How to Recover Deleted Photos From the Google Photos Locked Folder

Whether you can recover photos from the Google Photos Locked Folder depends on how they disappeared. If you deleted them within the last 30 days, open Trash in Google Photos, select the items, and tap Restore. If they vanished after you uninstalled the app, cleared its data, reset your phone, or switched phones, you can only get them back if Back up Locked Folder was turned on. In that case, sign in to the same Google Account and open the Locked Folder again. If backup was off, the photos were stored only on the old phone and can’t be recovered.

Step 1: Check the trash

Items you delete from the Locked Folder go to the trash, where they stay for 30 days.

1. Open Google Photos and tap Collections.
2. Tap Trash and unlock with your screen lock if asked.
3. Touch and hold the photos or videos you want back.
4. Tap Restore.

Once items are permanently deleted from the trash, or after 30 days, they can’t be restored.

Step 2: Open the Locked Folder on the right account

1. In Google Photos, tap your profile picture and make sure you’re signed in to the account you used before.
2. Go to Collections > Locked Folder and unlock it with your PIN, pattern, fingerprint, or face.
3. If Locked Folder backup was on, your items download from the cloud.

On a computer, go to photos.google.com and click Locked Folder in the left menu. Only backed-up items appear there.

Step 3: Find out whether Locked Folder backup was on

1. In Google Photos, tap your profile picture > Photos settings > Backup.
2. Look for Back up Locked Folder.

If it’s off now and you’ve reset or replaced the phone, the old Locked Folder items weren’t saved to your account. Google can’t recover them, and data recovery apps can’t open them either, because Locked Folder files are protected.

When Locked Folder photos can’t be recovered

Without backup, Locked Folder items live only on the phone. Google says you’ll lose them if you:

• Uninstall the Google Photos app
• Clear the Google Photos app’s data
• Factory reset the phone
• Lose or damage the phone

Moving to a new phone has the same effect. Unlike your main library, un-backed-up Locked Folder items don’t transfer. If your old phone still works and hasn’t been reset, open its Locked Folder, turn on backup, and let it finish before you switch.

Where else to look

• Your camera’s own gallery. If you saved photos straight to the Locked Folder from the Pixel camera, there’s no other copy. If you moved them in from your gallery, check the phone’s gallery trash, like Samsung’s Recycle bin.
• Other backups. Look in any other cloud service, computer, or messaging app where you might have saved or sent the photos.
• Another device. If backup was on, the Locked Folder appears on any phone or computer signed in to your account.

How to protect Locked Folder photos going forward

1. Turn on Back up Locked Folder in Photos settings > Backup.
2. Remember that anyone with your Google Account password can see backed-up Locked Folder items on the web after verifying their identity, so use a strong password and 2-Step Verification.
3. Before resetting or replacing a phone, open the Locked Folder and make sure every item says it’s backed up.

For photos outside the Locked Folder, see how to recover deleted photos from Google Photos.

Related: lock a folder in Google Drive.

Frequently asked questions

Does the Locked Folder back up automatically?

Not unless you turn on Back up Locked Folder. Your regular Photos backup doesn’t include it.

I forgot my Locked Folder PIN. Can I still get in?

The Locked Folder uses your phone’s screen lock. If you can unlock your phone, you can open the folder. If you reset your screen lock, you can still access it with the new one.

Can Google support recover my Locked Folder?

No. If items weren’t backed up or were permanently deleted, Google can’t restore them.

Do deleted Locked Folder items show up in the main trash?

They go to Trash, but they stay protected. You may need to unlock with your screen lock to see them.