After iOS 17.5 update, deleted photos reappear on iPhones, say social media users

Latest iOS update has brought back some pictures I deleted in 2021
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This isn’t new, as many beta testers of the iOS 17.5 update reported the same issue. Apple is yet to acknowledge this issue.

When a user deletes pictures from an iPhone on the Photos app, Apple temporarily stores them and gives users an option to restore those for 30 days. However, after a month, these photos are deleted permanently and cannot be recovered.

According to one user on Reddit, NSFW photos deleted years ago reappeared. Another user claimed photos deleted in 2016 have mysteriously come back. Some users reported as many as 300 deleted photos reappearing in their gallery.

This simply means any data, like a photo, you store on a smartphone or a laptop never gets deleted. Even when you delete it, it only gets written over by some other data, and there will always be a chance of recovering most of the deleted data.

Apple is likely to issue a fix that should prevent deleted photos from resurfacing. Until then, if you haven’t updated to iOS 17.5, it’s best to wait.