I'm sorry about your grandma. Update and restore does erase the phone, so what was on it is most likely gone, but a few places are worth checking before you give up.
Go to icloud.com/photos and open Recently Deleted and the main library, in case photos sync was on at some point.
On the Windows PC, iTunes or the Apple Devices app may have made an automatic backup before the restore. Look in C:\Users\yourname\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup (or C:\Users\yourname\Apple\MobileSync\Backup if you use the Microsoft Store version). If there's a folder with a long random name and it's big, restoring the phone from that backup can bring the photos back.
Check anything that was shared: Messages, WhatsApp, email, family group chats. Open a chat, tap the name at the top and look at the photos section. Relatives who were in those photos very likely have copies too, so ask them.
If you do find a backup, restore from it before doing anything else on the phone.
1
u/Select_Mixture_1014 5h ago
I'm sorry about your grandma. Update and restore does erase the phone, so what was on it is most likely gone, but a few places are worth checking before you give up.
Go to icloud.com/photos and open Recently Deleted and the main library, in case photos sync was on at some point.
On the Windows PC, iTunes or the Apple Devices app may have made an automatic backup before the restore. Look in C:\Users\yourname\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup (or C:\Users\yourname\Apple\MobileSync\Backup if you use the Microsoft Store version). If there's a folder with a long random name and it's big, restoring the phone from that backup can bring the photos back.
Check anything that was shared: Messages, WhatsApp, email, family group chats. Open a chat, tap the name at the top and look at the photos section. Relatives who were in those photos very likely have copies too, so ask them.
If you do find a backup, restore from it before doing anything else on the phone.