Recover deleted instagram photos on instagram iphone

(Pocket-lint) - Instagram has a feature called Recently Deleted that allows you to recover recently deleted posts, including photos, videos, reels, IGTV videos, and stories.

Since February 2021,  deleted items stay in a "Recently Deleted" folder for 30 days. After that, they are auto-deleted. The only exception is deleted stories, which will stay in the Recently Deleted folder for 24 hours before they too are gone for good.

Here is how to find Instagram's Recently Deleted folder and restore any deleted posts.

How to access Instagram's Recently Deleted folder

Follow the steps below to access Instagram's Recently Deleted folder:  

1. Open the Instagram app
2. Tap on your Profile icon in the top right corner
3. Tap on the three lines in the top right corner 
4. Tap on 'Settings'
5. Tap on 'Account'
6. Scroll down to 'Recently deleted'

Instagram will ask via email or text to verify you're the account owner when permanently deleting or restoring content from Recently Deleted.

How to restore content you've deleted from Instagram

1. Tap on the Profile icon in the top right to go to your profile
2. Tap the three lines in the top right
3. Tap Settings
4. TapAccount
5. Tap Recently Deleted
6. At the top, tap thetype of content you’d like to restore or permanently delete
7. Tap thephoto, video, or story you’d like to restore or permanently delete
8. Tap thethree-dot icon in the top right
9. TapRestore to profile or Restore to restore content or Delete it

Which deleted posts can you recover on Instagram?

You can recover the following content from your Instagram account if you've deleted it within the last 30 days:

• Photos and videos from your profile
• Photos and videos from your Instagram story*
• Instagram stories from highlights and your story archive
• Reels
• Direct messages

Note: Deleted stories will stay in the Recently Deleted folder for up to 24 hours. Everything else will be automatically deleted 30 days later.

Dashlane can keep your employees' passwords safe By Pocket-lint Promotion · 23 August 2022

If you're concerned about your organisation's security, this is a no-brainer.

Want to know more?

Check out Instagram's help hub for more step-by-step instructions.

Writing by Maggie Tillman. Editing by Britta O'Boyle.

Download Article

Where to find your deleted Instagram photos on an Android, iPhone, or iPad

Download Article

Generally, if you delete something, it's gone. Instagram, however, stores all your content even after you delete it, so there's a slight possibility you can recover it. This wikiHow will show you how you can recover deleted Instagram posts using a few methods.

1. 

   1

   Open Instagram. This app icon looks like a camera icon over a rainbow background that you can find on your Home screen, in the app drawer, or by searching.

   • Log in if prompted.

2. 

   2

   Tap your profile image or the silhouette icon. This is in the lower right corner of your screen. Your profile page will open.

   Advertisement

3. 

   3

   Tap ☰. This three-line menu button is in the top right corner of your screen.

4. 

   4

   Tap Settings. It's the first option in the menu next to a gear icon.

5. 

   5

   Tap Account. You'll see this near the middle of the menu next to a silhouette icon.

6. 

   6

   Tap Recently Deleted. This is near the bottom of the menu (if you don't see this option, you may not have the most recent version of the app and should update).

   • You can also access this option using the ≡ menu on your profile page. Tap on the ≡ icon, then navigate to to Your activity> Recently Deleted.

7. 

   7

   Tap the thumbnail that you want to restore. You'll be able to see all your photos, Stories, reels, IGTV videos, and video posts here.

   • Tap Restore to restore it to your profile.[1]

Advertisement

1. 

   1

   Open Instagram. This app icon looks like a camera icon over a rainbow background that you can find on your Home screen, in the app drawer, or by searching.

   • Since its introduction in 2017, the archive feature is the default action to removing/hiding posts instead of deleting them. You might be able to find your old content here.
   • Log in if prompted.

2. 

   2

   Tap your profile image or the silhouette

   
   . This is in the lower right of your screen. Your profile page will open.

3. 

   3

   Tap ☰. A menu will slide out.

4. 

   4

   Tap Archive. A list of your archived Stories will appear.

5. 

   5

   Tap the Stories Archive drop-down. A menu will drop down and you can choose Stories Archive or Posts Archive.

6. 

   6

   Tap an image to view it. You'll see a list of all the content you've archived, and tapping one will open it with more details and options.

   • Your post and all its original comments will load[2].

7. 

   7

   Tap ⋮. You'll see this at the top of the post.

8. 

   8

   Tap Show on Profile to unarchive the post. It will appear back in your Instagram timeline where it originally was.

Advertisement

1. 

   1

   Open My Files. This app icon looks like a folder, and you'll most likely find this on one of your Home screens, in the app drawer, or by searching.

   • You'll only find an Instagram album if you enabled the feature in Instagram to save your posts locally.[3]
   • You'll only find the videos/photos you took with the Instagram app camera, not the entire post that you created. You also will not find pictures you uploaded from your default camera roll into Instagram here.

2. 

   2

   Tap Internal Storage. You'll see this listed below "Recent files" and "Categories."

3. 

   3

   Tap Pictures. You might have to scroll down to see this.

4. 

   4

   Tap Instagram. You'll see all the pictures you took from the Instagram app.

Advertisement

1. 

   1

   Open Photos. This app icon looks like a multicolored flower. You can find this app on your home screen or by searching.

   • You'll only find an Instagram album if you enabled the feature in Instagram to save your posts locally.[4]
   • You'll only find the videos/photos you took with the Instagram app camera, not the entire post that you created. You also will not find pictures you uploaded from your default camera roll into Instagram here.

2. 

   2

   Tap the albums icon at the bottom of your screen. It's usually the second from the right icon next to "Search."[5]

3. 

   3

   Tap the Instagram album. You'll see all the pictures and videos you took from the Instagram app, but you won't find a copy of the entire post.

Advertisement

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Advertisement

Video

• You can also try viewing your Instagram profile using the Wayback Machine at https://archive.org/web/. You'll need to enter your Instagram profile URL into the text box at the top of the page to continue to pick a date to view from the calendar. The Wayback Machine does not have the URL of every Instagram account archived, so you might not see your profile.

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

Advertisement

About This Article

Article SummaryX

1. Open Instagram.
2. Tap your profile image or silhouette.
3. Tap the three-line menu icon.
4. Tap Archive.
5. Tap the Stories Archive drop-down and select either Stories Archive or Posts Archive.
6. Tap an image to view it.
7. Tap the three-dot menu icon.
8. Tap Show on Profile.

Did this summary help you?

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 209,843 times.

Is this article up to date?