Photos are precious memories. Today people have fewer physical photos and prefer to store the images on computers, be it a PC or a Mac. However, these images may be under the risk of data loss due to several reasons. This post shows how to get your beautiful memories back if unfortunately, you lose your photos. In case you can’t find one solution that works, there are more methods to retrieve deleted photos.
How to recover deleted photos on Windows PC?
Method 1: Restore deleted photos from Recycle Bin
If you delete files or folders on Windows, the files then go to the Recycle Bin on the Desktop. To restore the deleted data, you need to:
- Double-click the Recycle Bin on the desktop to open it.
- Right-click the deleted file you want and select the “Restore” option.
In this case, the restored file will go back to its original place. However, you may be aware that this handy feature only works if you didn’t empty the Recycle Bin. What can you do if the files are already emptied?
Method 2: Recover deleted photos through File History
File History is a tool available in Windows 8.1 and later, which is used to back up your data. Therefore, if you have backed up the photos with File History before deletion, check your recent backup and you can restore deleted photos.
Just connect the backup storage device to your Windows and follow these steps:
Step 1: Enter “Restore files” in the search box on the taskbar, and then select Restore your files with File History.
Step 2: Look for the file you need, then use the arrows to see all of its versions.
Step 3: When you find the version you want, select Restore to save it to its original location. If you’d like to save it in a different place, press and hold (or right-click) Restore, select Restore to, and then choose a new location.
How to recover deleted photos on Mac?
Method 1: Restore deleted photos from Mac Trash
It’s not hard to notice that there’s no Delete option on a Mac, you can only move it to trash. Then you can empty the trash if you want to get rid of the photos. Therefore, if you haven’t emptied the trash or chosen Delete Immediately, the first thing you can do to restore them is the following:
Step 1: Open the Trash on the dock.
Step 2: View a list of files that you have deleted recently.
Step 3: Right-click the photo you want to restore and choose Put Back to its original location.
However, what can you do if you happen to empty the trash? Another solution might solve your problem.
Method 2: Restore deleted photos from Time Machine backups
Time Machine is the built-in backup feature on your Mac to automatically back up all of your files, including apps, music, photos, email, documents, and even system files. If you have set up Time Machine before deleting the photos, you can try to restore them from Time Machine backups following these instructions:
Step 1: Connect the backup drive to the Mac computer.
Step 2: Open the folder that once contained your deleted files.
Step 3: Click the Time Machine icon in the top left menu bar and select Enter Time Machine.
Step 4: Browse the items in the backup folder by using on-screen up/down arrows or using the timeline at the edge of the screen. You will be able to see a lot of snapshots of this whole folder.
Step 5: Select an item and press Space bar or double-click it to preview it.
Step 6: Select the photos you want to restore and then click Restore.