How to recover deleted photos on Xiaomi smartphones: from the cart to deep scanning

Deleting photos from a smartphone is one of the most frustrating situations for a user, especially when it comes to valuable footage: family photos, documents or unique moments that can not be restored. Fortunately, Xiaomi owners (including the Redmi, POCO and Black Shark models) have several ways to recover lost files, from standard MIUI features to specialized programs.

In this article, we'll look at all the current recovery techniques, including shopping carts, cloud services, PC connectivity, and even manual memory scanning. Importantly, success depends on how fast you start — the fewer memory operations you have after deleting, the better the chances of a photo being returned. Don't panic: 80 percent of the time, files can be returned if you follow the right sequence.

Note: instructions are suitable for all modern Xiaomi devices based on MIUI 12-14 and HyperOS, including Xiaomi 13/14, Redmi Note 12/13, POCO F5/X5 and others. For older models (until 2019), some methods may not work due to firmware limitations.

1. Checking the basket in the Xiaomi Gallery

The first thing you need to do is to look into the built-in Gallery application cart, and in MIUI, deleted photos are not erased immediately, but are sent to a temporary storage facility that lasts 15 to 30 days (depending on the model and settings), which is the easiest and fastest way to return files without third-party tools.

How to check the basket:

• 📱 Open the Gallery app (Icon with Camera).
• 🗑️ Slip on three horizontal lines (menu) in the lower right corner.
• 🔍 Select Recycle Bin (or Recently Deleted in New HyperOS Versions).
• ✅ Click on the desired photo, then select Restore.

If the cart is empty or there is no photo, move on to the next method. Note: the files in the cart take up space in the memory of the phone. If there is little space, the system can automatically clear the cart ahead of schedule.

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To increase the shelf life of deleted photos in the cart, go to the Gallery Settings → Recycle Bin and set a maximum period (up to 60 days on some models).

2. Recovery via Mi Cloud (Xiaomi Cloud)

If your Xiaomi has Mi Cloud sync enabled, the chances of returning photos are much higher. The cloud automatically stores copies of photos (if activated), and they can be downloaded even after you delete them from your phone. Importantly, sync must be enabled before you delete files, otherwise this method will not work.

How to recover photos from Mi Cloud:

• 🌐 Open your browser on your PC or phone and go to i.mi.com.
• 🔑 Sign in with the same Mi Account that is linked to your phone.
• 📂 Go to the Gallery or Photos section.
• 🔍 Find the right pictures and download them back to the device.

If the photo is not in the cloud, check:

• ⚙️ Whether synchronization was enabled: Settings → Xiaomi account → Mi Cloud → gallery.
• 📅 When was the last time you backed up (date is displayed in the cloud settings).
• 📶 Is there enough space in the cloud (free 5 GB, the rest is by subscription).

⚠️ Attention: If you delete photos from both the cart and the cloud, they may be lost forever.

3. Connecting to a computer and scanning memory

If the photos aren't found in the cart and cloud, the next step is to connect Xiaomi to a computer and scan the internal memory with specialized programs, which works because when you delete the files, they're not physically erased, but only marked as free space, and until new data is written on top of them, they can be restored.

The scanning will require:

• 🖥️ Computer with Windows, macOS or Linux.
• 🔌 Cable USB (preferably original).
• 🛠️ Recovery software (recommended by DiskDigger, Recuva or EaseUS Data Recovery).

Step-by-step:

1. Connect your phone to your PC in File Transfer mode (when a notification appears on the Xiaomi screen, select this option).
2. Run a recovery program (e.g., DiskDigger).
3. Select the phone’s internal memory (usually displayed as Xiaomi [disk letter]).
4. Run a deep scan – it will take from 30 minutes to several hours.
5. After the scan is completed, mark the desired photos (usually they are displayed with a prefix). DSC_ or IMG_) And save them on PC.

Enable debugging on USB In Settings → The phone. → Version. MIUI (7 times press)|Install Xiaomi drivers on PC|Charge your phone at least 50 times%|Don't plug others in. USB-device during scanning-->

Important: Don’t save recovered files back to your phone – first transfer them to your PC or cloud to avoid overwriting.

4. Restore via Google Photos (if backed up)

Many Xiaomi users set up automatic photo backup in Google Photos, and if this feature was activated, deleted photos can be returned from Google archives, the main condition was that the copy must be done before deleting files from the phone.

How to check and restore photos:

• 📱 Open the Google Photos app on your phone or go to photos.google.com.
• 🔍 Select the Recycle Bin (Photos are stored there for 60 days).
• 🔄 If the cart is empty, check the Archives section or search by date.
• 💾 Photos can be downloaded back to your device or saved to Google Drive.

If there are no backups in Google Photos, but you are sure that the copy was enabled, check:

• 📅 Date of last synchronization in the application settings.
• 📡 Was there an Internet connection at the time of removal (without a network, copying does not work).
• 📱 Have you manually disabled backup in Google Settings? → Backup.

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Google Photos stores deleted files in the Recycle Bin for 60 days, which is 2 times longer than in the standard Xiaomi Gallery. If less than two months have passed, the chances of recovery remain high.

5. Manual recovery via ADB (for power users)

If the standard methods didn't work, and the photos are critical, you can try to extract them through ADB (Android Debug Bridge), which requires technical skills and is only suitable for users familiar with the command line, the advantage of the method is that it works even if the phone is not rooted, but requires on debugging over USB.

Step-by-step:

1. Enable USB debugging on Xiaomi: Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (click 7 times) Settings → Additional → For Developers → Debugging on USB
2. Connect the phone to the PC and confirm the debugging permission.
3. Download ADB Tools and unpack the archive.
4. Open the command line in the ADB folder and execute the commands: adb devices adb shell su (if the phone is rooted) cd /sdcard/DCIM/ ls -la Here you will see a list of folders with photos. If files are deleted, they can appear as.thumbdata or with a zero size.
5. To recover, use the command: adb pull /sdcard/DCIM/Camera/C:\Backup\ (replace the path with the current one).

⚠️ Attention: Misuse of the right ADB Do not change system files or delete unknown folders. If you are not sure about your actions, contact a specialist.

6. Contact the Xiaomi Service Center

If all of these methods did not help, and photos are critical (for example, they are single copies of documents or unique pictures), the last chance is to contact the official service center Xiaomi.

What you need to know before visiting the service:

• 💰 The cost of data recovery starts from 3 000-5 000 rubles (depending on the complexity of the).
• ⏳ The process can take from 1 to 3 days.
• 🔒 There is no guarantee of successful recovery, it all depends on the state of memory.
• 📱 The phone must be in working order (if not switched on, the chances are lower).

How to find the official Xiaomi service:

• 🌍 Go to the site. mi.com/global/service/.
• 📍 Select a country and city to see the addresses of service centers.
• ☎️ Before visiting, check by phone if they are engaged in data recovery (not all centers provide this service).

The alternative is private data recovery labs (like HddSurgery or Data Recovery) that work with damaged drives and can retrieve data even after formatting, but the cost of such services is much higher (from 10,000 rubles).

How to Avoid Losing Your Photos in the Future: 5 Rules

To avoid the problem of deleted photos again, follow the simple recommendations:

• ☁️ Turn on automatic sync with Mi Cloud or Google Photos. Even if your phone breaks, the photos will remain in the cloud.
• 🔄 Make regular backups to your PC or external drive (once a month).
• 🗑️ Do not clean the cart manually – wait for automatic removal.
• 📁 Store important photos in a separate folder (such as Documents or Archives) and duplicate them.
• 🔋 Watch for memory status: If the phone overheats or brakes frequently, it could indicate a storage problem.

Additional tip: use hidden backup applications like Sync.com or pCloud, which encrypt data and store it in encrypted form, which protects against accidental deletion.

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Create a folder in the gallery called!IMPORTANT (exclamation point will bring it to the top of the list) and transfer all valuable photos there, so you reduce the risk of accidental deletion.

FAQ: Frequent questions about photo recovery on Xiaomi