How to view deleted photos on Xiaomi smartphones: from the cart to deep scanning

Have you deleted valuable photos from Xiaomi and you don't know how to get them back? Don't panic -- even if they've disappeared from the gallery, they can often be restored. In this article, we'll look at all the working ways, from the standard MIUI shopping cart to professional tools like DiskDigger or Recuva. It's important to act quickly: the less time has passed since the removal, the better the chances of success.

Xiaomi’s MIUI-based smartphones have built-in protections against accidental file deletion, but they don’t always work. For example, the gallery cart only stores photos for 30 days, and if you manually cleaned it or used features like “Memory Optimization” – files could disappear forever. We’ll show you how to check all possible sources of recovery, including cloud services Mi Cloud and Google Photos, and how to work with device memory directly if standard methods do not work.

1. Checking the basket in the standard MIUI gallery

The first thing you need to do is to look in the gallery basket, and in MIUI, deleted photos are not erased immediately, but are sent to a special section where they are stored for up to 30 days (some models may have different times) to get there:

1. Open the Gallery app (an icon with a floral logo).
2. Slip on three horizontal lines (menu) in the lower right corner.
3. Select Recycle Bin (or recently deleted on new MIUI versions).
4. Find the right photos, highlight them and click Restore.

If the bin is empty or you've cleaned it before, move on to the next method. Note: photos deleted through the file manager (such as Files or Explorer) don't get into the gallery basket - they will have to be searched for by other methods.

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On some Xiaomi models (such as the Redmi Note 10 Pro or POCO X3), the shopping cart is hidden. To see it, update the Gallery app via Google Play or enable the display of hidden folders in the file manager settings.

2. Recovery via Mi Cloud (Xiaomi Cloud Storage)

If your Xiaomi had Mi Cloud sync enabled, the deleted photos could have been saved to the cloud.

• 📱 Open the Settings. → Xiaomi account → Mi Cloud.
• 🖼️ Go to the Gallery or Photos section.
• 🔍 Check the folders recently deleted or archived (if any).
• 💾 If you find the right pictures, download them back to the device.

Note: Mi Cloud only provides 5GB of space for free. If the memory is full, old backups could be automatically deleted. Also check if the sync in the settings: Settings → Xiaomi Account → Mi Cloud → Data Sync is disabled.

3. Google Photos (if Autoboot was enabled)

Google Photos is another reliable source of backups, and if your Xiaomi had this app installed and autoloaded, the photos could have been saved to the Google cloud to be found:

1. Open the Google Photos app (if not, download from the Play Market).
2. Sign in with the same Google account that was used on your phone.
3. Go to the Library → Cart section (photos are stored there for 60 days).
4. If the basket is empty, check the Archive or search by date.

Important: Google Photos compresses images when you download them for free (unless you have a paid Google One tariff). Recovered photos can lose quality, but it's better than losing them forever. If you have disabled the autoload, this method won't work.

Yeah, just Mi Cloud.

Yes, only Google Photos.

I use both services.

No, I don't use clouds.

I don't know what it is.-->

4.Recovery from internal memory via PC

If you don't find the photos in the cart or the clouds, the most difficult but effective way to do this is to scan the phone's internal memory using specialized software. USB-cable.

We recommend using DiskDigger (for Windows) or Recuva, which are free and support recovery from Android devices.

Enable USB debugging in the developer settings (Settings → About Phone → MIUI version (click 7 times) → Developer settings → USB debugging)

Install Xiaomi drivers on PC (download from the official website)

Connect your phone to your computer in File Transfer (MTP) mode

Close any programs that may block access to memory (e.g. antiviruses)-->

After preparation:

1. Download and install DiskDigger (or Recuva).
2. Run the program and select the drive corresponding to your Xiaomi memory (usually a removable drive with the name of the phone model).
3. Select the type of files to search for – tick JPG, PNG, HEIC (for iPhone photos if they were transferred).
4. Start scanning. It can take anywhere from 10 minutes to a few hours depending on the amount of memory.
5. Once completed, select the photos you need and save them to your PC.

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Do not save the recovered photos back to your phone until the process is over!This can overwrite the remaining deleted files and make it impossible to recover further.

The critical point is that if you continue to use your phone after you delete your photos (installing apps, shooting new videos, updating the system), your chances of recovery drop dramatically, new data overwrites old memory sectors, and programs like DiskDigger can no longer find them.

5.Using recovery apps right on the phone

If you don’t have a computer at hand, you can try to restore photos directly to Xiaomi using mobile apps.

• 📲 Dumpster – works as an extended recycle bin, recovers files even after cleaning the standard shopping cart MIUI.
• 🔍 DiskDigger (mobile version) – scans internal memory without root rights (but with root it will find more files).
• 📂 GT Recovery – Supports recovery of photos, videos and documents.
• 🔄 Undeleter Recover Files & Data is a simple interface, but requires root for deep scanning.

An example of working with Dumpster:

1. Install the app from Google Play.
2. At the first start, give access to memory.
3. Go to the Images tab.
4. Select the necessary photos and click Restore.

Restrictions of mobile applications:

• Without root rights, they only see files that have not been overwritten.
• Some programs display ads or require a purchase to recover large files.
• The scan takes a long time and drains the battery.

6. Contact Xiaomi Service Center: When Nothing Helps

If all of these methods did not work, and the photos are critical (for example, these are the only pictures from an important event), you can contact the authorized Xiaomi service center. Professionals have access to professional hardware for recovering data from internal memory, including eMMC chips or UFS.

What you need to know before your visit:

• 💰 The cost of the service starts from 3 000-5 000 rubles (depending on the model and complexity).
• ⏳ The process can take from 1 to 5 days.
• 🔧 Not all services are taken for data recovery – check this by phone.
• 📱 On some models (for example, Xiaomi 12 Pro or Mix Fold) memory is sealed into the motherboard, which complicates the process.

Warning: Avoid doubtful workshops offering «100% restoration 5 Unqualified actions can lead to complete data loss or damage to the phone. official Xiaomi service centers can be found on the website mi.com/ru/service/center.

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If the photos have legal value (e.g., are evidence), don't try to recover them yourself.Try to forensic experts - wrong actions can make files inadmissible as evidence.

Comparison of recovery methods: what to choose?

To make it easier for you to navigate, we have collected the key pros and cons of each method in the table:

As you can see from the table, you start with the simplest and fastest methods (basket, cloud), and only if they don't work, you move to more complex ones. Going to a service center makes sense only for really valuable data.

How to avoid losing photos in the future

To avoid the problem of deleted photos, follow these rules:

• 🔄 Turn on autoload in Google Photos or Mi Cloud. Even if the phone's memory is cleared, the pictures will remain in the cloud.
• 📁 Transfer photos to your PC or external drive regularly.Use Xiaomi PC Suite or simply copy files through USB.
• 📱 Install a shopping cart application (such as Dumpster) that will intercept deleted files.
• 🔋 If the phone is constantly showing notifications about space shortages, there is a high probability of automatic cleaning of old files.
• 📎 Use two-factor authentication for cloud accounts to avoid hacking and loss of access to backups.

It's also useful to know that Xiaomi has a hidden feature to protect against accidental removal, to activate it:

1. Open the gallery.
2. Select the photo you want to protect.
3. Click on the three dots in the top right corner and select Block.
4. Set a password or pattern lock.

Blocked photos will not be deleted when cleaning the gallery or cart.

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Xiaomi models with MIUI 13+ (such as Xiaomi 13 or Redmi K50) have a Drawing feature in the gallery, which automatically gets bad pictures that can be restored within 7 days.

⚠️ Note: If you sell or transfer your Xiaomi to another person, be sure to complete a full settings reset (Settings) → The phone. → Reset your settings and format your memory card (if you had one) simply deleting photos is not enough – you can easily recover them with software!

FAQ: Frequent questions about photo recovery on Xiaomi