How to recover photos on iPad (Air, Mini, Pro) with/ without backup

Don't let accidental deletions erase your precious memories. Act now for hassle-free photo recovery on your iPad, iPad Air, iPad Mini, or iPad Pro.

What to know for iPad photo recovery:

• The Recently Deleted album on iPadOS 16.1 or later allows for straightforward recovery of recently deleted photos on your iPad, without any extra tool.
• A previously created backup in iCloud or iTunes can also be used to recover iPad photos that were accidentally deleted or lost.
• If your pictures are automatically synced and saved to iCloud Photos, head to iCloud.com and download the deleted photos to your iPad again.
• Whether you want to retrieve permanently deleted iPad photos or recover lost pictures without a backup, iOS Data Recovery can efficiently accomplish the task through a deep scanning.

Explore proven ways to retrieve your iPad photos, whether they've been deleted, lost, or seem to be disappearing.

iPad Photos may hold many of your cherished moments. But occasionally, you might lose your iPad photos, whether by accidental deletion or due to the latest iPadOS update. If you find yourself in this situation, worry not! There are various methods to recover photos on iPad.

In the following guide, we'll show you five ways to recover deleted photos on iPad, iPad Air, iPad Mini, and iPad Pro. Importantly, the key is to take immediate action for iPad photo recovery to avoid further data overwriting.

• How to recover deleted photos on iPad - Recently Deleted album
• How can I recover deleted photos on iPad - without backup
• How to restore iPad photos from iCloud Backup
• How to recover recently deleted photos from iCloud.com
• How to restore deleted photos on iPad using iTunes backup
• Bonus: Recover hidden photos on iPad
• FAQs on iPad photo recovery

How to recover deleted photos on iPad - Recently Deleted album

Wondering where do the deleted photos go and for how long you can restore deleted photos on iPad? According to Apple official, on iPadOS 16.1 and newer, the deleted photos are moved to the Recently Deleted folder, and you're allowed to view and recover the deleted iPad photos within the next 30 to 40 days, effortlessly restoring them to their original locations with a few taps.

Follow these simple steps to recover photos on iPad (Air, Mini, Pro):

• Open the Photos app on iPad and tap the Album icon at the top-left corner.
• Select Recently Deleted tab from the left menu.
• Tap View Album and enter your passcode to view recently deleted iPad photos.
• Tap Select option at the upper-right corner to choose the pictures you want.
• At the bottom of screen, tap three-dot icon > Recover to retrieve iPad photos. Or long-press a single picture and choose Recover option to get it back.

Note: If the recovery period (30-40 days) has expired or you've emptied the Recently Deleted folder, the deleted pictures won't be found there. In such instances, rely on third-party iPad photo recovery software to retrieve permanently deleted photos from your iPad.

How can I recover deleted photos on iPad - without backup

Whether your iPad photos are accidentally or permanently deleted, there's still a chance for lossless recovery. Even without a backup, iOS Data Recovery, an all-in-one solution, performs thorough scans of your device to find and recover permanently deleted photos on iPad or iPhone, allowing you to preview and select before starting the photo retrieval.

What can it do for iPad photo recovery:

• Perform deep scan in iPad / iPhone / iPod for recoverable deleted data
• Recover deleted and lost photos from iPad / iPhone / iTunes backup directly
• Extract lost data from iTunes backups without overwriting current data on iPad
• Preview the deleted photos and selectively retrieve the iPhone photos you want
• Support common files: photos, messages, contacts, notes, call logs, reminders and more

Now, explore how to recover deleted photos from iPad without backup:

Step 1: Connect and scan your iPad for deleted photos

Run iOS Data Recovery on your computer and click Recover from iOS Device on the left menu; connect the iPad and click the Start Scan button to start.

Step 2: Preview recoverable pictures on iPad

The software will automatically list all scanning results on the window; locate the Media section of the left side, and choose to view the Camera Roll, Photo Stream, Photo Library or App Photos that you deleted from your iPad.

Step 3: Recover photos from iPad internal memory and save in computer

Tick the pictures you want to retrieve, then click Recover button at the bottom-right corner. When a pop-up dialog box opens, select a local folder to save recovered iPad photos on your computer.

If you need, the tool can automatically convert the HEIC pictures to common JPEG format for more compatibilities for future sharing or editing. Also, the iPhone Data Transfer can help you manage media files and transfer photos from computer to your iPhone or iPad without data loss.

How to restore iPad photos from iCloud backup

If you've been using iCloud for automatic iPad backups, recovering deleted iPad photos from an older iCloud backup is a straightforward process. To restore deleted photos to your iPad, ensure a stable Wi-Fi or cellular connection. If you're uncertain about having a previous iPad backup in iCloud, follow these steps to check before starting the photo recovery process on your iPad:

• Open iPad Settings and tap [your name] > iCloud.
• Choose iCloud Backup.
• All device backups will list at the bottom the iCloud Backup screen.

Make sure that there's an iPad backup containing the lost and deleted pictures you wish to recover. And keep in mind that the recovery process will erase the iPad and replace all current data with the content from the previous backup, resulting in the loss of any data added since the last backup. Here's how you can restore deleted photos on iPad using an iCloud backup:

• Navigate to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPad.
• Select Erase All Content and Settings.
• Tap Continue. If asked, enter your Apple ID and password to sign out.

• The iPad will restart after being erased.
• Follow the on-screen prompts to finish setup process.
• When reaching Transfer Your Apps & Data screen, choose From iCloud Backup.
• Sign in with your Apple ID and the password.
• Select an older iCloud backup archive to restore iPad data.

iCloud will restore your iPad and download everything saved in that backup, including all old pictures. Once done, open the Photos app to view the recovered pictures on your iPad. They should re-appear in your camera roll or photo library.

How to recover recently deleted photos from iCloud.com

Alternatively, with iCloud Photos enabled on your iPad, all pictures are stored on the iCloud server, syncing seamlessly with other devices under the same Apple ID. Deleting an iCloud photo on iPad relocates it to the Recently Deleted album in iCloud Photos. To recover, simply head to iCloud.com and restore the deleted photos to your iPad effortlessly.

• Visit iCloud.com on your browser.
• Log in with your Apple ID and the password.
• Choose Photos icon from the main interface in iCloud window.
• Check Recently Deleted tab on the left sidebar.
• Select the photos you want to recover to your iPad.
• Click Recover button at the upper-right corner.

The recovered photos will get back to your iPad Photos Library. Be aware that you can only recover those iPad pictures deleted within the last 30 up to 40 days. After that, they will be permanently erased.

How to restore deleted photos on iPad using iTunes backup

You also have the option to recover photos by restoring your iPad from an iTunes backup or Finder backup, provided that the backup was created before the photos went missing or were permanently deleted.

• Run iTunes on your computer. Or launch Finder on macOS Catalina 10.15 or later.
• Plug your iPad into the computer with a USB data cable.
• Click the iPad icon when it appears at the top-left corner in iTunes window.
• Select Summary from the left side and scroll down to Backups part.
• Click This Computer > Restore Backup.
• Choose the most relevant iTunes backup for iPad photo recovery.
• Click Restore.

Before restoring iPad photos from an iTunes or Finder backup, be aware that all current content on your iPad will be erased and replaced with that older backup. To prevent data loss, it's advisable to selectively extract only the photos from the iTunes or Finder backup. Luckily, you can easily do it by using the default iTunes backup extractor built in the iOS Data Recovery software.

• Run iOS Data Recovery on your Mac or PC.
• Choose Recover from iTunes Backup File from the left menu. The tool automatically detects and lists all useful iPad backups in iTunes.
• Choose a backup with a date earlier than you lost your iPad photos.
• Hit the Scan button. All data files in that iTunes backup will appear by category on the left.
• Click the photo categories from the Media section on the left.
• Select the recoverable pictures you want back to your iPad.
• Click the Recover to restore only photos from the iTunes backup.

The recently and permanently deleted iPad photos will be recovered in seconds. Feel free to save your recovered pictures as HEIC images or common JPEG format. Alternatively, you can also use it to get photos from a lost iPad if anything needed.

Bonus: Recover hidden photos on iPad

Occasionally, finding photos on your iPad becomes challenging when they are hidden from view. If you're missing photos or videos in the iPad Photos, try recovering them from the Hidden album.

• Simply go to iPad Photos > Album > Utilities > Hidden.
• On iPadOS 16.1 or higher, tap View Album and enter the passcode to your iPad.
• View and choose the photo or video you want to unhide.
• Tap the three-dot More button.
• Tap Unhide to recover it.

FAQs on iPad photo recovery

Q1: Can I recover old photos on my iPad?

Yes. The old pictures can be recovered on an iPad if they are not overwritten by the new data. You can check the Recently Deleted folder or Hidden album in iPad Photos app, or use a third-party tool to scan and get old photos back on iPad.

Q2: Why did photos disappear on my iPad?

If your photos or videos are missing, make sure the Hidden album is enabled so you can view it and recover any pictures you want to unhide. If your iPad photos disappeared after an iPadOS update, try troubleshooting it by restarting your device or updating to the latest OS version.

Q3: How do I get deleted photos back on my iPad?

The deleted photos can be recovered to iPad easily if you're able to use the Recently Deleted folder on iPadOS 16.1 or above. If the pictures are permanently deleted, you'll need a previous iCloud or iTunes backup, or run data recovery software like iOS Data Recovery to scan the entire storage and get permanently deleted pictures back before they are overwritten by new data.