Recovering Deleted Videos on Xiaomi Phone: From Recycle Bin to Deep Scanning

Deleting an important video on a Xiaomi smartphone is a familiar situation. Whether you accidentally clicked Delete, formatted your memory card, or lost files after resetting your settings, there is almost always a chance of recovery, the main thing is to act quickly and correctly so as not to overwrite deleted data with new files.

In this article, we will discuss all the current ways to return videos on Redmi devices, POCO and Mi - from standard functions MIUI We will focus on the nuances of working with internal memory and SD-And we'll also warn you against common bugs that reduce your chances of success to zero, and if you've deleted a video recently (within 30 days), you've got a better than 90 percent chance of recovering it, provided you haven't written new files to your device.

1.Basket check MIUI: first step in recovery

Modern versions of MIUI 12 and later have a built-in bin that temporarily includes deleted files, which is the easiest way to return a video if it has been no more than 15-30 days since it was deleted (depending on the model and firmware version).

To check the basket:

• 📁 Open the Files app** (Files by Google or standard) MIUI File Manager).

⚠️ Note: If the cart is empty, it does not mean that the video is lost forever.The files could have been deleted by by bypassing the cart (for example, through the Gallery). → Remove without baskets or automatically cleaned after expiration of storage period.

2. Recovery through cloud services: Mi Cloud and Google Photos

If your Xiaomi has cloud sync enabled, the chances of returning video are much higher. Two key services — Mi Cloud (a Xiaomi branded cloud) and Google Photos — automatically save copies of media files.

How to check out Mi Cloud:

1. Open your Settings → Mi Account → Mi Cloud
2. Check if the synchronization of the Gallery or Photos is enabled.
3. Go to i.mi.com, log in and find the Gallery section.
4. Use the date filter to find the deleted video.

How to check out Google Photos:

• 🌐 Open Google Photos in your browser or app.
• 🔍 Enter the title of the video or select the date of shooting.
• 🗑️ Check the Recycle Bin section (files are stored there for 60 days).

⚠️ Note: If the video was shot in Incognito mode (in some models) POCO) or saved to a protected folder MIUI, It might not be synchronized with the cloud, so if you do that, move on to local recovery methods.

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If the video was removed from SD-maps, check the cloud manually: sometimes files from external drives do not sync automatically. Try to connect the card to another device and start syncing again.

3: PC usage: Recovery via DiskDigger and Recuva

If you don't find video in the cart and the cloud, you'll need to connect your smartphone to your computer, and you'll need reanimation software like DiskDigger or Recuva, which scans the device's memory at a low level and finds traces of deleted files.

Step-by-step instructions for DiskDigger:

1. Download and install DiskDigger (Windows version).
2. Connect Xiaomi to your PC in File Transfer (MTP) mode.
3. In the program, select your smartphone’s drive (usually Internal Storage or model name).
4. Start a full scan (Deep Scan) – it will take from 30 minutes to several hours.
5. After scanning, filter the results by expanding.mp4,.mov or.3gp.
6. Select the desired files and press Recover, specifying the folder to save to the PC.

Features of working with Recuva:

• 🔹 Suitable for recovery from SD-card (insert the card in the card reader).
• 🔹 In the scanning settings, tick the box Deep analysis.
• 🔹 If the video is found but not played, try to restore it to.raw and convert it through the video. VLC Media Player.

⚠️ Warning: Never save recovered files back to your smartphone or SD-The card from which they were deleted, which will overwrite the data and make it impossible to recover other files.

Disable Automatic Cloud Synchronization|Charge your smartphone at least 50%|Use the original USB-cable|Do not connect other devices to the same PC port|Create a backup of current files-->

4.Recovery through ADB: for power users

If standard methods don’t work, you can try extracting videos via Android Debug Bridge (ADB), which requires developer mode on and is suitable for users familiar with the command line.

Instructions:

1. Activate Developer Mode on Xiaomi: Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (click 7 times)
2. Enable USB debugging in Settings → Additional → For developers.
3. Connect your phone to your PC and install ADB Tools.
4. Open the command line (Windows) or terminal (macOS/Linux) and execute: adb devices (you should display your device).
5. Backup the data section: adb backup -f backup.ab -apk -obb -shared -all -system On the phone confirm the creation of the backup (do not set a password).
6. Use utilities like Android Backup Extractor to extract files from backup.ab.

⚠️ Attention: Method C ADB It does not guarantee 100% video recovery, as the backup is created in a compressed form and may not include all media files.+) Requires unlocking of the bootloader, which leads to data reset.

5. Recovery from damage SD-maps: nuances and risks

If the video was stored on a microSD card and it was formatted or damaged, you'd need special tools, SD-Cards are more likely to suffer physical damage, but the chances of recovery are higher with the right approach.

Algorithm of action:

1. Remove the card from your phone and do not write new data to it.
2. Connect the card to your PC via a card reader (don’t use your phone as an intermediary!).
3. Run PhotoRec (part of TestDisk): Photorec /d [disk letter] The program scans the map at a low level and recovers files by signatures.
4. For cards with exFAT or NTFS file system, R-Studio (paid, but with demo mode) is suitable.

Common mistakes when working with SD-map:

• 🚫 Using a phone to scan a card (risk of overwriting).
• 🚫 Formatting a map before restoration.
• 🚫 Connecting a card to multiple devices in a row (may cause file system conflicts).

⚠️ Warning: If the card is making extraneous sounds (clicks, squeaks) or getting hot, don't try to recover the data yourself, these are signs of physical damage. Further reading attempts may aggravate the situation, ACE Lab or Kroll Ontrack).

6. Professional services: when nothing helps

If all of these methods fail, the last option is to go to the professionals.

• 💥 The video was removed more than 6 months ago.
• 💥 The phone’s internal memory is damaged (for example, after falling or getting moisture).
• 💥 Files were critically important (wedding, documentary, etc.).

How to choose a reliable service:

• 🔍 Check reviews on independent sites (for example, Otzovic or Yandex.Maps).
• 📄 Check if free testing is available (in most cases, yes).
• 💰 Compare prices: Recovery from the phone costs 5,000–20,000 ₽, s SD-cards - 3,000-10,000 ₽.
• 🛡️ Only contact the company with clean rooms (to open the drives).

Top.-5 services in Russia (according to data on the 2026 year):

1. ACE Data Recovery (Moscow, St. Petersburg) – specializes in mobile devices.
2. DataExtraction (online + offline) – work with Xiaomi on the Qualcomm and Mediatek chipset.
3. Hetman Laboratory (Kyiv, delivery in Russia) – recover data from damaged eMMCs.
4. Flashback Data (Yekaterinburg) – experience with Redmi and POCO.
5. Retrospective (Novosibirsk) - video in HEVC and AV1 format is restored.

⚠️ Please note: Avoid services that are:

• 🚨 Requires advance payment before diagnosis.
• 🚨 100% recovery (this is not possible without analysis).
• 🚨 Using programs like Dr.Fone is a sign of amateurism.

7.Losses prevention: how to avoid problems in the future

The best way to avoid losing a video is to prevent it from being deleted. Here are Xiaomi's proven data protection practices:

Automatic backup:

• ☁️ Set up autosynchronization with Google Photos (Settings) → Backup and synchronization).
• ☁️ Enable reservation in Mi Cloud (free 5GB, for 149) ₽/mos - 200 GB).
• 💾 Use local reservations on PCs through Mi PC Suite.

Protection against accidental removal:

• 🔒 Create a secure folder in MIUI (readily MIUI 13+):
• 📛 Set a password to a folder with important videos (for example, through File Hide Expert).
• 🛡️ Turn off automatic cart cleaning: Settings → Warehouse → Autocleaning → Basket.

Work with SD-map:

• 📱 Format the card only via phone: Settings → Warehouse → Memory map → Formatting as an internal.
• 🔄 Regularly copy data from the card to the PC (once every 1-2 months).
• 🚫 Do not remove the card while recording the video (risk of file system damage).

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Even if the video is permanently deleted, the frame (preview) can be saved in the MIUI database. Try to find it through the Gallery app → Albums → Screenshots and Screen Recordings or use a keyword search (for example, “sea” if the video was shot on the beach).

FAQ: Frequent questions about video recovery on Xiaomi