User level: Level 1 (4 points)I noticed that I lost 90% of my photos from my gallery, I didn’t have an iCloud subscription, but I didn’t do something(like a factory reset or something) I lost many important photos what should I do
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
Original Title: Missing photos
Posted on Nov 4, 2026 7:53 AM
User level: Level 7 (25,466 points)Nov 4, 2026 9:38 AM in response to Englezul
5 GB comes free with an iPhone. Did you sign in the iPhone to your Apple Account? If you don't use iCloud Photos, but you have Settings>Apple ID>iCloud Backup turned on, then you may be able to recover data. You should look here:
Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from a backup - Apple Support
“Restore” is what you do when you buy a new phone, so this safety, if you have it set, requires you to erase everything on your phone and replace it with the backup. You would have to get to the backup quickly, usually within a day, before the backup is replaced by a newer one. However, if you did have iCloud Photos enabled, then the iCloud Backup wouldn't make an extra copy.
Unfortunately, if you don't keep your own backups to an external drive, then there really isn't any place else to look. To back up your pictures you can just plug in an external drive, select the pictures, and use Share>Save to Files. Alternatively, you can backup to a computer:
Transfer photos and videos from your iPhone or iPad to your Mac or PC
If you haven't done one of those backups, then your remaining pictures continue to be in peril.
User level: Level 7 (28,946 points)Nov 4, 2026 9:42 AM in response to Englezul
Englezul wrote:
I lost many important photos what should I do
Restore from your backup. You do have a backup of all those important photos, right?
Originally posted at discussions.apple.com/thread/256388755