How to Recover Permanently Deleted Photos on Computer?

People who have ever stored or transferred their photos to their computers must have encountered photo loss due to accidental deletion, formatting, system crash, etc.

Among all photo loss situations, permanently deleted photos are one of the trickiest issues. But rest assured, you will be covered here with 3 feasible means to get permanently deleted photos back.

3 methods: recover permanently deleted photos on computers

In this section, 3 proven solutions will be introduced with detailed steps and warm notes. Check that can you recover permanently deleted photos using these tools and methods.

Solution 1. Get permanently deleted photos back on from a backup

Windows has offered users a Backup and Restore feature. All users could set a scheduled backup of files or create a system image in case you will need them one day. If you have an available backup made from this feature, then you could restore files from it.

Notes:✎...

Please make sure you have a backup to restore from. 

Backups made on Windows 7 machines can also be restored on a new Windows device, like Windows 10/11.

Step 1. Go to Control Panel > System and Security > Backup and Restore (Windows 7).

Step 2. Click Restore my files.

Step 3. Click Browse for files > select photos you want > Next.

Step 4. Specify the destination to save your recovered files > click Restore.

In this way, you could get restore permanently deleted images on computers.

Solution 2. Restore permanently removed photos via Previous Versions

If you haven’t used the Backup and Restore feature, another tool can also help. Previous versions are copies of files and folders created by Windows Backup. You could restore edited/deleted/corrupted files from it.

Step 1. Go to File Explorer > find the folder that contained the photos you have deleted.

Step 2. Right-click the folder > Properties > Previous Versions > choose the latest version > Restore.

Then you could get permanently deleted pictures back into that folder.

Solution 3. Recover permanently deleted photos using photo recovery software

The 2 methods above could be of great help to those who create backups regularly. However, unluckily, many users don’t even have the habit of backing up data.

For those who want to recover permanently deleted photos on computers without backups, professional Windows data rescue software will be a good idea.

MyRecover, your second to none choice, facilitates users to restore deleted pictures and meanwhile keep their formats/filenames/paths. It is specially designed for Windows, covering almost all Windows operating systems.

This compatible tool could also work with external storage devices like USB/SD card, SD card photo recovery will be easy with it.

Let’s check its shining features.

★Software shining features: 

Restore all data while maintaining its format and quality. 

Over 200 data recovery file formats are supported, including 42 types of images. 

Restore 30 MB of deleted or missing files free each time. 

Scan deleted/lost files at a very high speed. 

Recover data from a healthy/formatted HDD/SSD/USB/SD card. 

Highly compatible with Windows 11/10/8/7 SP1 and Server.

Step 1. Install and run the software > Hover the mouse over the drive and click Scan to scan.

Step 2. The scanning time is determined by the partition's data size. You could restore images instantly or wait for the whole result.

Step 3. Go to Deleted files > select the photos you want > click Recover x files to restore deleted photos. If failed, go to Other missing files > Images to check if your photos are there.

Using this powerful data recovery software, you could also easily restore photos from external hard drive.

Extra info about the photo recovery

All the contents above aim at solving the problem of how to recover permanently deleted photos on computers for you. In addition, some more information is ready here.

Check how you have permanently deleted photos

In general, one can permanently delete a file in 5 means.

Delete normally, then remove the file from the Recycle Bin once again. 

Press "Shift+DEL." 

Use the "del" command at the command prompt. 

When you remove a file larger than 8998 MB, it bypasses the Recycle Bin and is permanently gone. 

When deleting a file on an external storage device (USB, SD card, etc.), it will be directly removed from the computer.

Suggestions to avoid future potential photo loss

According to the methods to permanently delete a file, some related suggestions are to help keep you away from data loss in the future.

• Never empty the Recycle Bin intentionally unless there is not enough storage space on your hard drive.
• Use the “Shift+DEL” key carefully.
• Save your recovered photos in another safe place. An external hard drive is preferable.
• Don't format a hard drive before you are equipped with a backup. Otherwise, you will have to restore data from formatted hard drive.
• Back up your important photos and other data on a regular basis to avoid potential data loss risk.

AOMEI Backupper, a good data backup software for Windows can be of great help to protect your data firmly.