Panic! You accidentally deleted a file from your iCloud. Take it easy: iPhone explains how to get this important school document or precious photo out again.
Recover deleted iCloud files
By default, iCloud Drive keeps deleted files for 30 days. This is useful, because you will not immediately lose important files in the event of a mistake. After this period, the images, documents and videos will be permanently deleted and you cannot get them back. Make sure you are up to that time.
Here’s how to recover deleted iCloud files:
- Navigate on your Mac to the iCloud website;
- Log in with your Apple ID;
- Choose ‘Settings’, scroll down and select ‘Recover files’ under the heading ‘Advanced’;
- Click on ‘Recover files’ and check the files that you accidentally deleted.
You can also check all files at once and press ‘Restore files’. The overview shows exactly how many days the files are still being saved. After restoring, you will find the files in the same place in iCloud as when you threw them away. The documents are also synchronized with all your registered devices, if you have this option on.
Recover deleted iCloud files with Files app
Do you have an iPhone or iPad that is running at least iOS 11? Then you can also recover accidentally deleted documents via the Files app. This is how it works:
- Open Files and go to the ‘Navigate’ tab;
- Choose ‘Recently Deleted’ and select which files you want to recover;
- When you have checked everything, press ‘Put back’ at the bottom left. After this you will find the files back in their original place in iCloud.
You may not find all deleted documents from the last 30 days here. In that case, it’s helpful to try it through the desktop version of iCloud as described above.
Check out our Tips overview to get the most out of your iDevice!