iOS 18 brings “Recovered” Album to restore lost photos and videos

Apple’s latest software updates – iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia – include a significant new feature for the Photos app: the “Recovered” album. This innovative addition aims to help users recover images and videos that have been lost or damaged, providing a way to restore missing content.

The “Recovered” album is located in the Utilities section of the Photos app. It will only appear if there are pictures or videos on the user’s device that are not part of their Photos Library. Tapping into the Recovered album gives users the option to either permanently delete or restore any recovered photos and videos.

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Photos and videos can be lost due to a variety of reasons, such as database corruption issues, images not properly saving from a camera app, or third-party apps mismanaging the Photo Library. 

The new Recovered album addresses these problems by automatically scanning a user’s device when upgrading to the latest software and surfacing any recoverable content.

This feature comes after a bug in iOS 17.5.1 and iPadOS 17.5.1 caused a database corruption issue that led to long-deleted images reappearing in users’ Photo Libraries. Apple acknowledged this was a rare problem affecting a small number of users and photos. 

The Recovered album in iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia aims to prevent such issues and give users more control over permanently deleting or restoring lost content.

Related: Is Apple’s iOS 18 Becoming Android’s Twin? A Deep Dive into the iPhone’s New Makeover

How to recover lost photos and videos on iOS 18

Here’s how to use the Recovered album to restore missing images and videos:

• Open the Photos app and go to the Albums tab.
• Scroll down to the Utilities section and tap on “Recovered”.
• Tap on a photo or video in the Recovered album, or use the Select option to choose multiple items.
• Tap “Permanently Delete” or “Restore to Library” to take action on the recovered content.

It’s important to note that the Recovered album will only appear if there are actually lost or damaged photos and videos on the device. If there is no recoverable content, the album will not be visible.