iOS 18 might help you rescue photos you thought were gone forever

Apple’s next major iOS, iPadOS, and macOS updates will add a new “Recovered” album in the Photos app to help you find photos and videos on your device that may have been lost or damaged, according to 9to5Mac.

When you update to iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, your device will scan for potential photos or videos that could appear in the Recovered album, 9to5Mac reports. If there are, the Recovered album will show up in the Utilities section of the app.

Note that the Recovered album is separate from the Recently Deleted album, where photos you delete are accessible for 30 days before they’re deleted permanently. I’ve asked Apple if photos or videos in the Recovered album will eventually auto-delete as well and will update this story with what I hear back.

The addition of a Recovered album follows Apple fixing a bug in iOS 17.5 that caused some users to unexpectedly find photos in their photo library that they thought they deleted. The company said the problem was a “rare issue” that could happen with “photos that experienced database corruption.”

Apple launched public betas for iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia, and more on Monday.