Recovery photos on Xiaomi Redmi 9: from the cart to deep scan

Xiaomi Redmi 9 is one of the most popular budget smartphones, but even it is not immune to accidental removal of photos. You could erase photos through the gallery, reset your phone to factory settings or lose data after updating MIUI. Fortunately, to return lost photos is real – the main thing is to act quickly and correctly.

In this article, we will discuss all the current methods of recovery, from standard MIUI tools to professional utilities, and pay special attention to the nuances of working with Redmi 9: where temporary files are stored, how to circumvent system limitations and what to do if the phone is not determined by a computer, and you will learn in which cases recovery is impossible - and how to avoid data loss in the future.

1.Check the basket at MIUI Gallery

The first thing you need to do is to look in the gallery basket, and in MIUI, deleted photos are not erased immediately, but are sent to a temporary storage facility for up to 30 days, which works if you manually delete them through the standard Gallery app.

How to open the basket:

• 📱 Open the Gallery app on Redmi 9.
• 🗑️ Slip on three dots in the upper right corner → pick the basket.
• 🔍 Find the right photos, click on them. → Restore.

If the cart is empty or the icon is not on the menu, then:

• 🚫 Photos taken down long ago (more than 30 days ago).
• 🧹 You cleaned the basket manually through Settings → Warehouse → Cleanup.
• 🔄 Photos erased after resetting the phone or firmware.

⚠️ Attention: B MIUI 12/13 The shopping cart can be hidden if you use a third-party gallery (like Google Photos).Try to return the standard app: Settings → Annexes → Smart choice. → gallery → Xiaomi Gallery.

2. Restore via Google Photos (if synchronized)

If your Redmi 9 is autosynchronized with Google Photos, the chances of returning photos are very high. the service stores backups of photos until you manually delete them from the cloud. Even after resetting your phone or replacing your memory card, photos will remain in your account.

How to check and restore:

1. Open the Google Photos app (if removed, install from the Play Market).
2. Sign in with the same Google account that was linked to your phone.
3. Go to the Library → Recycle Bin (photos are stored there for 60 days).
4. To restore all photos: click on the avatar → Settings → Restore.

If the cart is empty, check the Archive or search by date.

• 🔄 Photos removed from Google Photos over 60 days ago cannot be restored.
• 📁 Images taken in mode HDR+ Portrait or Portrait can be saved in separate folders.
• 💾 If the cloud is out of place, sync may have stopped in advance.

💡

To avoid losing photos in the future, turn on the option “Original Backup” in Google Photos (if you have enough space in your account). → Backup and synchronization.

3.Use the file manager to find hidden copies

MIUI sometimes creates temporary copies of photos in hidden folders, especially if you edited pictures or used functions like Duplicate or Collage, which can remain even after the originals are deleted.

Where to look:

How to access hidden folders:

1. Install a file manager with root support (such as FX Explorer or Solid Explorer).
2. Enable the display of hidden files: Settings → Show hidden files.
3. Follow these paths and check the contents.

⚠️ Note: Do not rename or move files from folders DCIM or MIUI — This can disrupt the gallery, so you can copy the photos you find into a separate directory, for example, /Pictures/Recovered.

4. Connect Redmi 9 to your computer and use recovery software

If you don't find the photos in the cart or the cloud, you'll need to connect Redmi 9 to your PC and scan the memory with specialized utilities, which works even after you reset your phone, but the effectiveness depends on how much data was written over the deleted photos.

The best recovery programs:

• 🖥️ Recuva (free, simple, supportive) FAT32/exFAT — Redmi memory card formats 9).
• 🛠️ EaseUS Data Recovery (paid but with high recovery percentage) RAW-photo).
• 📱 DiskDigger (there is a version for Android, runs without root, but with restrictions).

Step-by-step instructions for Recuva:

1. Connect Redmi 9 to your computer via USB, select File Transfer (MTP) mode.
2. Start Recuva, select the type of Image files.
3. Specify the disk (if the photos were on the memory card, select it, if in internal memory, select Redmi 9 as the device).
4. Press Analysis, wait until it is completed (may take 1-3 hours).
5. View the files found, mark the necessary ones and click Restore.

Important nuances:

• 🔌 If your phone is not defined as a storage device, try another cable or port. USB 2.0 (sometimes) USB 3.0 is incompatible with MTP).
• 📛 Scanning internal memory may require unlocking the bootloader and root rights.
• 🚫 Do not save the recovered photos to the same disk from which the scan is being conducted!

💡

The faster you start recovering from deletion, the better the chances of returning a photo, and each new photo, video, or app you install reduces the chance of a successful recovery by 10-20%.

5. Recovery after reset to factory settings

If you did a hard reset on Redmi 9, the standard methods won't work -- the data in the internal memory is overwritten.

Option 1: Restore through MIUI backup

If you created a backup before resetting to Settings → Additional → Backup, you can try to return the data:

1. Go to Settings → About phone, tap 7 times on the MIUI version to activate Developer Mode.
2. Return to Additional → Backup and Reset → Local Backup.
3. Select the last backup (if any) and click Restore.

Option 2: Deep scanning via PC (power users only)

If you don't have a backup, the only way you can do that is to use ADB and specialized tools like Dr.Fone or Tenorshare UltData, which can scan your internal memory even after you've reset, but:

• 🔓 Requires an unlocked bootloader and root rights.
• 💰 Most of the features are paid (the free version will show a preview, but will not restore files).
• ⏳ The process can take 5-10 hours.

⚠️ Note: Once the bootloader is unlocked, the Redmi 9 resets the data encryption and all user files (including photos) are erased. This method is only suitable if you have already done a reset and want to scan the "clean" memory for the data residue.

6.Prevention: How to avoid loss of photos in the future

In order not to look for ways to restore, it is enough to follow simple rules:

Automatic backup:

• ☁️ Set up autosynchronization in Google Photos or Mi Cloud (in Settings) → Accounts. → Mi Cloud → gallery).
• 💾 Regularly copy the photo to your PC or external disk via MTP or FTP-server, FX File Explorer).

Memory card work:

• 📱 B Settings → Store set the photo saving by default on SD-map.
• 🔄 Periodically format your memory card via your phone (not your PC) to avoid file system errors.

Additional measures:

• 🛡️ Install a data protection application, such as Dumpster (the equivalent of a shopping cart for all files).
• 📌 Before the update MIUI or reset your phone backup through Settings → Additionally. → Backup.

💡

If you take pictures often, Google Photos to enable the option "Automatic Album Creation" so you can quickly find snapshots of events (e.g., "Trip to the Mountains - July 2023").

FAQ: Frequent questions about photo recovery on Redmi 9