Some photos from iCloud Photos after backup mysteriously disappeared

I bought an iPhone XS a month ago. On my old iPhone I made an iCloud Backup, then I deleted everything and gave my old iPhone to my mom (I don't use that iPhone anymore).

After checking in iCloud Photos on my Mac I confirmed absolutely every photo was there. On my new iPhone XS I chose the option "Restore from iCloud", all apps were restored, but unfortunately not all photos and videos.

I noticed this a few weeks later when I was looking for something. I was shocked that 30-40 files (videos & photos) were not downloaded from iCloud Backup. I tried repeatedly to restore them somehow, but I failed.

I know I didn't delete them, they just disappeared mysteriously after I backed up to iCloud.

These 30-40 photos are also now not available in iCloud Photos on my Mac. I do not know why. I am very sad because these were photos and videos from a long-awaited concert.

How can I recover these missing files?

Can I see the iCloud Photos upload history somehow?

Solution 1:

Yes - sign in to iCloud from a computer browser and you can see all photos that have been deleted in the past 30 days (or a little more some times).

iOS and macOS version of Photos can also show the deleted items album if you toggle it in preferences or choose it if it’s enabled.

This is covered in the “What if some photos are missing” section of this guide to iCloud Photos:

• https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204570

Barring that, you’d need a backup from before the photos were deleted to get them back.