Where Do Permanently Deleted Photos Go? (2024)

Photos are totems of your memory immortalized in a tangible apparatus. The sheer beauty of nostalgia and reminiscence is more potent than any other visceral emotion exhibited by man. Therefore, you must preserve photographs and protect them from deletion or getting lost. Here is a comprehensive walkthrough on where do permanently deleted photos go and how to recover permanently deleted photos.

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Table of Contents

Permanently deleted photos are removed from your device storage, recycle bin, and cloud storage. Keep reading to find out how to recover those permanently deleted pictures and files.

Are Permanently Deleted Photos Gone Forever?

Yes, permanently deleted images are gone forever with no way of restoring them.

Where Do Photos Go When Permanently Deleted? Where Do Deleted Files Go After You Delete Them?

Pictures are eliminated from your device and cloud storage once permanently deleted. Deleted files are usually sequestered in the Trash (Android) or Recently Deleted (iOS) once you delete them.

Where Do Deleted Files Go If Not in Recycle Bin?

After knowing where do permanently deleted images go, you might also ask about deleted files. Deleted Files are usually eliminated forever if they are not in the recycle bin. The Recycle Bin does not routinely clear itself, so you can restore your files at the earliest.

Does Apple Keep Permanently Deleted Photos?

No, Apple stores its deleted photos in the Recently Deleted album, which cleans itself every 30 days.

Can You Retrieve Photos You Permanently Deleted?

No, you cannot retrieve pictures you permanently deleted. If you permanently deleted a photo from your cloud storage, you can contact iCloud Support or Google Drive Support to check if they can restore the files.

Where Do Permanently Deleted Photos Go? (2)

Also Read: Can You Access Your Old Myspace Account?

Can Police See Permanently Deleted Photos?

No, unless your photos are active on the Internet or a cloud storage site, Police cannot see your deleted photos.

Do Deleted Pictures Go to the Dark Web?

No, they don’t. Unless your photos are possessed by someone dubious, your permanently deleted photos will never be released to the Dark Web.

How Do you Permanently Delete Files so They Cannot Be Recovered? How Do I Permanently Delete Files Without Recovery?

Follow the below steps to delete files permanently:

  • Delete your files from the device.
  • Delete from the Recycle Bin (Windows), Trash (Android), and Recently Deleted (iOS).
  • Delete your files from all cloud storage.

How Can I Recover Permanently Deleted Photos?

Follow the below methods to recover your permanently deleted pictures:

Option I: Use Restore Files Tool

Follow the upcoming steps to restore your permanently deleted photos using the restore tool.

Note: You can use this method only if you have turned on File History settingson your device.

1. Type Restore Files in the Windows search bar and click on Restore your files with File History, as shown below.

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2. Navigate to the desired folder where the deleted folder or file was present.

3. Click on the Restore icon to recover that file in its original location.

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Also Read: How to Recover a Deleted Google Doc from Google Drive

Option II: Use Command Prompt

With this method, you can use to restore your files in case your File History is disabled or dysfunctional.

1. Typecmd in the Windows search bar and click on Run as administrator.

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2. Click on Yes in the prompt.

3. Type the following commandand press the Enter key.

chkdsk X: /f

Note: Replace X with the drive letter you intend to restore.

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4. Then, type the following commandand press the Enter key. The recovery process will begin.

ATTRIB -H -R -S /S /D X:*.*

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Option III: Perform System Restore

You can also use the System Restore tool to recover permanently deleted photos or files. System Restore will restore your device to the previous version without losing its data or files. Read our guide on How to use System Restore on Windows 10 and implement the instructions as demonstrated.

Note: This method may or may not recover the deleted files.

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Also Read: How to Recover Deleted Snapchat Account After 30 Days

How Do I Recover Permanently Deleted Files From My PC Without Software?

You cannot recover permanently deleted images. It is called permanent for a reason. However, you may try contacting iCloud Support or Google Drive Support, depending on your mobile’s OS.

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How to Recover Permanently Deleted Photos From Google Photos?

Forever deleted photos can never be recovered. You may try contacting Google Drive support to check if the file is still preserved on the servers, from where you can restore it.

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Where Do Permanently Deleted Photos Go? (2024)

FAQs

Where Do Permanently Deleted Photos Go? ›

Where do photos go when permanently deleted? The photos seem to be totally deleted: the file header and reference are removed, the photos become unreadable on this PC. In fact, the deleted photos are still stored on the PC, they can be recoverable until they are overwritten.

Where do pictures go after you permanently delete them? ›

Learn what happens to photos you've deleted

If you delete a photo or video that's backed up in Google Photos, it will stay in your trash for 60 days. If you delete an item from your Android 11 and up device without it being backed up, it will stay in your trash for 30 days.

Are permanently deleted photos really gone? ›

Generally, permanently deleted photos are removed from the iPhone's recycle bin and cloud storage. This makes them unavailable for viewing and even transferring to other devices. So, are permanently deleted photos gone forever? The answer is definitely, Yes!

Can police recover permanently deleted photos? ›

AnyRecover is a consumer-grade data recovery tool that can be used to recover deleted photos, as well as other types of data, from iOS devices, Android devices and PC. While it is not specifically designed for forensic investigations, it may be used by police or other investigators in some cases.

Are permanently deleted files really deleted? ›

When you permanently delete a file, the storage drive makes its space available for new data. However, the file is not deleted. It remains on the hard drive; only the file pointers get deleted. (The File pointer shows you where the file exists and keeps track of it being accessed.)

Are photos really permanently deleted on iPhone? ›

When you delete photos and videos, they go to your Recently Deleted album for 30 days. After 30 days, they'll be permanently deleted. If you use iCloud Photos, and delete photos and videos from one device, the photos and videos will be deleted on your other devices.

Is it possible to recover permanently deleted photos from iPhone? ›

An iCloud backup (you made with iCloud Photos off) also helps you to recover permanently deleted photos from iPhone. Like iTunes backup, you can also choose to recover deleted iCloud backup via iPhone settings or selectively retrieve photos with iPhone recovery software like EaseUS MobiSaver.

Can the FBI see your deleted photos? ›

Yes. Police can recover deleted photos from iPhones/Android. Photo or image recovery is not impossible.

Can the FBI retrieve deleted photos? ›

So, in conclusion: Yes, law enforcement can retrieve files you've deleted.

Can FBI recover deleted files? ›

Keeping Your Data Secure

So, can police recover deleted pictures, texts, and files from a phone? The answer is yes—by using special tools, they can find data that hasn't been overwritten yet. And these days, encryption isn't quite the silver bullet solution it once was.

Can anything ever be truly deleted? ›

When you delete data off your hard drive, is it truly gone? Well, yes and no, depending on where it's deleted from. Basically, the answer is a bit complicated but here's the short version: you should assume that data is never truly deleted unless the device has had a complete wipe.

Is it possible to recover permanently deleted? ›

The quickest way to recover files that have been permanently deleted from the Recycle Bin is with Windows File Recovery. You can also go into the File History of a file and restore a past version.

Is anything ever really deleted from your iPhone? ›

Delete files on your iPhone or iPad

When you delete files from iCloud Drive or On My [device] in the Files app, they go into your Recently Deleted. After 30 days, your files are permanently deleted. Files deleted from Recently Deleted are deleted immediately and are not recoverable.

Can deleted photos be traced? ›

Yes. Police can recover deleted photos from iPhones/Android. Photo or image recovery is not impossible. There are many data recovery tools that not only police but also the general public can access to recover their lost data.

Where do permanently deleted files go on iPhone? ›

This helps to easily access files from multiple iOS devices and is also one way to recover deleted files on iPhone. Once the files are permanently deleted from your iPhone, they are also automatically shifted to the "Recently deleted" folder in iCloud Drive.

Why do my permanently deleted photos keep coming back? ›

At last, due to your Android phone options like data cache and cloud syncing, you'll be likely to see the files you removed earlier show up again after a new round of file synchronization.

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