How to Recover Photos from Old iPhone Without Backup

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By Jenefey Aaron

2025-06-03 / iPhone Recovery

iPhones are more than just smartphones—they’re personal photo albums filled with years of memories. If you’ve owned an iPhone 6, 7, 8, or even an iPhone X, chances are it still holds treasured photos from the past. But what if that old iPhone is damaged, factory reset, or simply no longer in use? Or worse, what if the photos were deleted?

That’s when the question becomes crucial: how to recover photos from old iPhone—and how to do it safely without losing current data or requiring technical expertise.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through five effective and easy-to-follow recovery methods. Whether your old iPhone still powers on or not, there’s a solution that can help you retrieve those lost memories.

how to recover photos from old iphone

Part 1: How to Get Old Deleted Photos Back on iPhone Backups

iPhone allows users to create a phone back up on iTunes/Finder and iCloud. These backups can act as a medium to rescue the old deleted photos. Here's the complete detail on how to get old photos back on iPhone from iTunes/Finder and iCloud backups:

Method 1: Extract Photos from iTunes/Finder Backup

iTunes/Finder create a backup of the entire iPhone storage including photos on your computer. So, think for a second and remember if you created an iTunes backup of your old iPhone. If yes, now it is the time to recover it. However, keep in mind that recovering iTunes/Finder backup will overwrite iPhone existing data with backed-up data.

Follow the below steps on how to retrieve old photos from iPhone from iTunes/Finder backup:

  • Launch iTunes/Finder and also connect your iPhone to the computer using a USB cable.
  • Click on your iPhone from the left panel and click "Restore Backup".
  • restoring backup from itunes
  • Choose the right backup file, enter the password, and tap "Restore".
  • selecting the backup to restore

Afterward, wait for the restoration to complete. Once done, you can open the Photos app and access the lost photos.

Method 2: Selectively Restore Photos via iCloud Backup

If your old iPhone is no longer usable or you've already switched to a new device, iCloud backup can be a great way to recover lost photos—but only if used smartly.

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Important:

Restoring an iCloud backup directly to your iPhone requires a full factory reset, which erases all current data. Even worse, it restores everything in the backup—not just photos.

That’s why a better solution for how to recover photos from old iPhone is using a professional tool like UltData iPhone Data Recovery. It allows you to selectively access your iCloud backup and recover only the photos you need—without resetting your device or affecting your current data.

Here's how to find photos from old iphone via iCloud backup using UltData iPhone Data Recovery:

  • Download, install and launch UltData iPhone Data Recovery on your Windows or Mac computer. From the home screen, click "Recover Data from iCloud".
  • selecting recover data from icloud
  • Enter the iCloud login credentials to sign in.
  • entering apple login credentials
  • Select "Photos" as the data type to recover and click "Scan".
  • selecting the data types to scan
  • After the scan, preview and select the photos to recover. Lastly, click the "Recover to PC" button to save the selected photos.
  • preview-based recovery

    This method is ideal if your old iPhone is damaged, sold, or lost—but the iCloud backup is still available.

Part 2: How to Recover Photos from Old iPhone Without Backup

Many iPhone users don't have the habit of creating phone backups. So, don't feel frustrated if you don't have a backup to recover photos from your old iPhone. There are still ways you can retrieve photos without backup.

Follow along to learn three methods on how to get old deleted photos back on iPhone without backup:

Method 1: Use the iPhone's “Recently Deleted” Album

iPhone Photos app has a built-in "Recently Deleted" album that keeps the deleted photos for 30 days before permanently deleting them. If you have recently deleted the photos and 30 days have not passed, you can check this album to recover them.

Here's how to get old deleted photos back on iPhone using the Recently Deleted Album:
  • Open the Photos app on your old iPhone.
  • Scroll down and click the "Recently Deleted" album. Verify your identity using the passcode or Face ID.
  • selecting recently deleted album from photos app
  • Select all the photos you want to get back. Once selected, click the "3-dots" icon from the bottom and tap "Recover".
  • selecting and recovering photos

This way, all the selected recently deleted photos will be recovered.

Method 2: Recover via iCloud.com's Hidden Trash

If you have enabled iCloud Photos, your photos in iPhone are synced with iCloud. So, when photos are deleted from your iPhone, they are sent to the hidden trash area called the "Recently Deleted" album on iCloud.com. This hidden folder keeps the deleted images for about 30 days before they are permanently removed.

Follow the below steps on how to find photos from old iPhone on iCloud:

  • Go to iCloud.com/iclouddrive from any web browser and sign in using Apple login credentials.
  • Click "Recently Deleted" from the left panel.
  • Select each file to recover and click the "Recover" button. Alternatively, click "Recover All" to recover all the photos.
photos recovery from recently deleted folder in icloud photos

This way, you can smartly use iCloud.com and its trash folder to recover the deleted photos.

Method 3: Retrieve Permanently Deleted Photos without Backup

Lost photos from an old iPhone and don’t have any iCloud or iTunes backup? Don’t worry—you can still get them back. The last and the best way to recover permanently deleted photos without backup is by using a powerful iPhone Data Recovery tool.

UltData iPhone Data Recovery is the leading iPhone recovery tool that can recover lost and deleted photos from old iPhone with simple clicks. It scans your old iPhone deeply to pull out all the recoverable photos and then lets you recover them through a preview-based process. All this process completes within minutes without the need of backup or any complications.

The key features of UltData iPhone Data Recovery include:

  • Recover lost or deleted photos from various scenarios, such as accidental deletion, virus attack, factory reset, OS upgrade bug, etc.
  • Deep scanning algorithms for high recovery success rate.
  • Recover other data types as well, such as videos, documents, SMS, contacts, audio, etc.
  • Support recovery from old/latest iPhone models.
  • User-friendly, click-based interface.

Follow the below steps on how to get old deleted photos back on iPhone using UltData iPhone Data Recovery:

  • Download and launch UltData iPhone Data Recovery on your Windows/Mac computer after installation. Click "iPhone/iPad Data Recovery" to get started.
  • selecting iphone/ipad data recovery
  • Connect your iPhone and computer using a USB cable.
  • connecting iphone to computer via usb cable
  • Tick "Photos" and checkboxes of other data types to recover and click "Scan".
  • selecting the data types to scan
  • Once the scan is completed, preview and select the photos to recover. Once done, click the "Recover to PC" button.
  • preview-based recovery

    That's how you can easily scan and retrieve photos from an old iPhone using the intuitive approach of UltData iPhone Data Recovery.

To Sum Up

How to recover photos from old iPhone is not a rocket-science question. If you have a backup, you can restore it and recover photos. Alternatively, you can also recover photos without backup using your preferred method.

Out of all the ways to get back photos, UltData iPhone Data Recovery stands out for its exceptional features and intuitive interface. Its deep scanning, fast processing, and preview-based recovery provide an excellent way to retrieve photos from an old iPhone without backup. The best part is that you can also use it to recover selective iCloud backup data. So, install UltData iPhone Data Recovery and use the best tool to recover photos.

FAQs about Old Phone Recovery

Q1: Is it possible to recover photos from a dead iPhone?

Yes, it is possible to recover photos from a dead iPhone, depending on the condition of the device. If the iPhone is physically intact and only fails to power on due to software issues or a drained battery, tools like UltData iPhone Data Recovery can help retrieve your photos directly from the device. Even if the phone is not turning on, as long as it is recognized by a computer, recovery software can scan the internal storage for lost photos.

Q2: How to find photos from my old iPhone on iCloud?

You can easily find photos from old iPhone on iCloud using iCloud.com. Simply go to the iCloud website and sign in. Afterward, click "Photos" to view the iCloud Photo Library. From there, you can find photos from your old iPhone.

Q3: How to get photos from an old iPhone that won't turn on?

To get photos from an old iPhone that won’t turn on, try the following:

  • Log into iCloud.com and check the Photos section.
  • Use iTunes/Finder backups and extract photos with tools.
  • If the iPhone is still detected by a computer, scan it directly with recovery software.

Q4: Will my pictures stay on my old iPhone?

Yes, your pictures will stay on your old iPhone as long as it hasn’t been reset, damaged beyond repair, or overwritten. Consider transferring them to a computer or backing up to iCloud to keep them safe.

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