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

Removing photos from a Xiaomi smartphone is one of the most painful mistakes for users. Whether you accidentally clicked Delete Everything in a gallery, formatted a memory card or lost pictures after resetting your settings, the chances of recovery are almost always there, the main thing is to act quickly and correctly.

In this article, we will explore all the possible ways to return deleted photos on Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO devices, from standard MIUI features to professional tools, learn how file storage mechanisms work, why some methods work only in the first hours after deleting, and what to do if photos are lost after a system update, and we will also reveal the hidden recovery mode in MIUI 14/15, which is not written in the official documentation.

Importantly, the effectiveness of the methods depends on whether the memory was recorded after deleting, the less you use your phone, the better the chances of success, and let's start with the simplest solutions and gradually move on to the complex ones.

1.A check of the basket at MIUI Gallery

The first thing you need to do is to look into the built-in Recycle Bin of the Gallery app, where in MIUI, deleted photos are not erased immediately, but are placed in a temporary storage facility where they are stored for 7 to 30 days (depending on the model and firmware version).

How to find the basket:

• 📱 Open the Gallery app (icon with multi-colored squares).
• 🗑️ Slip on three dots in the upper right corner → Select the Recycle Bin (or Recently Deleted on New Versions).
• 🔍 Scroll through the list and find the photos you want. Hold your finger on the image to highlight a few files.
• ↩️ Click Restore (down arrow icon) Photos return to the original folder.

⚠️ Note: If you have manually cleaned the cart or used features like Memory Optimization in Settings → Memory, files could be permanently deleted, and the bin doesn't work for photos deleted from the external one. SD-cards - they're erased immediately.

💡

On some models (such as the Xiaomi 13 Pro or Redmi Note 12), the shopping cart is hidden. To see it, update the Gallery app via Google Play or enable the system folder to be displayed in Settings → More

2. Recovery via Mi Cloud (Xiaomi Cloud)

If your Xiaomi has enabled sync with Mi Cloud, the chances of returning photos are very high. The cloud keeps backup photos in their original quality, and they can be downloaded even after you delete them from your phone.

Instructions for remediation:

1. 🌐 Go to i.mi.com from your computer or phone (browser, not app, preferably).
2. 🔑 Sign in with the same Mi Account you used on your smartphone.
3. 📂 Select the Gallery section → Cart (or All photos if the basket is empty).
4. 🖼️ Find the pictures you want and click Restore. They'll appear in the Mi Cloud folder on your phone.

🔹 Features of working with Mi Cloud:

• 📅 Photos are stored in the cloud for 30 days after deletion (unless you manually cleaned the cart).
• 📱 If your phone has been reset, link it to the same Mi Account before you recover.
• 💾 Free storage - 5 GB. If the place is over, the photos may not be synchronized.

⚠️ Note: If you changed your Mi Account password or deleted your account from your phone, access to cloud copies may be lost, in which case try to restore access via account.xiaomi.com from your linked email or phone number.

3. Use of Google Photos (if backup was enabled)

Many Xiaomi users don’t even know that their photos are automatically uploaded to Google Photos – if this feature has been activated.

Open the Google Photos app (if not, install it from Play Market). Go to Library → Recycle Bin. Photos are stored there for 60 days - twice as long as in Mi Cloud.

How to restore:

• 🔍 In Google Photos, find the basket folder or search by date.
• 📤 Select the photos and click Restore (they will return to the main gallery).
• 💾 If the basket is empty, check the folder Archive - sometimes photos are moved there.

🔹 Important: Google Photos compresses photos for free storage (quality High). To save the originals, you had to choose the option Original quality (paid after 15 GB).

4.Programs for deep memory scanning

If you don't find the photos in the baskets and the clouds, you'll have to use specialized tools to scan your internal memory or your internal memory. SD-file system level map and recover deleted data – but only if their place on the disk was not overwritten.

📌 Top.-3 Xiaomi:

🛠️ Step-by-step instructions for DiskDigger (most effective for Xiaomi):

1. 📱 Install DiskDigger from Play Market (requires Android 5.0)+).
2. 🔍 Run a full scan (not fast!) it will take 10 to 30 minutes.
3. 🖼️ After scanning, tick the desired photos and click Recover.
4. 💾 Save files to a memory card or to the cloud – not to internal memory, so as not to overwrite data!

⚠️ Note: To scan internal memory (not SD-DiskDigger requires Root rights. If they are not available, the program will only see low-quality thumbnails. Getting Root on Xiaomi will void the warranty and may result in Mi Account being blocked!

Disable Wi-Fi and Mobile Data

Charge your phone at least 50%

Not installing new applications

Use the original USB-cable (for PC methods)-->

5. Hidden MIUI features: Recovery through backups

Xiaomi hides from users several recovery tools that can be activated through developer mode or service codes, one of which is Local Backup, which is created automatically when you update your system.

How to find backup copies:

1. 📁 Connect your phone to your PC and open internal memory through my computer.
2. 🔍 Go to the folder. MIUI → backup → AllBackup.
3. 📄 Find files with the.mbk extension (these are backup archives).
4. 🛠️ Use the Mi program to extract photos. PC Suite (official utility from Xiaomi).

🔹 Alternative Method (for Advanced Persons):

If you have Root, you can manually extract photos from /data/media/0/DCIM/.thumbnails, which sometimes leaves thumbnails even after you delete the originals. Use a file manager with superuser rights (e.g., Root Explorer).

💡

Local backups in MIUI are created automatically once a week, but only store thumbnails of photos. Full copies are made only with manual use in Settings → About Phone → Backup.

6. Recovery after resetting settings or firmware

If the photos are lost after hard reset or flashing, the chances of returning depend on whether the internal memory was formatted. In MIUI, when reset via Settings → Additional → Reset, the data is not completely erased – it can be restored by programs like Dr.Fone or Tenorshare UltData.

🔧 Algorithm of action:

1. 🛑 Stop using your phone immediately – each new memory record reduces your chances of recovery.
2. 💻 Connect Xiaomi to your PC and scan internal memory via Dr.Fone (select Android Data Recovery Mode).
3. 🔍 In the scan results, look for folders. DCIM Pictures, which can be without names, IMG_20230515_123456.jpg).
4. 💾 Save Recovered Files on PC – Not on Phone!

⚠️ Note: If the reset was performed via Fastboot (fastboot erase userdata command), the data is erased at a low level and its recovery is almost impossible without professional equipment (cost from 5 000 USD). ₽).

🔹 What to do if nothing helps:

• 📞 Contact Xiaomi Service Center – they have access to branded recovery utilities (for example, Mi Flash Pro).
• 💽 Try extracting the memory chip and connecting it to the programmer (this is done in data recovery laboratories).
• 🔄 Check other devices – photos may have been synced to a tablet or second phone via the same Mi Account.

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

To avoid the problem of deleted photos, set up Xiaomi according to these rules:

🔹 Cloud backups:

• ☁️ Enable autosynchronization in Mi Cloud (Settings) → Xiaomi account → Mi Cloud → gallery).
• 📤 In Google Photos, activate Backup and Sync (Source quality if the location allows).

🔹 Local copies:

• 💾 Once a month, copy a photo to a PC or external disk via a computer. MIUI+ (branded utility from Xiaomi).
• 📁 Use the folder. DCIM → Camera is only for fresh shots, and move important photos to Pictures immediately. → Archives.

🔹 Gallery settings:

• 🗑️ Increase the storage time in the basket: Gallery → Settings → Basket → Storage period (maximum - 60 days).
• 🔒 Turn off memory optimization in Settings → Memory – It can automatically delete old photos.

💡

Create a hidden folder for the most important photos: in the Gallery, highlight the photos → More → Hide. They will disappear from the main view, but remain in the.hidden folder (available through the file manager).

FAQ: Frequent questions about photo recovery on Xiaomi