Why you can’t see the cart on Xiaomi – and where to look for it
You deleted an important file on Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO, and now you can't find a basket to recover it? The problem is that MIUI smartphones don't work like computers. There's no single basket in the usual sense, instead of which files are sent to temporary folders of specific applications or deleted immediately. In this article, we'll look for a basket depending on the file type and firmware version, and how to return deleted data if standard methods do not work.
It's important to understand that MIUI doesn't have a universal shopping cart like Windows or macOS.
- 📁 Files from the Explorer (Files) are placed in the.Trash (hidden) folder, but only if deleted through the application itself.
- 📷 Photos and videos from Google Photos Gallery or Standard Gallery are stored in their own carts (30 days).
- 📄 Google Drive or Mi Cloud documents have their own temporary storage.
- ⚠️ Files deleted via adb, fastboot, or third-party file managers (such as Solid Explorer) bypass the bin and are permanently erased.
If you're looking for a computer-like shopping cart, it's not there -- but there are alternative ways to recover, and then we'll show you how to find temporary folders in different scenarios.
Recycle Bin in the standard MIUI “Conductor”: where to look and how to use
The only place where MIUI mimics the Recycle Bin is the Files app (the folder icon on the desktop), but it works in a non-intuitive way:
- Open the Files app (if not, download it from Google Play – it’s called Mi File Manager).
- Slip on three dots in the top right corner → select the Cart (or Trash in English).
- If there is no Cart item, your version of MIUI does not support this feature (relevant for older smartphones up to MIUI 12).
Here's what the logic of the job looks like:
| Action. | The result | Storage period |
|---|---|---|
| Delete through Files → Select → Delete | File hits the bin | 15 days (set up) |
| Remove by Long Press → Remove on the Desktop | Irreversible removal (bypasses the basket) | — |
| Delete via Google Files or Solid Explorer | Depends on the application settings | 1 to 30 days |
| Cleaning through Settings → Storage → Cleaning | Irreversible removal | — |
Critical detail: the Recycle Bin folder in MIUI is hidden and is called.Trash (with a dot at the beginning). To see it, turn on the display of hidden files in the Explorer settings → Show hidden files.
Photo and video cart: where to look in Gallery and Google Photos
Photos and videos are deleted most often – and there are separate “baskets” for them depending on which app you used.
1. MIUI Standard Gallery
If you deleted the photo through the Gallery app (camera icon):
- Open the gallery.
- Slip on three points → basket (or Albums → Trash in English version).
- Hold your finger on the file → click Restore.
Storage period: 30 days (after that, the files are deleted irrevocably).
2. Google Photo.
If you use Google Photos to back up:
- Open the Google Photos app.
- Put it on the avatar. → Basket.
- Select the files → press Restore.
Storage period: 60 days (if the file was in the cloud) or 30 days (if only on the device).
Check the DCIM/.thumbnails folder (miniatures sometimes remain)
Search in Files → Images by date
Try to restore through DiskDigger (requires root)
Check Google Drive (if you have synced)-->
⚠️ Note: If you delete the photo directly from SD-maps (not through the Gallery), the basket will not work - files are erased immediately, in which case only specialized software for recovery will help.
How to recover files if the basket is empty or not
If you didn’t find a file in the Recycle Bin or your version of MIUI doesn’t support it, there are several ways to get your data back:
1. Recovery through backups
Check it out.
- 🔄 Mi Cloud (Settings) → Xiaomi account → Mi Cloud → Backup).
- ☁️ Google Drive (Disk) → Recycle bin or backup copies).
- 📱 Local backups in the folder MIUI/Backup/AllBackup.
2. Third-party recovery applications
If there are no backups, try:
- 🛠️ DiskDigger (works without root, but with limitations).
- 🔍 Recuva (requires the phone to be connected to a PC).
- 📱 Undeleter (paid, but more effective than free analogues).
⚠️ Warning: Do not install recovery software on the same partition where the file is lost, which will reduce the chances of success. SD-map.
3. ADB-Teams for experienced users
If you are familiar with adb, you can try to find files manually:
adb shell
su
cd /storage/emulated/0/
ls -la | grep".Trash"This will show the hidden folders of the basket. To recover, copy the files to another place:
cp /storage/emulated/0/.Trash/your file.jpg /storage/emulated/0/Download/💡
If you’re using TWRP, boot to recovery and check the /data/media/0/.Trash folder – sometimes files stay there even after a reset.
Why the cart may not work: common mistakes
Sometimes users do not find the cart not because it is not there, but because of errors:
- 🔧 Disabled Recycle Bin Function: In some versions MIUI You need to manually activate it. → Additionally. → Recycled cart (if there is such a item).
- 📱 Delete via another application: Files erased through ES Conductor, Total Commander or FX File Explorer, get into their own carts (or get deleted right away).
- 🗑️ Cache Clearing: If you cleaned memory through Settings → Warehouse → Cleanup, files from the shopping cart could be deleted automatically.
- 🔄 Update MIUI: After major updates (for example, with the MIUI 12 on MIUI 14) the basket may be dropped.
Another common problem is the confusion between the on-premises and cloud shopping cart, for example, if you delete a photo from Google Photos, you should look for it in the shopping cart of that application, not in Explorer.
What if the cart suddenly disappeared after the update?
How to set up a basket in MIUI: increasing the shelf life and other tricks
By default, files in the MIUI Recycle Bin are stored for 15 days, but this can be changed:
- Open the files. → three-point → Settings.
- Select the Recycle Bin (if there is no option, your version of MIUI does not support customization).
- Set a storage period: from 1 day to 30 days.
Other useful settings:
- 🔄 Autoclean: Disable it if you don’t want the system to delete files when memory is scarce.
- 📂 Exceptions: In some versions MIUI You can add folders that do not make it to the Recycle Bin (for example, Download).
- ☁️ Sync with Mi Cloud: Enable Recycle Bin Backup to the Cloud (not available on all devices).
⚠️ Warning: Extending the shelf life of the cart slows down the file system on budget smartphones (e.g., Redmi) 9A or POCO M3). If you notice lags, return the setting for 15 days.
💡
The shopping cart is only available in MIUI 12 and later, and on older versions (MIUI 11 and below), the storage period is fixed at 15 days.