Deleting something on a Mac puts it into the Trash folder and there onwards you can either recover the files if you want or can completely delete them if you don’t need those files anymore. Something similar is what you get with iCloud. But the deleted files from iCloud do not reside on your iPhone/iPad or Mac but they stay for almost 30 days online. If you want, you can restore all the deleted files within a period of 30 days even when they are not present anymore in Trash on a Mac or have been deleted completely from your iPhone/iPad. It is certainly something great if you have deleted something on iCloud by mistake or even intentionally but then you realized that you still need that file.
It is important to remember here that in order to recover the deleted files with iCloud.com, you will have to use the browser on your Mac because if you try to open the website on your iPhone/iPad, it will redirect you to iOS apps from Apple.
Jump To Section:
- Recovering Deleted Files On iCloud
- Recovering Your Contacts On iCloud
- Recovering Calendars And Reminders Using iCloud
- Recovering Safari Bookmarks Using iCloud
- Recovering Your Photos And Videos Using iCloud
Recovering Deleted Files On iCloud
When deleting a file from iCloud Drive on a Mac, you get a message that the file is being moved to Trash but will be removed from all the other devices that you may be using. Deleting the file on iPhone/iPadwill give you a message that it’s been permanently deleted. But you can still recover your files after emptying trash on Mac and confirming deletion on iPhone/iPad. Yes, it will be through iCloud.com as mentioned earlier but within 30 days time. Here are the steps that you need to follow for that.
- Open Safari on your Mac
- Browse iCloud.com
- Login with your iCloud username & password
- Click Settings
- Click Restore Files in Advanced options on bottom left
- You’ll see all the files that have been deleted within 30 days, click the checkbox on left side of all those files that have to be restored
- You can also click the Select All option if you want to recover all your files
- Now, click on Restore Files
Though the list contains files that have been deleted in last 30 days, they’ll be deleted after that period and from then onwards you won’t be able to recover them at all. So, make sure if you have deleted something accidentally, you must use this option within 30 days of the deletion date.
Recovering Your Contacts On iCloud
Though it is not possible to restore the contacts individually from iCloud, however, you can grab one amongst backup archives that are created by iCloud periodically. But just be wary of the fact that if you will restore one of the older backups then it will remove the contacts that you have added after that. However, iCloud takes a snapshot of the latest database before restoring from older backup. You should use this option if you end up corrupting your contacts or lose them in numbers somehow.
If your prime agenda is to save contacts that you have recently added, you can first export them to your Mac and then go with the iCloud restore. Those on Mac can be imported afterwards. Here are the steps to follow for recovering contacts from the iCloud.
- Open Safari browser on your Mac
- Browse to iCloud.com
- Login with your iCloud username & password
- Now click Settings
- In Advanced options click Restore Contacts towards bottom left side of the screen
- Now click on Restore button that you see in front of the desired archive that is intended to be restored
- Click Restore once more to confirm
Recovering Calendars And Reminders Using iCloud
iCloud.com archives and backs up calendars & reminders together. If you want to restore one of them, you’ll have to restore both. Even individual items from each of these can’t be restored. Entire archive has to be restored at once. And, if you restore some older backup then it will remove any of your reminders or events that you might have added after iCloud had taken that snapshot. But, just like restoring contacts, iCloud will take snapshot of current database and then continue with the restore. Even this option is best for times when your reminders or calendars are lost or corrupted.
Note, however,thatyou will lose all your sharing infoif you go for the restore and you will have to re-share it again once the restore is completed. Those invited to your events will receive cancelation first and new invitation afterwards.
Here are the steps to follow for the restoration of calendars & reminders using iCloud.
- Open Safari on your Mac
- Visit iCloud.com
- Login with your iCloud login details
- Click Settings
- Now click Restore Calendars & Reminders in Advanced options towards bottom left
- Click on Restore button in front of archive that is intended to be restored
- Confirm by clicking on Restore once more
Recovering Safari Bookmarks Using iCloud
Almost all the browsers available today offer bookmark features.Bookmarks allow users to tag any useful website or page that they may come across while browsing the internet. They can then refer to the bookmarks for reaching those web pages again after some time. When it comes to Safari, syncing bookmarks on iCloud allows you to make sure that all your bookmarks are accessible on different devices that you may be using. And, if you happen to remove your bookmarks accidentally, you can still have them back again by restoring from the iCloud backup. Here are the simple steps to follow for performing a restore.
- Open Safari browser on your Mac
- Open iCloud.com
- Login with your iCloud login details
- Now click Settings
- In Settings, click the Restore Bookmarks available under Advanced options towards bottom left of the screen
- Click on Restore button that you can see towards the right side of desired archive
- Confirm by clicking Restore one last time
Recovering Your Photos And Videos Using iCloud
All your deleted photos & videos can be restored from the album labeled Recently Deleted on iPhone/iPad or Mac and you do not really need to restore them from iCloud. However, if you can’t access the device on which the desired files could be available, you can still recover everything from the iCloud.com website.
Here are some simple steps to follow for that.
- Open Safari on your Mac
- Browse to iCloud.com
- Login with your iCloud login details
- Click Photos
- On top of the screen you will see Albums option, click it
- Click on Recently Deleted albums
- Select the photos or videos that you need to restore
- Finally, click the Recover button
For this photos & videos album, the time period for which everything is kept on the iCloud is 40 days. After that, they are deleted permanently and you will not be able to recover them from the iCloud website. You can select as many of them as you like to recover at a time.
So, that’s all about recovering your deleted content from iCloud if you don’t have it on your Mac, iPhone or iPad. You can recover files deleted or even recover archives for Calenders& Reminders as well as Safari Bookmarks and Contacts. So, a wealth of information is stored in iCloud backups – but for a limited period of time –and you can get it back anytime if you happen to lose it somehow.