How to Recover Deleted Photos and Videos on Google Photos

So what can you do? In the case of Google Photos, luckily, we have a tool called ” Trash,” which for practical purposes works exactly like the classic Windows recycle bin. In this way, you can recover any photos or videos you have mistakenly deleted in your Google Photos account. Although it is not advisable to get too excited since, as we will see below, this tool also has its limitations. Let’s see how it works.

How to recover deleted photos and videos on Google Photos

When you delete a document from Google Photos, it is sent to the trash, where it is kept for a maximum of 60 days. Once these 2 months of rigor have passed, the image or video in question is permanently deleted from Google’s servers. If you are still within the set dates, you are lucky since the system allows you to recover the lost file relatively easily.

From the web version

• Open Google Photos from the browser and log in with your user account.
• Once inside the application, in the left side menu, click on “Trash.”
• Here, you will see a list of all the photos and videos that have been deleted in less than 60 days. Locate the file you want to recover and click on it.
• This will show you the full-size image. If you look closely, in the upper right margin, you will see a button that says “Restore.” Click on it.
• The file will automatically be recovered and reappear in your Google Photos library along with the rest of the documents. Note: if you still don’t see the recovered file in your library, press F5 to refresh or reload the Google Photos page in your browser.

From the Google Photos app

If you use the Google Photos app for mobile devices, the steps to follow are very similar, with some slight variation in the procedure.

• Open the Google Photos app, and in the lower menu, click on the “Library” button.
• Then go to “Trash” and locate the photo or video that you deleted by mistake.
• Click on the image or video to see it in full size. You will see that a “Restore” button at the bottom of the screen. Select this option to recover the file.
• If everything has gone well, the application will show a brief message indicating that the document “has been restored.”

What if I deleted the image more than 60 days ago? Can I still recover?

Not in theory. After 60 days of deletion of the document, there is no way to restore the file manually. However, Google support has a small window of time after permanent deletion, during which you can still recover the file from their servers. To do this, you must make a recovery request and wait for Google’s technical team to approve your request.

To request this recovery, we must enter Google Drive, and from there follow these steps:

• Click on the assistance icon that you will see at the top of the screen (icon with a question mark) and select ” Help.”
• This will open a new window. Click on “Delete and restore files in Google Drive” and then hit the blue ” Contact ” button.

After filling the help request form, if you meet the requirements and the files are still recoverable, Google support will launch a recovery process on your cloud storage unit.

As a last try, analyze the device from which you uploaded the photo

If none of this works, we can always choose to run a file recovery program on the device you originally used to upload the document to Google Photos (either mobile or PC).

If it is a photo that you took with your mobile, install a recovery app, such as DigDeep Recovery. It is one of the most downloaded and highest-rated Android restoration tools on Google Play. With it, you will be able to scan your device in search of deleted images, and with a bit of luck, you will be able to recover the photo you were looking for.

If you uploaded the photo from your PC, you can use a free recovery program like Recuva. Personally, it is one of the ones that has given me the best results in Windows when it comes to recovering deleted files.

In the end, these types of restoration applications do not always work. At least that way, you will make sure that you do everything possible to recover that important photo that you once uploaded to Google Photos and that by chance of fate has now disappeared.