How to view deleted photos on Xiaomi: from cart to deep scan

Deleting photos on Xiaomi smartphones is a situation that almost every user faces. Accidental clicking, resetting or even a virus attack can deprive you of valuable images. Fortunately, Redmi, POCO and other Xiaomi devices have several data protection mechanisms, as well as third-party tools to help recover lost files.

In this article, we'll look at all the recovery options you can get from standard MIUI features to professional utilities, and it's important to understand that success depends on two factors: the time you've taken since you deleted it, and the actions you've taken since you lost your files, for example, if you've continued to use your phone, the new data might have overwritten the old ones, and then your chances of recovery drop dramatically.

Don’t panic: even if the photos were deleted a month ago, you have a chance to return them, and the main thing is to act systematically and not miss out on the critical moments, which we will discuss below.

1.A check of the basket at MIUI Gallery

The first thing you need to do is to look into the built-in Gallery app basket. In Xiaomi, deleted photos don't disappear immediately: they are placed in a temporary storage place, where they lie for 15 to 30 days (depending on the model and version of MIUI), which is your easiest and fastest way to return pictures.

How to get there:

• 📱 Open the Gallery app (icon with multi-colored squares).
• 🗑️ In the upper right corner, press three dots (⋮) and pick the basket.
• 🔍 View the list of deleted files. The photos here are sorted by deletion date.
• 🔄 Select the desired pictures (long press) and click Restore.

Note that if you manually cleaned the Recycle Bin or used features like Storage Optimization in Settings → Memory, photos could be permanently deleted, and the Recycle Bin does not work for files deleted through Explorer or third-party file managers.

⚠️ Note: In some firmware (for example, on the POCO F3 s MIUI 13) The cart is hidden by default. To enable it, go to Gallery Settings. → Additionally. → Cart and activate the option.

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The MIUI cart is your first and most reliable way to return photos if less than 30 days have passed since you deleted them.

2. Recovery via Mi Cloud (Xiaomi Cloud Storage)

If your Xiaomi has been activated sync with Mi Cloud, the chances of photos being returned are greatly increased, and the cloud automatically saves copies of the images, even if the originals were erased from the device.

1. 🌐 Go to i.mi.com and log in with the same account as you do on your phone.
2. 📂 In the Gallery section, find the Remote (or Recently Deleted in English) folder).
3. ⏳ Files are stored for 60 days, twice as long as in the local shopping cart.
4. 💾 Select the necessary photos and click Restore.

If the cloud doesn't have a folder with deleted files, check the main gallery: maybe the pictures just didn't sync due to the lack of Internet or the option turned off, to enable autosynchronization in the future:

1. Open Settings → Accounts and Sync → Mi Cloud
2. Find the Gallery item and activate the switch.
3. Choose Autoboot when connecting to Wi-Fi to avoid wasting mobile traffic.

Important: Mi Cloud provides 5GB for free, but if you didn't clean the storage, the space could run out and the new photos didn't sync. Check the available volume in the same settings section.

3. Search for backups in Google Photos

Many Xiaomi users install Google Photos as an alternative to the standard gallery, and this app automatically backs up all the images when the option is enabled.

• 📲 Open the Google Photos app (if not, download from Play Market).
• 🔍 In the search box, enter Remote or Trash.
• 🗓️ The photos are stored for 60 days and then deleted forever.
• 🔄 Select the files you need and click Restore.

If there is nothing in the cart, try searching by dates or keywords (e.g. beach, New Year's Eve). Google Photos recognizes objects in the pictures and can find them even without exact dates.

How to enable autosynchronization in the future:

1. Open Google Photos → Profile → Photo settings → Backup and Sync.
2. Activate the switch and select quality (Original or High).
3. Specify which network to copy (Wi-Fi only is recommended).

⚠️ Note: If you manually deleted photos from Google Photos (not through the Xiaomi Gallery Recycle Bin), they may have disappeared from the cloud immediately.

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To speed up your search in Google Photos, use filters by date or location. For example, type Moscow 2023 to find all the photos from your trip.

4.Use of PCs and programs for deep scanning

If you don't find the photos in the cart or the cloud, you'll have to resort to software recovery, so you can connect Xiaomi to your computer and use specialized tools to scan the internal memory of the device at the file system level, and you can even find files that have been deleted long ago.

Top.-3 recovery:

Step-by-step instructions for DiskDigger (recommended for maximum results):

Connect Xiaomi to your PC via USB-cable (file transfer mode)

Enable USB debugging in Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (click 7 times) → Additional → For Developers → Debugging by USB

Install DiskDigger on PC and run on behalf of the administrator

Select your Xiaomi drive from the list of devices

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Once scanned, it will show all the files it finds, including the deleted ones, tag the photos you want and press Recover, save them to your computer instead of back to your phone, and that will prevent you from overwriting them again.

Critically, if you’ve never obtained root rights on your Xiaomi, DiskDigger will only be able to find files that haven’t been overwritten by new information, and the odds are 30 to 50 percent lower without root.

5. Recovery through MIUI backup

If you have ever created a local backup through Settings → Additional → Backup and Reset, there is a chance that the photos are saved there. MIUI allows you to recover data from the backup, but with reservations:

• 📦 Backup copies are stored in a folder MIUI/backup/AllBackup internal memory or SD-map.
• 🔄 To recover data, go to Settings → Additionally. → Backup and reset → Restore.
• ⚠️ Warning: When you restore the backup, all current data on the phone will be erased.
• 📅 Choose the most recent copy that has the right photos guaranteed.

This method is suitable if you regularly create backups. Unfortunately, many users ignore this feature, so the method does not always work. Also keep in mind that MIUI backups do not include photos by default - they must be added manually when creating a backup.

If you don't have a date on your backup list, check the MIUI/backup folder through Explorer, sometimes stored as a.bak archive, and you can unpack them on your PC with 7-Zip or WinRAR.

6. Contact the Xiaomi Service Center

If all of the above methods have failed and the photos are critical (for example, they are the only shots from an important event), you can try contacting the official Xiaomi service center, they have specialized equipment to extract data even from damaged drives.

What you need to know before your visit:

• ⏳ The process can take from 2 days to a week.

Before the trip to the service:

1. Don’t turn on your phone or try to write something down on it – it reduces the chances of success.
2. Check by phone if they are engaged in data recovery (not all centers provide this service).
3. Prepare a passport – it will be needed to apply.

The alternative is private data recovery labs (like Data Recovery or Hetman), which often take cases that official services can’t handle, but also have higher prices.

7.Prevention: How to avoid future loss of photos

The best way to keep your photos safe is to make sure they're safe in advance, and here are proven methods to protect your photos:

• ☁️ Cloud backups: Set up autosynchronization with Mi Cloud and Google Photos at the same time.
• 💾 Local backups: Once a month, copy photos to your computer or external drive.
• 📱 Double Apps: Install Simple Gallery or QuickPic – they have their own shopping carts and backup features.
• 🔒 Virus protection: Use an antivirus (such as Dr.Web or Kaspersky) to avoid deleting files with malware.

What to do if your phone is stolen or broken:

• If Find Device was enabled in Mi Cloud, lock the device remotely via the web interface.
• Check if your Google account is linked to your phone – you can find the latest data sync via myaccount.google.com.
• If the phone doesn’t turn on, don’t try to disassemble it yourself – it can damage your memory.

Remember, the more copies of your photos there are, the lower the risk of permanent loss. Don't rely on one storage method: combine clouds, local backups and physical media.

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Regular sync with two clouds (Mi Cloud + Google Photos) and monthly copying to the PC reduces the risk of loss of photos to almost zero.

FAQ: Frequent questions about photo recovery on Xiaomi