How to view deleted messages on Xiaomi phone: all ways to recover

You accidentally deleted an important message on Xiaomi and now you don't know how to return it? Don't panic - even if the correspondence disappeared from the application, it can be restored. In this article, we will examine all possible methods, including backups, system tools and third-party programs. It is important to act quickly: the less time has passed since the removal, the higher the chances of success.

Xiaomi smartphones (including the Redmi, POCO and Mi line) have features in working with memory and backups. For example, the built-in Mi Cloud feature automatically saves SMS, but only if it was activated before deleting messages.

We're not going to offer magic solutions -- if a message is deleted without a trace and not backed up, it's unlikely to be recovered, but 80 percent of the time, users just don't know where to look, and then you'll find step-by-step instructions for scenarios ranging from standard SMS to instant messaging chats, and tips on how to avoid future data loss.

1. Recover standard SMS via Mi Cloud

If your Xiaomi has Mi Cloud sync enabled, the chances of returning deleted SMS are very high, and this feature automatically backs up messages, contacts, and other data – but only if:

• 🔄 You logged in to Mi Account on your phone before deleting messages.
• ☁️ In the account settings activated option Synchronization SMS.
• 📅 The last synchronization took place no later than 7 days ago (by default Xiaomi updates copies once a week).

To recover messages:

1. Open the Settings. → Mi Account → Mi Cloud.
2. Scroll down to the SMS section and click Sync.
3. If a copy is available, messages will appear in the standard Messages app in 1-2 minutes.

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If there is no backup of SMS in Mi Cloud, check the MIUI/Backup/AllBackup folder in the phone’s internal memory. Sometimes local backups created through Settings → Additional → Backup are saved there.

⚠️ Note: When recovering from Mi Cloud, current messages on your phone can be replaced by cloud data. If you receive new SMS after deleting, it is better to manually copy them to another place (for example, in notes) before restoring them.

2. Local backups: where to look on Xiaomi

Many users are unaware that Xiaomi creates local backups even without connecting to the Mi Cloud, which are stored in hidden folders and may contain deleted messages.

To view these folders:

1. Connect your phone to your PC or use a file manager (such as Mi File Explorer).
2. Enable the display of hidden files in the manager settings.
3. Click one of the paths above and find files with a date prior to deleting messages.

🔹 Important: Xiaomi backup files are usually encrypted:

• 🔓 Install the same software as at the time of copy creation (for example, if the backup is made on the MIUI 12, and now you have MIUI 14, recovery may not work).
• 📱 Use the original Xiaomi Backup app (com.miui.backup).

3. Recovery of WhatsApp Messages

WhatsApp stores the messages in encrypted databases on your phone, and if you delete the messages but you don't clear the app cache, you can return them.

Make sure your phone has enough memory (at least 1GB)

Connect to Wi-Fi (backup file can weigh up to 500MB)

Remember the phone number associated with your account

Remove and reinstall WhatsApp (if required)

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Instructions for Xiaomi:

1. Remove WhatsApp via Settings → Apps.
2. Go to Settings → Memory → Files → WhatsApp → Databases and find the file type msgstore.db.crypt14 with the latest date.
3. Rename him in msgstore_backup.db.crypt14 (in case something goes wrong).
4. Install WhatsApp again from Google Play.
5. When you first start, enter the same phone number. The application will prompt you to restore chats from the backup.

⚠️ Note: If you have already reinstalled WhatsApp after deleting messages and confirmed the number, the new copy could overwrite the old one).

💡 Tip: WhatsApp creates local backups every day at 2:00 a.m. If you delete messages in the afternoon, the evening copy may contain them. To check the date of the last backup, open the file manager and see the time of file changes in the Databases folder.

4. Telegram: features of recovery

Unlike WhatsApp, Telegram stores messages in the cloud, but only if they were sent in cloud chats (not secret).

• 🔄 Cloud chats: You can't recover deleted messages -- they're deleted from servers forever. But you can view the story on another device that logged in to the same account.
• 🔒 Secret chats: Messages are only stored on your phone. If you deleted them, try to find a backup in your phone. /sdcard/Telegram/Telegram Data/ (file-extension).
• 📱 Local Data: Reinstall Telegram – When you first start up, the app will offer to restore media files (but not text messages).

For secret chats, try the following:

1. Install the Telegram Desktop program on your PC.


2 Connect the phone to your computer and copy the Telegram Data folder.




3. In the Telegram Desktop settings, select "Import Data" and specify the path to the copied folder.

🔹 Restriction: This method only works if you have not logged out of your Telegram account after deleting messages, otherwise local data is encrypted again.

5. Third-party recovery programs

If standard methods don't work, you can try specialized tools that scan the phone's memory at the file system level and look for traces of deleted data.

• 🛠️ Dr.Fone (Wondershare): Restores SMS, WhatsApp, photos, works without root, but with root rights, efficiency is higher.
• 📱 EaseUS MobiSaver: Supports MIUI And it even finds highly fragmented data.
• 🔍 DiskDigger: Free utility for finding deleted files (requires root).

Instructions for Dr.Fone:

1. Download and install the program on PC (official site).
2. Connect Xiaomi to USB and enable Debugging over USB (Settings → About Phone → MIUI version – press 7 times, then go back to Additional → For Developers).
3. Select the data type to recover (such as Messages or WhatsApp).
4. Wait until the scan is finished and save the files found.

⚠️ Note: Programs like Dr.Fone can overwrite deleted data if you save the recovered files to the same phone!

Critical: On Xiaomi phones with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip (like the Xiaomi 13 Pro), some recovery programs may not work due to FBE (File-Based Encryption) hardware encryption.

6. How to avoid future loss of messages

The best way to avoid losing important messages is to set up automatic backups. Here's what you can do on Xiaomi:

• ☁️ Mi Cloud: Enable SMS, Contacts and Notes Synchronization in Settings → Mi Account → Mi Cloud.
• 📲 WhatsApp: Go to Settings → chat → Backup and set up automatic save in Google Drive.
• 🔄 Local Copies: Create backups regularly through Settings → Additionally. → Backup.
• 📧 Manual export: In the standard Messages app, you can select a dialog → More. → Export (saves to.txt file).

💡 Advice for owners POCO: On phones. POCO (for example, POCO X5 Pro) by default, sync with Mi Cloud is disabled. To enable it, go to Settings → Accounts and synchronization → Mi Cloud and manually activate the necessary options.

Also note:

• 🚫 Don’t use Garbage Cleanup features in the Security App – they can delete temporary backup files.
• 🔋 Keep an eye on battery power during backup, and if the process is interrupted due to discharge, the copy may be damaged.

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On Xiaomi phones with MIUI 14+, backups of SMS in Mi Cloud are stored for up to 6 months, and then they are automatically deleted if there was no activity in the account.

FAQ: Frequent questions about post recovery