How to return deleted photos on Xiaomi phone: from cart to deep scan

Deleted important photos from Xiaomi Redmi, POCO or Mi — and now you don't know how to get them back? The situation is familiar to many: accidentally tapping, resetting or even a virus could erase valuable photos. Fortunately, Android smartphone owners have several ways to recover deleted photos — from simple embedded tools to advanced PC programs.

In this article, we’ll look at 5 proven methods that work on most Xiaomi models (including the Redmi Note 12, POCO X5, Mi 11, and others). Importantly, the chances of success depend on how long it has been since you deleted and whether you used your phone after you lost files. The faster you act, the more likely you are to return the images in their original quality.

1.Check the basket at Xiaomi Gallery

Many users don’t know that the standard MIUI gallery has a built-in shopping cart where photos are stored 30 days after being deleted, the first and easiest way to return files without third-party software.

How to check:

• 📱 Open the Gallery app (or Photos on some models).
• 🗑️ Slip on three dots in the upper right corner → pick the basket.
• 🔍 View the list of deleted files. Photo marked Remains: 25 days still recoverable.
• 🔄 Select the right pictures. → press Restore.

If the cart is empty or files are missing, move on to the next method. Note: the cart is cleared automatically after 30 days, as well as manually cleaning the gallery cache or resetting the phone.

2. Restore via Google Photos (if synchronized)

If your Xiaomi has autosynchronization enabled with Google Photos, the chances of returning photos are significantly higher.The service saves copies of all uploaded photos, even if the originals are deleted from the phone.

Instructions:

• 🌐 Open photos.google.com in your browser or run the Google Photos app.
• 🔍 In the menu (three lines at the top), select the Recycle Bin. Here files are stored for 60 days.
• 📤 Select the right photos → Click Restore. They'll go back to the main gallery.
• 💾 If the basket is empty, check the Archive folder or search by date.

⚠️ Note: If you have manually deleted a photo from Google Photos or disabled sync before deleting, this method will not work. Also check if the storage limit in Google Account is exceeded - no new files are saved when overflowing.

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In the settings of Google Photos (Settings → Backup and Synchronization), you can enable automatic saving of photos in the original quality (free to 15 GB) or high quality (unlimited for compressed images).

3. Use of recovery applications (without root)

If previous methods didn’t work, it’s time to move to specialized utilities, and Xiaomi will use apps that scan internal memory for traces of deleted files, and importantly, don’t install programs on the same memory partition where the photos were stored, which will reduce the chances of recovery.

Top.-3 tested applications:

Step-by-step instructions for DiskDigger:

1. Download the app from Google Play.
2. Start and select Start basic photo scanning.
3. Wait until the process is completed (it can take 10–30 minutes).
4. Check the photos found by ticks → click Restore.
5. Save files to another medium (SD-map or cloud to avoid overwriting data.

Charge your phone at least 50%|Connect to Wi-Fi (scanning wastes a lot of data)|Do not install new applications before recovery|Use it. SD-map-->

⚠️ Warning: If your phone makes an error No memory access, try it:

• 🔧 Permits to Settings → Annexes → DiskDigger → Permits.
• 🔄 Reset the device.
• 📱 Connect your phone to your PC and use Recuva (instructions in the next section).

4. Computer recovery (deep scan)

For the fullest recovery, it is better to connect Xiaomi to a PC and use professional utilities like Recuva, EaseUS Data Recovery or PhotoRec. These programs scan memory at a low level and find files even after formatting.

Instructions for Recuva:

1. Download and install Recuva on your computer.
2. Connect Xiaomi over USB in File Transfer (MTP) mode.
3. Start Recuva → select the type of Image files.
4. Specify your phone’s drive (usually a removable drive with a letter like F:).
5. Click Analysis → wait until it is completed (may take several hours).
6. Tag the photos found (green circle – high chances of recovery) → click Restore.

Critical: If the phone is defined as a "Portable Device" rather than a disk, use PhotoRec (part of TestDisk), which works even with damaged partitions, but requires command line knowledge.

The command to run the scan in PhotoRec (after connecting the phone):

photorec /d D:\recovered /c /f jpg,png,heic

Where D:\recovered is a folder on the PC to save files.

5.Recovery through MIUI backups

If you've ever backed up through the built-in MIUI feature, the chances of returning photos remain even after you reset your phone.The system saves copies to the Mi Cloud cloud or to local storage.

How to restore:

1. Go to Settings → About Phone → Backup and Reset.
2. Choose Local Backups or Mi Cloud (if you have a copy in the cloud).
3. Find the desired copy by date → click Restore.
4. Select only the Gallery (so as not to overwrite other data).

⚠️ Note: Restore from backup will overwrite the current data in the gallery. If you take new photos after you create a copy, they may disappear. Also note that free storage in the Mi Cloud is limited to 5 GB - if the limit is exceeded, old copies are deleted.

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

So, to avoid looking for ways to recover, it is better to protect your data in advance. Here are 5 rules that will save your photos:

• ☁️ Automatic Sync: Enable backup in Google Photos (Settings) → Backup and sync and Mi Cloud.
• 📁 Manual copies: Once a month, transfer important photos to your PC or external drive through Explorer MIUI.
• 🔄 Recycle Bin: Install Dumpster or Recycle Bin – they save deleted files in a separate folder.
• 🚫 Caution with cleaning: Do not use memory cleaners like Clean Master – they often delete files irrevocably.
• 🔧 Turn off autocleaning: In Settings → Warehouse → Cleaning disable the option Automatic cleaning of gallery cache.

If you take pictures often, consider buying. SD-Cards (we recommend SanDisk Ultra or Samsung) EVO). Set up the camera to save pictures on the memory card – so they will not disappear when resetting the phone.

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The most reliable way to protect photos is a combination of cloud redundancy (Google Photos) + Mi Cloud) and local copies on SD-map.

FAQ: Frequent questions about photo recovery on Xiaomi