How to view and recover recently deleted photos on Xiaomi smartphones

Have you deleted important photos on Xiaomi and you don't know how to get them back? Don't panic -- you have a chance to recover them even if they're missing from the gallery. In this article, we'll look at all the ways you can go from the standard MIUI cart to hidden backup features and professional utilities. It's important to act quickly -- the less time has passed since you deleted them, the more likely you are to succeed.

Xiaomi smartphones based on MIUI They have built-in mechanisms to protect against accidental deletion of files, but not all users know how to use them. We will look not only at the obvious solutions (for example, checking the folder Recently Deleted), but also at lesser-known tricks – recovery through Mi Cloud, analysis of the application cache and even working with the software. ADB-If you're using Redmi Note 12 models, POCO X5 Xiaomi 14 flagships, instructions are suitable for all versions MIUI 12–14.

Before you start restoring, remember that any memory operations (installation of applications, taking new photos, updating the system) can overwrite deleted data, making it impossible to restore it, so first of all turn off mobile Internet and Wi-Fi to prevent automatic synchronization.

1. Checking the basket in the standard MIUI gallery

The easiest way to return deleted photos is to use the built-in Recycle Bin in the Gallery app. By default, files are stored there for 30 days, but the deadline can be changed in settings. The instructions are relevant for all Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO devices with a MIUI shell.

How to open the basket:

• 📱 Open the Gallery app (icon with multi-colored squares).
• 🔍 Click on the three horizontal lines (menu) in the lower right corner.
• 🗑️ Select Recycle Bin (Recently Deleted or Trash in English version).
• 🖼️ Find the right photos, click on them and select Restore.

If the cart is empty or you can’t find deleted photos, check:

• ⏳ Recycle bin file retention (30 days by default, but can be reduced to 7 days in gallery settings).
• 🔄 The photos may have been removed from the cart manually or automatically after the expiration date.
• 📁.thumbnails folder in the root memory directory – sometimes thumbnails are saved even after the originals are deleted.

⚠️ Note: If you cleared the cart through the Settings menu → Warehouse → Cleaning, the chances of recovery through standard means are minimal.

2. Recovery via Mi Cloud (cloud storage)

If your Xiaomi has Mi Cloud sync enabled, the deleted photos could be saved to the cloud, which works even if you reset your phone to factory settings, as long as your Mi Account is linked to the device.

How to check backups in Mi Cloud:

1. 🌐 Go to i.mi.com and log in to your account.
2. 📁 Select the Gallery section in the left menu.
3. 🔍 Use the date filter to find deleted photos.
4. 💾 Click on the photo and select Download or Restore on the device.

If the photo is not in the cloud, check:

• 🔄 Synchronization settings: go to Settings → Mi Account → Mi Cloud → Gallery and make sure the function is enabled.
• 📅 Last sync date – photos may have been deleted before backup.
• 📱 Another tied device (tablet, second phone), where the cloud photo could be saved.

⚠️ Note: If you changed your Mi Account password after deleting the photo, the cloud data may have been lost, in which case you can not restore it through Mi Cloud.

3. Using Google Photos to Restore

Many Xiaomi users are installing Google Photos as an alternative gallery, and if the app was set to automatically download, deleted images could be saved in the Google Photos Recycle Bin, where they are stored for 60 days.

Instructions for remediation:

• 📱 Open the Google Photos app or go to photos.google.com.
• 🗑️ In the menu, select the basket (Trash).
• 🔍 Find the right photos, highlight them and click Restore.
• 💾 After recovery, the photos will appear in the Google Photos folder in the gallery. MIUI.

If the basket is empty:

• 🔄 Check the Archive folder – sometimes photos are moved there instead of deleted.
• 📅 Make sure the date of deletion does not exceed 60 days.
• 🔍 Use search by keyword or date in Google Photos.

Turn off mobile internet on Xiaomi

Make sure your Google account is the same as when you delete it.

Check the free space in the phone memory

Do not install new applications until the recovery is complete.-->

4. Local recovery with third-party utilities

If standard methods don’t work, you’ll have to use specialized programs to scan internal memory, such as DiskDigger, EaseUS MobiSaver, or Recuva (for PCs), which require root permissions for deep scanning, but can find photos without them (with less efficiency).

Step-by-step instructions for DiskDigger (without root):

1. 📥 Install DiskDigger from Google Play.
2. 🔍 Select Start basic photo scanning.
3. 📂 Wait for the analysis to be completed (may take 10 to 30 minutes).
4. 🖼️ View the photos found, highlight the necessary and click Restore.
5. 💾 Save files to a memory card or cloud (not internal memory!).

For maximum efficiency:

• 🔋 Charge your phone to 100% – scanning consumes a lot of energy.
• 🛑 Do not interrupt the process, even if it takes a long time.
• 🔍 If no photo is found, try a deep scan (requires root).

⚠️ Note: When recovering via PC (for example, using Recuva), connect Xiaomi in File Transfer mode (MTP). Avoid Charging – it blocks access to memory.

5. Recovery through ADB (for power users)

If you’re familiar with ADB (Android Debug Bridge), you can try extracting deleted photos directly from the device’s memory, a method that requires command line skills and is suitable for Xiaomi with an unlocked bootloader or root rights.

Main steps:

1. 🖥️ Install. ADB Tools on PC.
2. 🔌 Connect Xiaomi to your computer and enable Debugging USB In Settings → The phone. → Version. MIUI (Click 7 times on the line with the version, then return to Additional Settings → For developers).
3. 💻 Open the command line and execute: adb shell su cd /data/media/0/DCIM/Camera ls -la This will show a list of files in the folder with photos, including hidden ones.
4. 🔍 To search for deleted files, use the scandisk or photorec utility via ADB.

Advantages of the method:

• 🔍 Deep scanning without the limitations of standard applications.
• 📁 The ability to recover files of any type, not just photos).
• 🛠️ Works even after resetting (unless the data is overwritten).

Risks:

• ⚠️ Wrong teams ADB could damage the system.
• 🔒 Requires unlocking the bootloader, which resets all data.
• ⏳ The process can take several hours.

💡

Before working with ADB, create a full backup of your data via adb backup or TWRP. This will protect you from losing other files if you make errors.

6. Checking the cache of applications and temporary files

Sometimes deleted photos are saved in the cache of applications such as Gallery, Google Photos or messengers (WhatsApp, Telegram), these files are not displayed in the standard interface, but they can be extracted manually.

Where to look:

• 🗃️ folder /data/data/com.miui.gallery/cache — gallery-cash MIUI.
• 📱 folder /Android/data/com.google.android.apps.photos/cache — Google cache.
• 💬 Messenger folders: /Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp/Media or /Telegram/Telegram Images.

How to extract files:

1. 🔍 Use a file manager with root access (such as Root Explorer or Root Explorer). FX File Explorer).
2. 📂 Go to the specified folders and find files with extensions.jpg,.png or without extension.
3. 🖼️ Copy them to a safe place (for example, to a memory card).
4. 🔄 Rename files by adding the correct extension (e.g. photo.jpg).

⚠️ Cached files often have distorted names (for example, cached files, f8374hf.jpg) Before copying, check their previews.

7.Prevention: How to avoid loss of photos in the future

To avoid the problem of deleted photos again, set up automatic backup and follow the simple rules:

Methods of protection:

• ☁️ Enable autosynchronization with Mi Cloud or Google Photos: For Mi Cloud: Settings → Mi Account → Mi Cloud → Gallery. For Google Photos: Open the app → Settings → Backup and synchronization.
• 💾 Regularly copy the photo to a memory card or external drive.
• 📁 Use the folder. DCIM/Backup hand-copy.
• 🔄 Set up export to the cloud (Yandex Drive, Dropbox) through the Files by Google app).

What can't be done:

• 🚫 Cleaning a gallery basket without checking its contents.
• 🚫 Use functions such as Storage Optimization in MIUI — They can delete old photos without warning.
• 🚫 Format a memory card or reset your phone to factory settings without a backup.

💡

The most reliable way to protect is to combine Mi Cloud + Google Photos + local copy on the memory card, so you are insured against failures in any of the services.

FAQ: Frequent questions about photo recovery on Xiaomi