camera Roll, Photo Library, Photo Stream, Photo Videos
Videos: Movies, TV shows, Music Videos
Audios: Music, Ringtones, Voice Memos, Audiobooks, Playlists
Others: Contacts, Notes, Messages, Voice Mails, Books, and Safari Bookmarks
Now, follow the guide below to make a backup of your iPhone, then restore your device from iCloud Backup.
Part 1: Back up iPhone to computer.
Step 1. Connect your iPhone to the computer and run Qiling MobiMover. From its main interface, select the "Backup Manager" mode. Then, click "Backup" to proceed to the next stage.
Step 2. You will see all files that are available for backing up. Simply check the box next to the "Select All" to back up all files to computer without iTunes or iCloud. Then, click on the "One-Click Backup" to start the process.
Step 3. Wait for a while and let the software finish data transfer. When it's done, you can restore it to your device whenever you want. But note that this will ease all stuff on your device and replace everything with what's in the backup.
Part 2: Restore iPhone from iCloud
Step 1: Go to Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings.
Step 2: When to get to Apps & Data screen, choose Restore from iCloud Backup and enter your Apple ID to sign into iCloud.
Step 3: On the Choose backup screen, select the iCloud backup you'd like to restore your iPhone from.