Quick answer: Deleted photos stay in the Google Photos Trash for 30 days. Open Google Photos, go to Trash (called Bin in some regions), select the photos, and tap Restore. Once a photo has been permanently deleted from the Trash, Google can’t restore it. However, copies may still exist on your phone, a memory card or another app.

Some older guides say backed-up photos stay in the Trash for 60 days. That was Google’s previous policy. Google’s help pages now give 30 days for all deleted items, so don’t wait.

How to restore photos from Google Photos Trash

This works for anything deleted in the last 30 days, as long as you haven’t emptied the Trash.

On Android

  1. Open the Google Photos app.
  2. Tap Collections at the bottom, then Trash (or Bin).
  3. Touch and hold the photo or video you want back. Tap others to select more.
  4. Tap Restore.

The photo returns to your library, to any albums it was in, and to your phone’s gallery app.

On iPhone or iPad

  1. Open the Google Photos app.
  2. Tap Collections (or Library in older versions of the app), then Trash.
  3. Touch and hold the photos you want to restore.
  4. Tap Restore.

On a computer

  1. Go to photos.google.com and sign in.
  2. Click Trash in the left-hand menu.
  3. Hover over a photo and click the tick to select it.
  4. Click Restore at the top right.

If your Trash is full: Google Photos may ask you to “Delete permanently” instead of moving photos to the Trash. That means the Trash has hit its limit, and anything you delete then can’t be restored.

Not in the Trash? Check these places first.

A photo that seems deleted is often just hidden or in a different place. Before assuming the worst, check:

  • Archive. Archived photos disappear from your main view but aren’t deleted. On the app, go to Collections, then Archive. On the web, click Archive in the side menu.
  • Locked Folder. Photos moved to a Locked Folder don’t appear in your library or search results. They’re in Collections, under Locked Folder.
  • The right Google account. If you have more than one account, the photos may have backed up to a different one. Tap your profile picture to switch accounts and check each.
  • Backup status. A photo that never finished uploading won’t appear on photos.google.com. On your phone, open the photo and check its details to see whether it was backed up.
  • Search. Try searching for a place, a person or a date. Photos sometimes appear under a different date than you expect.

Can you recover permanently deleted photos from Google Photos?

Generally, no. Once a photo is removed from the Trash, either manually or after 30 days, Google Photos can’t restore it. Google Takeout won’t help either. Takeout only exports what’s currently in your account, so it’s useful for making backups but can’t bring back deleted items.

You’ll find guides saying Google Support can restore permanently deleted photos, or that software can pull them back from Google’s servers. Neither is reliable. Recovery software can only scan storage you physically have, such as a phone, memory card or hard drive. It has no access to Google’s cloud.

The good news is that Google Photos is rarely the only place a photo lives. The next step is to look for other copies.

Where copies of your photos might still exist

Your phone’s own bin

  • iPhone: when Google Photos deletes a photo from your device, it may go into the iPhone’s own Recently Deleted album in the Apple Photos app. Check there, as items stay for up to 30 days.
  • Samsung phones: the Samsung Gallery app has its own Recycle bin, separate from Google Photos. Open Gallery, tap the menu, then Recycle bin.
  • Other Android phones: check your gallery app for a Trash or Recently Deleted folder.

A memory card

If your phone or camera uses a microSD or SD card, deleted photos may still be on the card. Google notes that deleted items can remain on removable memory cards. Stop using the card straight away. Taking new photos can overwrite the deleted files.

Gmail and Google Drive

Deleting a photo from Google Photos doesn’t delete it from Gmail or Google Drive. If you ever emailed the photo or saved it to Drive, search there.

People you shared with

If you shared an album or used partner sharing, the other person may have saved a copy. Photos you sent through WhatsApp, Messenger or iMessage may also still be in those chats, on your phone or the recipient’s.

Other backups

Check iCloud Photos, OneDrive, Dropbox, a computer you synced the phone to, or an external hard drive. Many people forget about an old backup until they look.

Recovering photos that were never backed up

If a photo was never uploaded to Google Photos, the only copy was on the device that took it. What’s possible depends on where it was stored.

  • SD cards and camera cards: these usually have the best recovery prospects, as long as the card hasn’t been reused. Deleted photos often remain on the card until new data overwrites them. Stop using it, remove it, and don’t format it.
  • A phone’s internal storage: this is much harder. Modern iPhones and Android phones encrypt their storage, which makes recovering deleted photos from internal memory very limited. It’s rarely possible once the phone’s own bin has been emptied.
  • A damaged phone that won’t turn on: this is different from deletion. The photos haven’t been erased; the device has just failed. Recovery is often possible when a phone is water-damaged, dropped, or won’t boot, depending on the damage.

Recovery Squad offers photo recovery from memory cards, cameras and failed phones, including Android and iPhone devices. We can’t recover photos from Google’s servers, and we’ll tell you honestly whether your case is worth attempting before any work begins.

How to stop this happening again

  • Keep backup turned on in Google Photos, and check now and then that new photos are actually uploading.
  • Understand what delete does. With backup on, deleting a photo in Google Photos also deletes it from your phone and every other signed-in device.
  • Keep a second copy. Export your library with Google Takeout every few months and save it to a computer or external hard drive.
  • Check the Trash before emptying it. Emptying the Trash is permanent.
  • Stay active. Google may delete content from accounts inactive for two years or more, so sign in occasionally.

Final takeaway

Act within 30 days and most deleted Google Photos can be restored in a few taps from the Trash. After that, the cloud copy is gone, but a copy may still be sitting on your phone, a memory card or in another app. Check those before giving up.

Photos lost from a memory card, camera or broken phone? Contact Recovery Squad for a free consultation. We’ll assess what’s recoverable before any work starts.