iCloud Drive allows you to store files on your Apple device and access them from anywhere. You can access them on other Apple devices as well as on other devices with non-Apple operating systems like Android and Windows.

However, if you delete a file on iCloud Drive, can you recover it? You can, and we'll show you different ways to restore files you've deleted from iCloud Drive on your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Mac, and other non-Apple devices.

How to Recover Deleted Files on Your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch

Deleted iCloud Drive files can be easily restored as long as 30 days have not passed since the deletion, and you didn't permanently delete them.

If you're sure about the two prerequisites, follow these steps to recover your deleted iCloud Drive files:

  1. Open the Files app on your device.
  2. Tap Browse at the bottom right.
  3. While in the Browse tab, select Recently Deleted under Locations. On the Recently Deleted page, you'll see all recently deleted files from your local storage and iCloud Drive. Files and folders deleted from iCloud Drive have an iCloud Drive tag below them.
  4. Press and hold on a file or folder you wish to restore and select Recover from the pop-up menu.
  5. If you need to recover multiple files simultaneously, start by tapping the three-dot menu in the top right and tap Select from the pop-up menu. Next, tap Recover All at the bottom to restore all files or tap on the specific ones you wish to restore and then tap Recover at the bottom.

How to Recover Deleted Files on Your Mac

If you delete iCloud Drive files on a Mac, there's no Recently Deleted folder you can go to in the Files app like on iPhone or iPad. But you can still recover files on macOS by restoring them from the Trash app or using Time Machine.

1. Restore Deleted iCloud Drive Files From Trash

On macOS, all deleted files are put inside Trash regardless of where they are from your iCloud Drive or your local hard drive.

Follow these steps to recover deleted iCloud Drive files from Trash:

  1. Click the Trash icon on the right-hand side of your Dock to open the app. This will display a Finder window with all the contents in your Trash.
  2. To restore a specific file or folder, Control-click on it and select Put Back from the pop-up menu.
    Recovering a deleted file from iCloud Drive on macOS

The 30-day recovery limit for deleted iCloud Drive files also applies to Mac. However, items deleted from your local storage on Mac are not automatically deleted after 30 days unless you change your preferences by enabling Remove items from the Trash after 30 days in Finder Settings. But regardless of your preference in Finder, deleted iCloud Drive files are permanently removed automatically from your Trash after 30 days.

Unlike on iPhone and iPad, you can't tell which files are deleted from iCloud Drive and which are from your local disk. Therefore, you need to know the file name to quickly find it inside Trash, especially if you have many deleted files. Because of this, we advise using iCloud.com instead if you only want to see deleted files from iCloud Drive (steps below).

2. Restore Deleted iCloud Drive Files Using Time Machine Backups

The best thing about restoring data from Time Machine backups is that you can bypass Apple's 30-day file recovery limit. If you back up your Mac using Time Machine, you can safely restore permanently deleted files several months or even years back.

Besides restoring individual files or folders, the other advantage of using Time Machine is you can restore your entire Mac to a previous state.

How to Recover Deleted Files via iCloud for Web

If you don't have access to an Apple device, you can recover deleted iCloud Drive files using iCloud's web-only access functionality. Here's how:

  1. Go to iCloud.com and log in with your Apple ID.
  2. Once logged in, select the menu button (rectangle with white squares) in the top-right corner. From the pop-up, choose Drive to open iCloud Drive.
    iCloud.com menu on the web
  3. To see recently deleted files, select Recently Deleted from the left sidebar.
  4. Next, select Recover All at the top to restore all deleted files. Alternatively, if you're only interested in one or multiple files, click on the file(s) and select Recover at the top.
    Recently deleted folder in iCloud Drive for Web

If you're accessing the website on mobile, follow these steps instead:

  1. Go to iCloud.com and log in to your account.
  2. Select the menu button (rectangle with white squares) in the top-right corner and select Drive under Apps.
  3. Tap Recents at the top left and select Recently Deleted from the pop-up menu.
  4. Next, tap Select at the top right.
  5. Tap Recover All to restore all files, or only select the files or folders you want to restore by tapping them and then selecting Recover.

Recover Accidentally Deleted iCloud Files With Ease

When you delete files in iCloud Drive, you have 30 days to restore them before they're permanently deleted. Whether you're using an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or any non-Apple device, you can restore deleted iCloud Drive files using the instructions above.

If you want to recover files deleted weeks or months prior, ensure you have Time Machine backups enabled for your Mac. That way, you don't lose any critical accidentally deleted files in iCloud Drive.