If you are reading these lines, it is likely that you have accidentally deleted a file from your iPhone and now you are looking for an option to recover it. This is not always possible and will depend on many factors, although throughout this guide you will find several ways to recover files from your iOS device and also some tips so that if you have just deleted the file by mistake, you can bring it back.

With the instructions that you will find along these lines you will be able to recover different types of files. Perhaps the most common thing is to resort to data recovery to restore a photo or video, but you should know that with what you will find below you will also be able to return call logs, notes, conversations or WhatsApp attachments, SMS messages, notes to your iPhone voice, contacts, etc, etc…

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Recover data from an iOS device

The first thing I advise you to do is make use of the tools offered by iOS natively. If it's a photo or video that you accidentally deleted, check your Deleted album to see if it's still there by chance.

To do this, all you have to do is open the Photos app, tap on the Albums tab and look for the one called Deleted. Once inside, look for the video or photo that you need to recover. In case you find it, open it and tap on the Recover button. If what you need to recover does not appear in the Deleted album, don't worry, there are still several things you can do to try to bring the file back as you can see below.

If the above was not enough, the first thing you should do is download an iPhone data recovery software like iMyFone D-Back on your Mac or PC. Once downloaded, connect the iOS device with the USB cable and follow the instructions below to find out if it is possible to recover the lost data directly from the device memory:

1. Click on Recover from an iOS device.
2. Select the type of file you need to recover from all the available options and click Scan.
3. Once the scanning process has finished, it will take more or less depending on the space occupied on the device, the type of file you want to recover, etc, etc…, you will be able to see all the files that the application is capable of recovering.
4. In case the file you need to recover appears, select it and then click on the Recover button. Finally, select the path of the computer where you want to save it.

And that's all. With these simple steps, the recovery process will be finished and you will have on your computer that file that you had mistakenly deleted from your iOS device, completely available to do whatever you need with it. It does not matter if you need to recover deleted WhatsApp conversations, a video, a voice note or even the call log, the process is exactly the same in all cases.

Recover files from iPhone backups

In case the file did not appear by searching directly on the device, there is still one more alternative: search in Finder/iTunes backups or in the iCloud account associated with the device. Of course, to be able to use this option you need to make backup copies on a regular basis or have the synchronization services active. If you do, in the following lines I explain how you can search for the file among the copies without having to restore them completely on the iPhone.

1. Open iMyFone D-Back on the computer where you have the Finder/iTunes backups or has Internet connection if you are going to opt for iCloud backup.
2. Click Recover from iTunes Backup or Recover from iCloud depending on the backup you want to use.
3. Select the backup in the case of iTunes / Finder or choose iCloud and log in to the account you have configured on the iPhone to access the data.
4. Choose the type of data you want to recover and click on the Scan button.
5. Wait for the scanning process to complete. When this happens you will see all the files that the application is capable of recovering.
6. If the one you need is there, select it and click on Recover to choose the folder on the computer where it should be saved.

In case you are using iCloud, you will see that the program also offers you the possibility of recovering it directly from a backup of the Apple cloud. In this case, it will be necessary to use an iPhone without data or restore it to the factory state in order to access the backup data. If you choose this method, the software will guide you step by step to make a complete backup of the current state of the device, restore the one from iCloud, recover the data and restore the backup made previously. This can be very useful in case you are looking for a way to recover information from an iPhone that does not turn on and from which you previously made backup copies in the cloud, one of the tips that I gave you to maximize data recovery in case of disaster.

Tips to maximize the chances of recovering lost data

Here are some tips that will help you maximize the chances of recovering lost files on your iPhone or any other iOS device (although it really also applies to other types of devices such as computers, smartphones with other operating systems, etc, etc...).

These are fairly easy tips to follow, with the exception of having available memory space, especially if your device is one of the smallest or if you like to try many different apps and games.