Deleted Photos Reappear on iPhone: How to Fix on iOS 17.5 or iOS 18

Recently, some iPhone or iPad users said their photos that had been deleted several years ago were restored on their iPhones and iPads. This article will explore why this bug occurs and how to deal with it when it happens.

Why Do iPhone Deleted Photos Reappear in the Photo Library

Recently, a lot of iPhone/iPad users said old pictures that were deleted a few years ago reappeared on their iOS devices when they upgraded the iPhone/iPad to the latest iOS version. This iOS photo reappearing bug makes users uncomfortable about data leaking.

If you identify that some deleted pictures from several years reappear or are restored in the Photos app after upgrading to iOS 17.5 or iOS 18, this may be due to various reasons. As far as we can tell, the most likely reason is that iOS system may have made changes to the Photos app that require reindexing Apple's private photo library. This has brought back some pictures you permanently deleted, resulting in the iPhone deleted photos reappearing problem.

How to Fix iPhone Deleted Photos Reappearing

Since the deleted picture reappearing bug is caused by the iOS system, you can't fix the bug by yourself by doing some resetting operations such as clearing Recently Deleted folder, reset device settings, or check the iCloud Photo Library. Now, let's take a look!

Solution 1. Upgrade/Downgrade the iOS System

Now iOS 17.5.1 or iOS 18 was released by Apple and is available to download and install on iOS devices, which aims to address the deleted photo resurfacing issue and other little bugs. You can go to Settings > Software Update to see if you can update to the latest version.

The corresponding method to fix the deleted photo restoring bug to get rid of all reappeared old photos that were supposed not to be in the Photos app is downgrading the latest problematic iOS system to a low version, for example, iOS 17.4 or below. You can choose to downgrade from iOS 17 to iOS 16.

Here you can download and install EaseUS MobiXpert to help you downgrade the iOS system with one-click. The greatest advantage of this EaseUS software is that it doean't entail any professional skill for you. You can jusr connect your iPhone or iPad with your Windows or Mac computer and click the "Downgrade" button to downgrade the current iOS to any available version that the device supports.

Step 1. Launch EaseUS MobiXpert on your computer. And select "System Repair" from the homepage.

Step 2. Tap "iOS Upgrade/Downgrade" from the new interface.

Step 3. And then select the "iOS/iPadOS Downgrade" option.

Step 4. Then you will be guided to connect your iPhone to the computer via a USB cable.

Step 5. Confirm your device model and then click "Next" to download the firmware for a downgrade.

Step 6. When the firmware is verified, click "Upgrade Now" to start.

Step 7. Wait for the downgrade process to complete and click "Done" to close it. Then your iPhone will be downgraded.

Solution 2. Restore from iCloud Backup

If the deleted photos reappear problem persists, consider restoring your iPhone from a previous backup that was complete before the iOS software update. Make sure to back up your current data before proceeding with the restore. To restore your iPhone from an iCloud backup, follow these steps:

Step 1. Erase All Content and Settings: Go to Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings to erase all data on your device.

Step 2. Set Up Your iPhone: Turn on your iPhone and follow the on-screen instructions until you reach the "Apps & Data" screen during the setup process.

Step 3. Choose Restore from iCloud Backup: Select "Restore from iCloud Backup" on the "Apps & Data" screen. Enter your Apple ID and password to sign in to your iCloud account.

Step 4. Select Backup to Restore: Choose the iCloud backup you want to restore from based on the date and size of the backup files.

Step 5. Complete the Setup: Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the setup process, including entering your Apple ID password, setting up Touch ID or Face ID, and choosing other preferences.

Solution 3. Contact Apple Support

If none of the above steps resolve the issue, contact Apple Support for further assistance and troubleshooting to address the problem of deleted photos being restored after iOS software update.

Conclusion on iPhone Deleted Photos Reappear

To address this issue, users can try clearing the "Recently Deleted" folder, disabling and re-enabling iCloud Photo Library, resetting all settings, restoring from a backup, or seeking assistance from Apple Support to troubleshoot and resolve the reappearing deleted photos after updating to the latest iOS version.

Anyway, the most effective way to remove the reppeared photos that have been deleted is downgrading the iOS to a lower version and bypass the iOS photo reappear bug straightly.