2 Ways to Recover Photos from iCloud
Last Updated on January 13, 2023 by Ian McEwan
Why Recover Photos from iCloud
Ten years ago, thanks to Steve Jobs who introduced the iPhone and changed our world. People use iPhone not only to make phone call or do the other things, but also to take beautiful photos or selfies keeping wonderful moments in their daily life.
However, accidents of losing photos happen from time to time. It could be caused by a stolen iPhone, an accidental deletion, or iOS 11 upgrade failure. Any kind of these situations will be enough to freak you out. But if you have backup files in iCloud, you may got the chance to get your deleted photos back.
iCloud Recovery
Here we are going to introduce 2 ways to help you recover photos from iCloud (Apply to other data, i.e. contacts, messages, videos, etc.).
Guide List:
Method 1: How to Recover Photos from iCloud in Apple’s way
Follow the steps below to restore photos from iCloud without computer:
Step 1: Upgrade your iOS if there is an update available (If no update available, skip this step.):
Go to “Settings” >Choose “General” >Click on “Software update”
Step 2: Check your recent backup files:
Tap in this order : “Settings” > “iCloud ” > “ Storage” > “ Manage Storage”
Step 3: Erase all contents and settings
Before the following steps, i strongly advise you to create a backup of your current phone’s files while you are still in iCloud.
Tap in this order :“Settings”>“General”>“Reset ”>“Erase All Content and Settings”
Step 4: Restore your iPhone by choosing from a list of available backups in iCloud
Turn on your iPhone and connect your Wi-Fi, then choose the backups file containing the photos you want to get back, and wait for the progress bar to complete.
As you see, in Apple’s way, you may lose your current data and you have to repeat the steps mentioned above. It may drive you crazy following these many steps for the first time, not to mention to do it again. Now let me Show you a much simpler way—DataKit iOS Data Recovery., which can preview and selective recover photos from iCloud without data lost.
Method 2: How to Recover Photos from iCloud By Using a Professional Third-Party Software
Step 1: Log in iCloud account with DataKit iOS Data Recovery.
- Download and intall DataKit iOS Data Recovery.
- Connect your device (iPhone or iPad) to PC with a USB cable. Please don’t do any other operations during the process.
- Run the program, click on the "iPhone Data Recovery" button.
- Choose "Recover from iCloud Backup Files”. Then you can see a login screen.
- Enter your iCloud account and password to login. No need to worry about your privacy which DataKit takes seriously. No records of your Apple account info or other messages will leave or leak by the program.

Step 2: Download iCloud Backup File
Now you have logged into your iCloud,you can see all the iCloud backup files with information of different latest backup date,file size and iCloud account.
- Choose one iCloud backup files you want to recover from and click on the "Download" button.
- To recover your photos,tick the first option“photos & Videos”. Click on the "Next" button to start downloading. Then wait for a little time until it shows the photo contents.

A page will pop up to let you choose the type of files you would like to download. This will make the downloading faster. You can tick one option or choose the “select all” button to recover whatever you want.
Step 3: Retrieve and Recover Data
It takes a few minutes to display all your files completely. After that, you can find almost all photos or videos in your iCloud backup file.
- Check and tick the photos one by one you want to recover
- To save them on your computer, click on the "Recover" button ;
- Once you have downloaded iCloud backup files, you don’t have to sign in and download the iCloud backup files again next time. Just click "To preview and scan previously downloaded iCloud backup file" under the entrance of sign-in

3 simple steps with a few clicks get your photos back. Unlike Apple’s way, DataKit is really easy and handy for operating. It’s quite suitable for busy people like you and me.
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