How to check the number of days before photos are permanently deleted on iPhone, iPad, and Mac

Learn how to easily check the remaining days before your deleted photos and videos are permanently removed from your iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Photos Recently Deleted Album iPhone

With all of the photos and videos we capture with our devices, there’s bound to be some we don’t care to keep. And once you delete a photo, it really isn’t gone forever right away. Unless you permanently delete it or let us sit until the Photos app does, you can still get your pictures back for approximately 30 days.

Maybe you have some photos you’re undecided about, so you delete them and leave them in the Recently Deleted folder for their inevitable demise in 30 days. But then you want to see just how many days you have left to make a firm decision to keep or delete.

For whatever reason, if you want to check the number of days before your captures in Photos are permanently deleted, here’s how.

On iPhone or iPad

1) Open the Photos app on your iPhone or iPad and tap the Albums tab.

2) Scroll to the bottom, and under Utilities, tap Recently Deleted.

3) Authenticate with Face ID or Touch ID if required.

4) You’ll see the number of days remaining for each and every photo before they’re permanently deleted.

  • To recover one or more photos, tap Select, select them, tap the More button > Recover.
  • To permanently delete one or more before their time is up, tap Select, select them, tap the More button > Delete.
  • To recover or permanently delete all photos at once, tap Select, hit the More button, and then pick Recover All or Delete All.
Days remaining before deletion in iPhone Photos app

There are plenty of times when you might delete a photo and want to head here to get rid of it forever and immediately. While others you might just let sit for a bit. But if you want to free up some space, you can rid yourself of all those unwanted photos in one fell swoop.

Related: 50+ tips to free storage space on your iPhone and iPad

On Mac

1) Open the Photos app on your Mac and head to the Recently Deleted folder from the sidebar.

2) Authenticate using Touch ID or your computer’s password if needed.

3) Bingo! Next to each picture, you’ll see how many days you have left to recover it.

  • To recover one or more photos, select them and click Recover.
  • To permanently delete one or more before their time is up, select them and click Delete.
Photos and videos show the days remaining before deletion in Mac Photos app

If you do nothing, when you head back to the Recently Deleted folder down the road, those whose days were numbered will be gone.

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