You can recover your deleted voice memos on your iPhone by accessing the ‘Recently Deleted’ folder or restoring from iCloud backup.
Hi, I’m Devansh. I often use the Voice Memos app to capture new ideas on the go and have deleted them by mistake a few times. In this article, I’ll describe two main ways for you to recover your deleted voice memos on your iPhone. I’ll also go through some common questions.
If you’ve deleted some precious voice memos on your iPhone, and want to recover them, keep reading!
Contents
Solution 1: Check the Recently Deleted Folder
Fortunately, the Voice Memos app has a built-in ‘Recently Deleted’ folder. This folder stores your deleted voice memos for 30 days by default before deleting them permanently. Follow along with these steps.
Step 1: In the Voice Memos app homepage, swipe left or tap on the chevron icon on the top-left corner and open Recently Deleted.
Step 2: Find the voice memo you want to recover. Tap on it and select Recover.
Step 3: If you want to recover more than one or all deleted recordings, tap Edit above the list and select Recover All.
Done! Once you follow these steps, you’ll be able to play and edit that voice memo on the All Recordings page, along with all other voice memos.
Solution 2: iCloud Backup
If you’ve enabled iCloud Backup, it’s possible that your deleted voice memo was saved there. To check, open Settings, tap on your name, tap on iCloud, and iCloud Backup. Take note of when the last backup was made. If that backup was saved before you deleted the voice memo, there is a way to restore it.
This method is more suitable if your voice memo got deleted because of a software error or another issue. Since backups happen regularly, you’ll need to do it in a short timeframe. For instructions on how to restore from iCloud Backup, check this page.
FAQs
Let’s go through some related questions about the Voice Memos app.
How to Extend Voice Memos Deletion Period?
I mentioned that Voice Memos keeps deleted recordings in the Recently Deleted folder for 30 days by default. Beyond this, you can set it to Never. Open Settings, scroll to Voice Memos, tap on Clear Deleted, and select Never. Once set, your deleted voice memos will be kept in the Recently Deleted folder indefinitely until manually deleted.
Can You Trim a Recording in Voice Memos?
Instead of deleting a voice memo entirely, you can trim it to leave only the necessary part. Just tap the recording you want to edit, the More Actions button (three dots), and Edit Recording. On the next page, tap the Trim button at the top-right side. From here, you can drag the yellow trim handles as needed. It’s also possible to zoom in on the waveform. Once you’ve made your selection, tap Trim, Save, and Done.
Can You Sync your iPhone Voice Memos with Mac and iPad?
Yes! To do this, simply open the Voice Memos app and enable the iCloud Syncing feature.
This can be a great way to safeguard your voice memos and have a backup available in case of any issues with your iPhone. For steps on how to turn on Voice Memos in iCloud settings or preferences on iPadOS and different versions of macOS, check out this page.
Conclusion
If you want to recover deleted voice memos on your iPhone, you have two main options: the Recently Deleted folder or iCloud Backup.
If these don’t work, you can take some precautions to ensure this doesn’t happen in the future, like extending the Voice Memos deletion period and enabling iCloud Syncing.
Were you able to successfully recover your deleted voice memos? Please let me know in the comments!
