How to Restore Only Photos from iPhone

By Jenefey Aaron

2025-07-30 / iPhone Recovery

Accidental operations or unexpected incidents may surprisingly cause important photos to disappear from your iPhone. While there are various ways to restore lost photos, using iCloud or iTunes backups does not allow selective restoration of only photo data. Restoring all data to your iPhone can also slow it down. Here, we explain how to restore only iPhone photos.

Method 1: Restore Photos from iPhone’s Built-in Album

Method 2: Restore iPhone Photos via iCloud.com on Safari

Method 3: Restore Photos from iCloud Photo Library

Method 4: Restore iPhone Photos Using Photo Recovery Software

Method 1: Restore Photos from iPhone’s Built-in Album

When photos are deleted from the iPhone’s album, they remain in the "Recently Deleted" folder for 30 days. Thus, if within 30 days of deletion, photos can be restored from this folder.

Tap on the photo
Tap "Recently Deleted"
Select the photo(s) to restore, then choose "Restore" to return them to the album

Method 2: Restore iPhone Photos via iCloud.com on Safari

Here’s how to restore iPhone photos by signing in to iCloud.com via Safari.

Sign in to iCloud.com using your Apple ID through Safari
Tap "Photos"
Check if the photos you want to restore to iPhone are available

Method 3: Restore Photos from iCloud Photo Library

If iCloud Photo Library is enabled on your iPhone and you’ve used it on a computer, the data may be backed up there. If so, photo restoration is possible.

Log in to iCloud for Windows on your computer
Click "Photos" > "iCloud Photos"
Locate the iCloud photo files. Select the photos to restore. They will be recovered to your computer.

Method 4: Use Photo Recovery Software to Restore Photos from iCloud

best photo recovery software Tenorshare UltData allows data recovery directly from the iPhone even without backups. It also enables selective photo restoration from iCloud or iTunes backups—a unique feature of professional tools. Below is how to restore photos from iPhone using "UltData."

Launch "UltData" on your computer. Connect your iOS device to PC.
Select "Photos" and click "Scan"
Choose the photos to restore, then click "Recover"

Summary

Restoring only iPhone photos helps keep your device lightweight. However, iCloud or iTunes backups don’t support selective photo recovery. This is where photo recovery software "UltData" shines. As expected of a professional tool, it allows restoring only photos from iCloud or iTunes. Even without backups, it can recover photos directly from the iPhone. The ability to selectively restore photos from previews is another plus.