How to finally delete deleted photos on Xiaomi smartphones: the complete guide

Why Deleted Photos Stay in Your Phone’s Memory and How to Fix It

Have you deleted photos on Xiaomi, but they still take up space? Or are you worried that personal photos can be restored after selling your phone? The problem is that standard gallery deletion only moves files to the bin or marks them as invisible to the system. In fact, they stay in the device's memory for up to 30 days - or longer if you don't clear the cache and hidden folders.

In this article, we will analyze 5 working ways to completely remove photos on Xiaomi, Redmi and smartphones. POCO — from cleaning the basket before use ADB-And we'll also explain why even after formatting a memory card, files can be recovered, and how to avoid that.

⚠️ Important: If you're selling or transferring a phone, it's not enough to just erase a photo through a gallery. Use the methods in the "Full Clean Before Selling" section to prevent data recovery.

Method 1: Cleaning the basket in the standard Xiaomi gallery

By default, all photos deleted through the gallery end up in a 30-day shopping cart, and many users forget to clean them, causing the phone's memory to become clogged with invisible files. Here's how to do it correctly:

1. Open the Gallery app (the icon with the camera).
2. Slip on three horizontal lines in the upper right corner (menu).
3. Select the basket item.
4. Click Control → Mark all files (check at the top) → Delete.
5. Confirm the action by selecting Clean the basket.

⚠️ Note: If you use the Mi Cloud, photos deleted from the Recycle Bin can remain in the cloud. → gallery → Recycle the basket and clean it separately.

Backup important photos | Check if photos are synced with Mi Cloud| Make sure the cart doesn't have the right files | Close all apps that work with the gallery-->

After cleaning the basket, space will be freed up, but files can still be restored using special programs (for example, DiskDigger or Recuva).

Method 2: Removing the cache of the gallery and media storage

Even after cleaning the thumbnail, photos and their metadata can remain in the app cache, which not only takes up space, but also allows recovery software to find deleted files to clear the cache:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Find and open the Gallery (or Google Photos if you use it).
3. Select Warehouse. → Clear the cache.
4. Go back and find the Media Storage app.
5. Clear its cache and data (reboot your phone will be required).

💡 A useful tip: if after cleaning the cache gallery is long loading photos, do not be afraid - this is normal.

This method removes traces of photos from system folders, but does not guarantee absolute erasure. For reliability, combine it with method 3 (manual folder cleaning).

Standard Gallery MIUI|Google Photo|Other (e.g. Simple Gallery)|I don't know what I have.-->

Method 3: Manually remove hidden folders (for experienced ones)

MIUI creates a number of hidden folders where you can keep copies of deleted photos, so you can find them and clean them up.

1. Connect your phone to your PC via USB (in File Transfer mode).
2. Enable the display of hidden files: On Windows: View → Hidden Items. On Mac: Command + Shift +..
3. Go to the internal memory folder and delete the contents of the following directories:.thumbnails – thumbnails; DCIM/.thumbnails — gallery-cash; Pictures/.trash — basket; Android/data/com.miui.gallery/cache — standard-galleries.

⚠️ Attention: Do not delete folders DCIM The whole picture is just the contents, otherwise the gallery will stop working properly.

For complete confidence after manual cleaning, it is recommended to use specialized programs (method 4).

Method 4: Safe removal programs (without root)

If you need to be guaranteed to erase photos so they can't be restored, use irretrievable deletion apps. They overwrite files with random data, excluding recovery. Best options for Xiaomi:

• 🔹 Secure Delete – a simple interface, supports removal by DoD standard 5220.22-M.
• 🔹 Shreddit – allows you to choose the number of rewrite passes (from 1 to 35).
• 🔹 File Shredder – works without root rights, supports batch removal.

Instructions for Secure Delete:

1. Install the app from Google Play.
2. Open it and give access to the storage.
3. Select files or folders with photos (for example, DCIM/Camera).
4. Click Delete and select the rewrite method (DoD 3 passes is recommended).
5. Confirm the action.

📌 Key takeaway: these programs delete files at the physical layer, but they are slower than standard methods.

💡

Before using Secure Delete, disable sync with Mi Cloud and Google Photos, otherwise copies of the photo will remain in the cloud.

Method 5: Completely Clean Before Selling Your Phone

If you are going to sell or transfer your Xiaomi, it is not enough to delete the photo, you need to completely erase all data, including:

• 📁 Remains in the basket and cache;
• 🔑 Login passwords from accounts;
• 📱 Application settings and system files.

Step-by-step:

1. Back up important data (photos, contacts, messages) through Settings → About Phone → Backup.
2. Untie accounts: Go to Settings → Accounts and delete Mi Account, Google, social networks. In Settings → Passwords and security, disable biometrics (fingerprint, Face ID).
3. Reset: Open Settings → About Phone → Reset. Choose Erase all data. Enter your password and confirm.

Rewrite the memory:

⚠️ Note: if the phone was enabled Find Device (search device), after reset it must be disabled via the web version of the Mi Cloud, otherwise the new owner will not be able to activate the device.

After double reset with memory rewriting, data recovery becomes almost impossible even with the help of professional equipment.

Frequent questions about removing photos on Xiaomi