Xiaomi smartphone owners often face a situation where an important photo or document has been accidentally deleted. Panic is the first reaction, but modern operating systems, in particular the MIUI shell, provide protection against rash actions. Unlike older versions of Android, where deleted data disappeared instantly, today users have a temporary buffer storage. The question of where in Redmi 9 is the basket is relevant for anyone who wants to recover their data without using third-party software.
It’s worth noting that there is no single system basket for all file types in the classic Windows sense of Android. Instead, each system application has its own temporary archive, where remote objects go. This means that the deleted photo should be searched in the gallery, and the downloaded document should be searched in the file manager. Understanding this logic of how the Android file system works will make it much easier for you to find lost information and save time.
In this article, we will take a closer look at all the possible locations where remote data can be stored on your Xiaomi Redmi 9. We will look at the standard shell tools, synchronization settings and specific nuances of working with multimedia. You will learn not only to find remote, but also to properly configure the device to minimize the risk of data loss in the future.
Search for deleted photos in the Gallery app
The most common data loss scenario is accidental erasure. In the MIUI shell that's installed on Redmi 9, the Gallery app has a built-in temporary storage feature. To get there, you need to launch the app and go to the Album tab. At the bottom of the album list, often under the Screenshots or Video folders, there's a special folder called Deleted.
This is where you store all the images you've erased in the last 30 days, and if you don't find the right photo right away, try searching inside the folder or scroll through the list to the end.
The standard actions are available to manage the contents of this folder, so you can select one or more images by clicking on them and holding your finger, and then select an action from the menu that appears, restore or final delete options are available, and you can clear the entire folder right through the settings menu.
- 📸 Click on the Gallery icon on the home screen or in the app menu.
- 📂 Go to the Albums tab at the bottom of the screen.
- 🔽 Scroll through the album list to the bottom of the “Deleted” section».
- ⏳ Select the photo you want and click on “Restore” or “Delete Forever».
⚠️ Note: The photos are stored in the Deleted folder for exactly 30 days, and after that time they are deleted automatically and irrevocably, it will be impossible to restore them with standard means.
💡
Enable sync with Xiaomi Cloud or Google Photos so your photos are saved to the cloud even after being deleted from your phone.
Working with deleted files in the Explorer
The situation with documents, APK installation files and archives is different from working with media files. Xiaomi's standard file manager, which is often called simply "Conductor" or "Files", also has its deletion history, but it works a little differently. In some versions of MIUI for Redmi 9, the "Deleted" folder in the Explorer may be missing by default or hidden if the function has not been activated by the user previously.
To check for such a folder, open the Files app and take a close look at the top of the screen or the Recent menu. If you use Google Files by Google, which is often pre-installed on global firmware versions, there is a separate Recycle Bin section, which you can find by clicking on the three-bar menu in the top left corner and selecting the appropriate item.
If you use Xiaomi’s standard yellow Explorer, the algorithm can vary depending on the version of the system update. Often users have to go to the settings of the application itself to activate the function of saving deleted files. Without this setting, files are deleted instantly when cleaned.
| Type of application | Positioning of the basket | Storage period | Limit of volume |
|---|---|---|---|
| MIUI Gallery | Albums → Deleted | 30 days | No (takes up memory) |
| Google Files | Menu → Basket | 30 days | No (takes up memory) |
| Xiaomi Conductor | Depends on the MIUI version. | Do 7-30 days | Limited. |
| Text editors | Inside the app | Different. | Depends on the software. |
Specificity of the garbage in Google Photos
Redmi 9 smartphones often pre-installed Google Photos, which is an alternative to the standard gallery. Many users do not even suspect that they delete pictures from this application, thinking that they are erasing them from the system as a whole. The principle of operation here is similar, but the interface and location of controls are different. The shopping cart in Google Photos is a reliable storage that syncs with your account.
To find deleted images, open the app and click on your account avatar in the upper right corner. The drop-down menu will be "Basket" and once there, you will see all photos and videos deleted from the Google Photos library. The feature of this service is that it can store deleted items for up to 60 days if sync is enabled, or 30 days for local files.
Recovering files from Google Photos automatically goes to the folder where they were originally located. If you delete a picture from the cloud, it will be restored in both the phone gallery and cloud storage, making Google Photos a powerful backup tool worth keeping active on your smartphone.
- 🌐 Open the Google Photos app on your device.
- 👤 Tap the profile icon in the upper right corner of the screen.
- 🗑️ Select the menu item "Baskbasket" (or "Trash" in the English version).
- ↩️ Select files and click “Restore” to return to the album.
⚠️ Note: If you clear the shopping cart in Google Photos, files will disappear from all synchronized devices, including the tablet and computer where you log in to this account.
What happens when memory is overflowing?
Data recovery in messengers and browser
Special attention should be paid to files received through messengers such as WhatsApp or Telegram, as well as downloads from the browser. These applications have a different logic for working with remote data. For example, WhatsApp does not have a common basket for all chats, but within a particular dialogue you can find the function “Deleted messages” if you delete them only for yourself.
In Google Chrome, which is the standard for Redmi 9, download history is not a shopping cart. If you delete a file from the Downloads folder in the file manager, only a link to it will remain in the browser's history, but the file itself will not be restored. Browsers do not have a built-in download basket, relying on the Android file system.
For instant messengers, it is critical to distinguish between deleting a message “for yourself” and “for everyone.” In the first case, the file can remain in the app cache or in the media folder in the device’s memory. The path to them usually looks like internal memory → Android → media → com.whatsapp → WhatsApp → Media. Here you can find folders with images and documents that were formally deleted from the chat but physically remained on the disk.
💡
Files from messengers often remain in the phone’s memory even after being deleted from the chat, unless you use the “Clear Memory” function inside the app itself.
Set up automatic backup
To make sure that the question of where to buy a cart is no longer relevant, the best thing to do is to set up automatic data storage. Xiaomi Redmi 9 provides powerful tools for this. First of all, we are talking about the Mi Cloud service. By going to the Mi Account settings, you can activate the synchronization of the gallery, contacts, notes and voice recorder, which will create a digital copy of your data on the company's servers.
Also, don't ignore the Google One. Even a free 15GB tariff is often enough to store important documents and photos in full resolution. The setup is simple: just log into your Google account in the phone's settings section and select Sync, where you can customize in detail which apps and data will be copied.
Regular local copy creation is also not canceled. Periodically copy important files to your computer or external drive through the computer. USB-Connect your phone to your PC, select file transfer mode (MTP) and copy the folders. DCIM It's the most reliable way to protect against any system failure.
- ☁️ Activate Mi Cloud in your account settings to sync photos.
- 🔄 Set up autoload in Google Photos via Wi-Fi.
- 💾 Periodically make a backup to the computer through USB-cable.
- 📲 Use third-party cloud services (Dropbox, Yandex.Disk) for critical data.