Where to look for remote video on Xiaomi: from shopping cart to deep scanning

You accidentally deleted an important video from Xiaomi — an event recording, a family video or a work file — and now you don't know how to return it? Don't panic: even after cleaning the gallery, the chances of recovery remain. Modern Redmi, POCO and Mi smartphones save deleted files in hidden folders, cloud storage or backups. The main thing is to act quickly and correctly.

In this article, we’ll look at all the ways you can find deleted video files on Xiaomi phones, from the standard shopping cart to professional tools like DiskDigger or EaseUS MobiSaver, learn how to recover video through Mi Cloud, Google Photos, local backups, and even manually through the file system, and also why you can’t write new files to your phone after you delete the video if you want to return it.

The methods are suitable for all current models: Xiaomi 14/13/12, Redmi Note 12/13, POCO F5/X5 and other devices on MIUI 14/15 or HyperOS. Let’s start with the simplest – check the basket.

1. Checking the basket in the Xiaomi Gallery

The first thing you need to do is to look into the built-in Gallery app bin, where deleted files are stored for up to 30 days on Xiaomi (up to 15 on some firmware), which works if you haven't cleaned the cart manually and used a "clean everything" feature.

How to find the basket:

• 📱 Open the Gallery app (a icon with colored squares).
• 🗑️ In the upper right corner, press three dots (⋮) → pick the basket.
• 🔍 Scroll through the list or search (loop at the top) The videos are indicated by the film icon.
• 🔄 To recover, click on the file → Restore (a badge with a down arrow).

If the cart is empty or the video is not there, move on to the next method. Importantly, after you delete the files from the cart, they are irretrievably erased (if there was no backup).

2. Search in Mi Cloud Cloud Storage

Mi Cloud is a cloud storage from Xiaomi that automatically syncs photos and videos if the feature is activated. Even if you deleted a file from your phone, it could be saved to the cloud.

Instructions for recovery:

• ☁️ Open the Settings. → Mi Account. → Mi Cloud.
• 📁 Select Gallery or Backups (depending on version) MIUI).
• 🔍 In the recently deleted (or shopping cart) section, look for videos. Shelf life is up to 60 days.
• 💾 To return the file, click on it. → Restore.

If sync with Mi Cloud has been disabled, try Google Photos - many Xiaomi users set up autosave there. Go to the Google Photos → Recycle Bin app (on the menu left). Videos are stored there for 60 days.

⚠️ Note: If you are not logged in to your Mi Account or have disabled sync, there are no cloud copies.

3. Recovery through MIUI backups

Xiaomi creates local backups of data if Backup is enabled, and these backups may contain deleted videos, but you can't recover them completely, just individual files. Here's how to do this:

Steps to extract video from the backup:

1. Connect your phone to your computer via USB (File Transfer Mode).
2. Go to the MIUI/Backup/AllBackup folder on the internal drive.
3. Find a folder with the date when the video was still on the phone (name format: backup_20260515_123456).
4. Copy the folder to your computer and use an archiver (such as 7-Zip) to extract files.

Videos can be stored in subfolders such as com.miui.gallery or media. Note that backups are encrypted - if you request a password, use the official Mi PC Suite tool for recovery.

Download Mi PC Suite from the official Xiaomi website|Connect the phone in debugging mode (Settings) → The phone. → Version. MIUI, press 7 times)|Create a new folder on the PC for extracted files|Check the free space on the disk (backups can weigh several GB)-->

4.Use of third-party programs for deep scanning

If the video isn't found in the cart or the cloud, it's software recovery, and utilities like DiskDigger, EaseUS MobiSaver, or Recuva (for PCs) can do that, and they scan the phone's memory at the file system level, and they can find files even if they've been deleted months ago.

The best programs for Xiaomi:

Instructions for DiskDigger (the most effective option):

1. Download DiskDigger from Google Play.
2. Launch the application and select Full Scan (requires root rights).
3. Wait until the process is completed (it can take up to an hour).
4. Filter the results by Video type and select the desired files for recovery.

⚠️ Warning: Without root access, programs only see cache and thumbnails. Full recovery will require unlocking the bootloader and obtaining superuser rights (this will reset all data!).

5. Manual scan of phone folders

Sometimes videos are not deleted completely, but remain in hidden folders or app cache, and you can check this through a file manager (for example, Mi File Manager or Solid Explorer).

Key folders to check:

• 📁 /storage/emulated/0/DCIM/.thumbnails — Video miniatures (sometimes originals are saved).
• 📁 /storage/emulated/0/Pictures/Screenshots — If the video was recorded as a screencast.
• 📁 /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.miui.gallery — gallery-cash.
• 📁 /storage/emulated/0/MIUI/Camera — cameraback.

How to enable the display of hidden files:

1. Open Mi File Manager.
2. Press three points (⋮) → Settings → Show hidden files.
3. Manually flip through the folders mentioned above.

If you find a file with an extension of.mp4,.mov or.3gp, copy it to a safe place. Sometimes the video can be without the extension, in which case rename the file by adding.mp4 at the end.

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If a video is found but not played, try opening it through the VLC Player, which supports corrupted files and can recover some of the data.

6. Computer Recovery (ADB and Specialized Utilities)

For advanced users, there is a way to recover via ADB (Android Debug Bridge), which allows you to scan the phone’s memory directly, but requires command line skills.

Step-by-step:

1. Install ADB on your computer (download Platform Tools from Google).
2. Turn on USB Debugging on your phone: Settings → About Phone → MIUI version (click 7 times), then Additional → For Developers → Debugging over USB.
3. Connect the phone to your PC and execute the command: adb shell su cd /data/media/0/ ls -la | grep -i ".mp4" This will show all video files, including deleted ones (if they are not already overwritten).
4. To copy a file to a PC: adb pull /data/media/0/path/to/file.mp4 C:\Backup\

If ADB can’t find files, try PhotoRec (works through TestDisk), which restores files by signature, but requires the phone to be connected as a removable drive (not all Xiaomi models support this mode).

7. Contact the Xiaomi Service Center

If the video is critical (e.g., court evidence or unique recording) and the independent methods didn’t help, you can contact the official Xiaomi service center, they have specialized equipment to retrieve data from memory, including damaged sectors.

What you need to know before your visit:

• 📋 Bring a check or confirmation of purchase of the phone with you.
• 🔒 If the phone is locked with a password, it will have to be unlocked (this can erase the data!).
• 💰 The cost of recovery starts from 3 000 rubles (depending on the complexity of the).
• ⏳ The process can take up to 5 working days.

Xiaomi service centers in Russia work through partners (for example, Communication Service or MVideo Geek Squad: https://www.mi.com/ru/service/locator/.

⚠️ Warning: Irreversible actions (such as flashing or resetting to factory settings) destroy the chances of recovery.If video is critical, don't experiment with your phone yourself.

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The faster you start recovering, the better the chances of returning a video, and each new recording or application installation overwrites the memory sectors where deleted files may have been stored.

FAQ: Frequent questions about video recovery on Xiaomi