How to recover photos from the cart on the Xiaomi phone: all working ways

Have you deleted important photos on your Xiaomi smartphone and you don't know how to get them back? Don't panic: in most cases, files can be recovered even after cleaning the cart. In this article, we'll look at all the current ways, from standard MIUI features to professional tools that work even on devices with MIUI 14 and HyperOS.

The recycle bin in the Xiaomi Gallery stores deleted images for 30 days (by default), but this period can be changed. If you cleared the cart or more than a month has passed, the chances of recovery are still there - provided that the disk space has not been overwritten with new files. We will tell you how to act depending on the situation: from a simple return from the cart to use. ADB-commands and third-party utilities.

The faster you start recovering, the better the chances of success, and every new photo, video, or app you install reduces the chances of old files being returned.

1. Standard method: recovery from the gallery basket

If the photos were recently deleted (within the last 30 days), they can be returned directly from the Gallery app basket.This method works on all Xiaomi smartphones with MIUI 10 and later, including the Redmi Note 12, POCO X5 and Xiaomi 13 models.

Instructions:

• 📱 Open the Gallery app (a colored flower icon).
• 🗑️ In the upper right corner, press three dots (⋮) → pick the basket.
• 🔍 Scroll through the list and tick the photos you need (or click Select All).
• ↩️ Click Restore at the bottom of the screen.Photos will return to the folder All photos.

If there is no Cart button, check the settings of the gallery:

1. Come to the gallery. → ⋮ → Settings.
2. Select the Cart and make sure that the slider Enable the Cart is active.
3. Here you can change the storage period of deleted files (from 1 to 60 days).

Check the Hidden Albums folder in the gallery | Make sure the photos are deleted through the standard gallery, not through the file manager | Try to reboot the phone - sometimes the shopping cart is updated with a delay-->

⚠️ Attention: If you were manually cleaning the basket (Clean the basket), the standard method won't work.

2. Recovery through file manager (if the basket is cleared)

Even after cleaning the Recycle Bin, files can remain in the phone’s memory in hidden folders, and on Xiaomi, they can be found through the standard File Manager (or Mi File Manager).

• 📁 Photos were removed less 2-3 weeks ago.
• 📱 The phone did not completely clean the cache.
• 🔄 There were no major system updates.

Step-by-step:

1. Open the file manager (yellow folder icon).
2. Go to the Category section → Images.
3. In the upper right corner, press three dots (⋮) → Show hidden files.
4. Look for folders with names like.trash or.recycle, which can be temporary copies. DCIM/.thumbnails, thumbnails of deleted photos. MIUI/Gallery/cloud, if you've been synced to Mi Cloud.

SD-map

If there are no folders, try searching for keywords: in the file manager click on the magnifying glass (🔍) and type in.jpg,.png or IMG_ (name).

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If the photos were taken on the phone camera, search for them by prefix. MI_ or XIAOMI_ It's in the file name. It'll speed up the search.

3. Use of Mi Cloud (if synchronization was enabled)

If your Xiaomi has Mi Cloud sync enabled, the deleted photos could be saved to the cloud, a method that works even after you reset your phone to factory settings.

How to check and restore:

• 🌐 Go to i.mi.com and log in.
• 📂 Select the Gallery or Photos section.
• 🗑️ In the left menu, find the basket folder (if any).
• 🔄 If the Recycle Bin is empty, check the All Photos folder – sometimes files are restored automatically.

If the photos are not in the cloud, but sync has been enabled, try:

1. On the phone, go to Settings → Accounts → Mi Cloud.
2. Turn off and turn on the gallery sync again.
3. Wait 5-10 minutes and check the Mi Cloud folder in the gallery.

⚠️ Warning: Only 5GB of storage is available for free in Mi Cloud. If the space is over, old photos could be deleted automatically. Check the Recycle Bin section in the cloud - there files are stored for up to 60 days.

4. Recovery through ADB (for power users)

If standard methods don't work, you can try extracting photos through ADB (Android Debug Bridge), which requires connecting your phone to your computer and only works if:

• 🔌 The phone's debugging on. USB.
• 🖥️ There is access to a PC with installed ADB-driver.
• 📱 The device is not encrypted (or you know the password).

Instructions for Windows:

1. Download Google’s Platform Tools and unpack it into the C:\adb folder.
2. On your phone, turn on: Settings → About Phone → MIUI version (click 7 times to activate Developer Mode). Settings → Additional → Developer → Debugging via USB.

File transfer

Win + R

cmd

cd C:\adb


adb devices

If the device is displayed, enter:

adb shell


su




find /storage/emulated/0/ -name".jpg" -o -name".png" > /sdcard/recovered_files.txt

Internal memory.

recovered_files.txt

adb pull /storage/emulated/0/DCIM/MIUI/Camera/IMG_2023*.jpg C:\recovered_photos\

Critical: Don't extract photos directly to your phone, it can overwrite deleted data. Always copy them to an external drive.

5. Recovery Programs (DiskDigger, EaseUS MobiSaver)

If previous methods have failed, then you have to use specialized tools that scan the phone's memory at a low level and can find files even after cleaning the cart.

• 🛠️ DiskDigger – works without root rights, finds JPG, PNG, RAW. Free version shows preview, to save you need a Pro version (~$15).
• 🔍 EaseUS MobiSaver – Supports Recovery from SD-There's a trial mode.
• 📱 GT Recovery (for Android) - requires root, but is free. Finds even highly fragmented files.

Step-by-step instructions for DiskDigger:

1. Download and install the program on PC (official site).
2. Connect the phone in File Transfer (MTP) mode.
3. In the program, select your Xiaomi drive (usually Internal Storage).
4. Run a full scan (may take 1-2 hours).
5. After completion, mark the photos you need and press Recover (save them to PC).

Importantly, the longer you use your phone after deleting it, the less likely you are to recover, and programs look for fragments of files, and if they have been overwritten, you can't return photos.

DiskDigger|EaseUS MobiSaver|GT Recovery|Recuva|Another |Not used-->

6. Appeal to the service center (extreme case)

If the photos are critical (such as documents or unique pictures) and self-recovery did not help, you can contact the service center.

What you need to know:

• 💰 Cost of service: from 3 000 to 15 000 rubles (depending on the model and complexity).
• ⏳ Timeline: 1-3 day (in some cases up to a week).
• 🔒 Privacy: Choose trusted data-licensed centers.

Where to look for service:

1. Official Xiaomi centers (list on the site mi.com).
2. Data recovery laboratories (e.g. HDD Recovery, Data Recovery)
3. Workshops with reviews on Yandex.Maps or 2GIS (rating above 4.5).

⚠️ Warning: Before contacting the service, do not update the firmware or reset the phone to factory settings. This can permanently delete the remaining files.

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Chip recovery is the only way to recover data after complete formatting or physical memory damage, but it does not guarantee 100% results: the more modern the phone, the more complex the process (due to the encryption of data at the iron level).

Frequent Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Many Xiaomi users lose their chances of recovery due to errors, and this is what you can’t do after you delete photos:

• 📸 Taking new pictures – they overwrite deleted files.
• 🔄 Update firmware – this cleans the cache and temporary files.
• 🧹 Clean Memory Through Settings → Memory.
• 🔌 Connecting your phone to charge without needing – background processes can overwrite data.

What to do instead:

• ✈️ Put your phone in flight mode – it will stop background activity.
• 🛑 Do not install new applications.
• 💾 Copy important data (contacts, messages) to another medium.

If you've already made one of these mistakes, don't despair: try methods with ADB or recovery software. The odds are diminishing, but they don't disappear completely.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions