How to find hidden notes on Xiaomi: system folders, backups and secret MIUI features

Why Xiaomi Notes Can Disappear and Where to Look for Them

You created an important note in the standard Mi Notes app or Notes on a Xiaomi smartphone, but it went missing? The reasons can be different from accidental deletion to failure of sync with Mi Cloud. However, in 90% of cases, the record is not lost irrevocably - it just moves to hidden system folders or archived.

In this article, we’ll take a look at all possible storage locations for Xiaomi, Redmi, and POCO devices, including:

• 📁 System directories with backup copies (/MIUI/Notes/backup/)
• 🔍 Hidden folders in internal memory and on SD-map
• ☁️ The Mi Cloud and its “basket»
• 🔧 Secret functions MIUI, available through the engineering menu

Special attention will be paid to the restoration of deleted notes without root rights – this is possible even on new versions of MIUI 14/15.

Method 1: Checking the basket in the application “Notes”

The most obvious place where missing notes may be located is the internal application basket, where the deleted records are stored for up to 30 days in MIUI (the configuration depends on the firmware version).

1. Open the Notes app (yellow notebook icon).
2. Slip on three dots in the upper right corner → select the basket.
3. View the list of deleted records. To recover, click on the note → Restore.

⚠️ Warning: If you have manually cleaned the cart or used features like “Memory Optimization” in Settings → Memory, notes, could have been permanently deleted, in which case you can move on to the following ways.

Method 2: Find backups in system folders

Xiaomi automatically backs up notes in.backup or.db format, and these files are stored in hidden directories that are not displayed in standard Explorer to find them:

1. Connect your smartphone to your PC or use a file manager that supports hidden files (such as FX File Explorer or Solid Explorer).
2. Cross the path: /storage/emulated/0/MIUI/Notes/backup/ or /data/data/com.miui.notes/shared_prefs/
3. Look for files with.db,.backup, or.xml extensions. These can be opened through a text editor (such as Notepad++) or specialized utilities such as DB Browser for SQLite.

💡 Advice: If the folder /data/data/ Unavailable without root rights, try using ADB (see method 5).

Enable the display of hidden files in the Explorer settings |

Check the folders /MIUI/Notes/ and /Android/data/com.miui.notes/|

Download.db/.backup files on PC for analysis |

Use SQLite Editor to View a Database-->

Method 3: Recovery via Mi Cloud (Xiaomi Cloud)

If your Xiaomi enabled sync with Mi Cloud, the notes could be saved to the cloud even after being deleted on the device.

1. Open your Settings → Xiaomi Account → Mi Cloud.
2. Make sure the switch next to Notes is active. If not, turn on the sync and wait 5-10 minutes.
3. Go to the web version of the cloud at i.mi.com (sign up with the same account).
4. In the Notes section, check the Recycle Bin folder - there may be deleted records.

⚠️ Note: If you reset your smartphone to factory settings and do not restore data from the Mi Cloud within 30 days, notes can be deleted from Xiaomi servers irrevocably).

Method 4: Using third-party utilities to restore

If the notes were deleted without a backup, you can try to restore them with specialized programs.

• 📱 DiskDigger scans internal memory for deleted files (including notes in.txt or.db format).
• 💻 EaseUS MobiSaver – works via PC, supports data recovery from the MIUI rootless.
• 🔧 GT Recovery – analyzes system folders and finds traces of deleted records.

Instructions for DiskDigger (on a smartphone):

1. Install DiskDigger from Google Play.
2. Start the scan (select Full Scan for deep search).
3. In the results, look for files with.db,.txt extensions or containing phrases from your notes.
4. Save the files found to a safe place (for example, on a PC).

⚠️ Note: Do not install recovery software on the same memory where the notes were stored (for example, in internal storage). SD-card or connect the smartphone to the PC.

💡

If a note was created in Google Keep or another third-party app, check its cart or archive. For example, in Google Keep, deleted notes are stored for 7 days in the Archives section.

Method 5: Accessing Hidden Data via ADB (for Advanced)

If previous methods have failed, you can try extracting notes through Android Debug Bridge (ADB), which requires connecting your smartphone to your PC and basic command line knowledge.

1. Turn on Developer Mode on Xiaomi: Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (shap 7 times)
2. Activate USB Debugging in Settings → Additional → For developers.
3. Connect your smartphone to your PC, install it ADB-Drivers and open the command line.
4. Execute the command to copy the Notes database: adb pull /data/data/com.miui.notes/databases/notes.db
5. Open the downloaded notes.db file via SQLite Browser and export notes to a readable format.

🔹 Alternative command (if the base is damaged):

adb shell "su -c 'cat /data/data/com.miui.notes/databases/notes.db'" > notes_backup.db

⚠️ Attention: To work with /data/data/ You need root rights. Without them, you'll get a Permission denied error. In this case, try using Magisk to get root temporarily.

💡

ADB-This approach is only suitable for users with experience with the command line. If you are not sure, you should consult Methods 1-4.

What do you do if nothing helps?

If you have tried all the methods, but notes have not been found, the last options remain:

• 📧 Check your email – you may have sent a note to your email or exported it to.txt.
• 🔄 Restore your smartphone from a backup (if it was created through Settings) → Additionally. → Backup).
• 📱 Contact Xiaomi for support – if you have a check to buy, they can help with the recovery of data from the cloud (even if you don’t see it in the Mi Cloud).

💡 Prevention for the future:

• 🔄 Export notes to Settings regularly → Export (.zip or.txt format).
• ☁️ Enable automatic sync with Mi Cloud or Google Drive.
• 📁 Use third-party applications with an extended archive (such as OneNote or Evernote).

FAQ: Frequent questions about hidden notes on Xiaomi