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How to Recover Deleted Family Photos on Mac
If you accidentally deleted family photos on a Mac, you can unlock the Recently Deleted album to recover them within 30 days, or use Time Machine.
If you accidentally delete a photo or video on your Mac, you can recover it within 30 days by using the Recently Deleted album Apple Support. If items are permanently deleted after that timeframe, you may still be able to recover them if you use Time Machine to back up your computer Apple Support.
Accessing the Recently Deleted album
If you have macOS Ventura or later installed, you can look for your files by opening the Photos app Apple Support. Within the application, select Recently Deleted, which is located in the Utilities section of the sidebar Apple Support.
As a practical suggestion, ensure your application window is wide enough to make the sidebar visible before trying to locate this section.
Unlocking and recovering files
For your privacy, some Utilities collections, including Recently Deleted and Hidden, are locked by default Apple Support.
To view these items, you must use your login password or Touch ID to unlock your Recently Deleted album Apple Support. Once it is unlocked, you can recover an accidentally deleted photo or video from this album as long as you do so within 30 days of the initial deletion Apple Support.
Retrieving photos after 30 days
After 30 days, items deleted from your photo library are permanently deleted from the Recently Deleted album and can’t be restored from that location Apple Support.
If you use Time Machine to back up your computer, you may be able to recover items after they are permanently deleted from iCloud or your Mac Apple Support. As a practical suggestion, keep your external backup drive connected frequently so Time Machine can maintain recent versions of your files.
