Previous articleRemoved music from the phone Xiaomi: how to return tracks in 10 minutes

You opened the player on your Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 or POCO X5 Pro, and your favorite tracks disappeared? The situation is familiar to many: the music can disappear after resetting, updating MIUI, clearing the cache or accidentally pressing. In 80% of cases, files are restored, the main thing is to act quickly and correctly.

In this article, we will discuss 7 proven ways to return music to Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones, including recovery from the cart, cloud services and even using the PC. Separately, we will focus on the hidden folders MIUI, which often cause “disappearance” of files, and explain why standard tips like “check the Download folder” rarely work.

Important: If you used an external memory card (microSD), first remove it and check on another device - the problem may be in a damaged media. For owners of the Xiaomi 13/14 series with UFS 3.1/4.0, added separate recommendations for working with high-speed storage.

1. Check the MIUI Recycle Bin: Where to Look for Deleted Files

Modern versions of MIUI 12-14 automatically send deleted files to the bin, where they are stored for up to 30 days (configuration depends on the model), but many users do not know that the basket is hidden in the depths of the file manager.

To find her:

• 📁 Open the Files app** (Blue folder icon).
• 🔍 In the top menu, tap three points. → pick the basket.
• 🎵 Find an Audio or Music folder – your tracks may be there.
• 🔄 Select the files → Press Restore (Arrow Up icon).

⚠️ Note: If the basket is empty, check the storage settings. on some firmware (e.g, MIUI Global 14.0.4) Recycle Bin is disabled by default:

1. Go to Settings → Storage → Recycle Bin.
2. Activate the slider Save deleted files.
3. Set a storage period (maximum 30 days).

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If the Recycle Bin doesn’t show up, update the Files app via Google Play. Some models (like Redmi 9A) require version 1.22.3 and higher.

2. Search for hidden MIUI folders: where the music is actually stored

Xiaomi uses a non-standard folder structure, which can allow music to hide in non-obvious places, such as tracks from Mi Music are often saved to /MIUI/music/ and downloads from the browser to /Download/Music/.

Here is a complete list of folders where to look:

To see the hidden folders:

1. Open Files** → Three Dots → Settings.

3. Recovery via Google Drive or Mi Cloud

If your Xiaomi has cloud sync enabled, the chances of returning music increase: Mi Cloud automatically backs up files from the /Music/ folder, and Google Drive automatically backs up if you manually downloaded tracks.

For Mi Cloud:

• 🌐 Go to i.mi.com (sign up with the same account as your phone).
• 📁 Open the Backups section → Select the last copy.
• 🎶 Find the Music folder and download the files back to your phone.

For Google Drive:

• 📱 Open the Google Drive app** → Recycle bin (files are stored there for 60 days).

⚠️ Attention: Only 5GB of storage is available for free in Mi Cloud. If the backup weighs more, the files may not be saved. → Accounts. → Mi Cloud → Warehouse.

4.Use of PC: Deep scanning software

If the music is permanently deleted (the cart is empty, the clouds didn't help), connect your phone to your computer and use recovery software.

• 🛠️ Recuva (free, supportive) FAT32/exFAT)
• 💾 DiskDigger (deep scanning) NTFS)
• 🔍 EaseUS Data Recovery (paid but with trial period)

Step-by-step instructions for Recuva:

1. Connect Xiaomi to your PC in File Transfer (MTP) mode.
2. Start Recuva → select Audio in the file type.
3. Specify your phone’s drive (usually This device → Internal Storage).
4. Click Analysis → wait until completion (may take up to 1 hour).
5. Check the tracks found → Restore (save on PC, not on phone!).

⚠️ Warning: Don’t save the recovered files back to Xiaomi, which can overwrite the remaining data. First transfer the music to your PC, then copy it back.

Disable Battery Optimization for File Manager

Use the original USB-cable

Enable debugging over USB (for advanced programs)

Charge your phone at least 50%

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5. Checking an external memory card (microSD)

If the music was stored on a memory card, the problem could be that it was damaged or disabled. Xiaomi sometimes “loses” the connection to the microSD after updates or reboots.

What to do:

• 🔄 Remove the map. → restart the phone → put it back in.
• 📌 Check the card on another device (laptop, other phone).
• 🛠️ If the card is not readable, use the utility SD Card Formatter (official software from the SD Association) for file system recovery.

To check the status of the map on Xiaomi:

1. Go to Settings. → Warehouse.
2. Put it on the SD Memory Card.
3. See status: If written Damaged or Read Only, the map needs to be formatted.

💡 Useful tip: On Xiaomi models with a hybrid slot (for example, Redmi Note 11 Pro)+) The memory card can be turned off when inserting the second SIM. Check the settings in Settings → SIM-maps and mobile networks → Settings SIM-map.

6.Disposal of the media base: why the phone can't see music

Sometimes the files are there, but the player doesn't see them, and that's because of a failure in the Android media database, which indexes the media, to reset it.

Method 1. Through settings:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Tap it on three points. → Show system-based.
3. Find a media store (or media store).
4. Press Warehouse. → Clear the data.
5. Reboot the phone.

Method 2. Through ADB (for advanced):

adb shell pm clear com.android.providers.media


adb reboot

Once the media base is reset, the phone will re-index all the files. This can take up to 10 minutes -- don't interrupt the process. The music will appear in the player automatically.

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Resetting the media database does not delete files, it only updates the list of files in the system.

7.Prevent future losses: 5 rules for Xiaomi owners

To prevent music from disappearing again, follow these guidelines:

• 🔄 Backup: Use Mi Cloud or Google Drive to automatically sync your folder /Music/.
• 📁 Storage on the map: For large collections (1000)+ Use the microSD class A2 or UHS-I.
• 🚫 Cleaning up garbage: Turn off automatic cleaning in Security → Cleanup → Settings (remove the tick from the audio file).
• 🔄 Updates MIUI: Before updating your firmware, copy the music to your PC – sometimes a cache reset deletes files.
• 🎵 Alternative players: Applications like Poweramp or VLC Files are better indexed than standard Mi Music.

💡 Advice for music lovers: Set up Syncthing to automatically sync music between your phone and PC, which will protect you from losses even when you reset your phone.

FAQ: Frequent questions about restoring music on Xiaomi