Recovery of deleted photos on Xiaomi Redmi Note 7: from the cart to deep scanning

Why are the photos missing from the Redmi Note 7 and can they be returned?

Deleting photos on the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 is a situation that almost every user faces. The reasons for losing photos vary from accidentally clicking Delete Everything in the gallery to crashing firmware after the MIUI 12/13 update. Fortunately, 80 percent of the time, files are recoverable — they don't disappear instantly from internal memory, but are marked by the system as "free to overwrite." The main thing is to act quickly before new data takes its place.

The Redmi Note 7 (codename lavender) features a hybrid memory called eMMC 5.1 or UFS 2.1 (depending on version), which affects the write speed and the chances of recovery. For example, on UFS models, overwriting is faster, so the time span to save a photo is reduced to 1-2 days. Another nuance: if you used a microSD card in a hybrid SIM slot, the recovery algorithm will be different, as we will discuss below.

Before you start the instructions, answer two key questions:

1. Are the photos removed from the MIUI gallery or through the file manager?
2. Has synced with Mi Cloud or Google Photos been enabled?

So, if you're synchronizing, for example, you can recover images in 5 minutes through the cloud, and if you're manually deleted without a backup, you'll need a deep memory scan.

Method 1: Checking the basket in the MIUI Gallery

The first thing you need to do is to look in the MIUI cart. Unlike standard Android, the Xiaomi shell saves deleted photos in a separate section for 30 days.

1. Open the Gallery app (an icon with colored squares).
2. Slip on three horizontal lines in the lower right corner (menu).
3. Select the basket item (urn icon).
4. Find the right photos, hold your finger in the picture to highlight, then click Restore.

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

• 🔹 Photos deleted more than a month ago - they were automatically cleared.
• 🔹 You have used a third-party file manager (for example, ES Conductor) that bypasses the basket MIUI.
• 🔹 The phone disabled the function of the cart in the settings of the gallery (Gallery settings) → Basket → Off.).

On the Redmi Note 7 with MIUI 10-12 firmware, the basket is stable, but in MIUI 13+, bugs sometimes occur - for example, photos disappear from the cart before 30 days.

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If the cart doesn’t open or gives an error, try clearing the gallery cache: Settings → Applications → Application Management → Gallery → Storage → Clear the cache.

Method 2: Recovery with Mi Cloud or Google Photos

If Redmi Note 7 has enabled cloud sync, the chances of returning a photo are close to 100%.

• 🔵 Mi Cloud – a proprietary cloud with 5 GB of free space.
• 🟡 Google Photos – If you used it as your primary storage.

Instructions for Mi Cloud:

1. Go to i.mi.com and log in to the same Mi Account as you do on your phone.
2. Open the Gallery → Basket section (on the left menu).
3. Select the desired photos and click Restore.

Nuances:

• 🔹 In Mi Cloud, the Recycle Bin stores files for 60 days (as opposed to 30 days in the local gallery).
• 🔹 If photos were uploaded to albums, check the Archive section - sometimes the pictures are moved there.
• 🔹 On the Redmi Note 7 with MIUI 11 and below sync may have been disabled by default – check in Settings → Mi Account → Mi Cloud → gallery.

Instructions for Google Photos:

1. Open the Google Photos app or go to photos.google.com.
2. In the menu (three lines), select the basket.
3. Find a photo and click Restore.

Google Photos has a 60-day shopping cart, but there's a pitfall: if you used the Free Space feature, the original photos could have been deleted from your phone after uploading to the cloud, and you can't restore them directly to your device, just download them again.

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If the photos are synchronized with the cloud, you can restore them even after a complete reset of the phone – the main thing is to remember the account data.

Method 3: Programs for deep memory scanning

If the cart is empty and the cloud sync is disabled, you just have to scan the phone's internal memory, and you need a recovery software, and importantly, don't install it on the Redmi Note 7 itself, because it can overwrite deleted files. Use the computer!

The best tools for Xiaomi Redmi Note 7:

Step-by-step instructions for DiskDigger (recommended for Redmi Note 7):

1. Connect your phone to your PC through USB-cable (file transfer mode).

On the Redmi Note 7 with Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chip and eMMC 5.1 memory, the chances of recovery are higher than on models with UFS 2.1, since the eMMC controller is slower to overwrite blocks. If the program finds photos, but they open with artifacts (blurring, stripes), this means that some of the data has already been overwritten.

Disable Wi-Fi and mobile data on your phone|Charge your phone at least 50 times%|Use the original USB-cable|Do not connect your phone to other devices during scanning-->

Method 4: Recovery with root access (for advanced)

If standard methods don't work, the last option is to get root permissions, which will allow programs to scan system partitions where traces of deleted photos may remain, but on the Redmi Note 7, the process has nuances:

• 🔹 The phone should be on firmware. MIUI 10–12 (on MIUI 13/14 loader unlocking is more difficult).
• 🔹 You will need to unlock Bootloader through the official Xiaomi website (the wait can take up to 7 days).
• 🔹 After rooting, some features (such as Mi Pay or Widevine) L1 Netflix will stop working.

Instructions:

1. Unlock OEM Unlock in the developer settings (Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (Tap 7 times) → Additional → For Developers → Unlock OEM).
2. Connect your phone to your PC, install ADB drivers, and execute the command: fastboot oem unlock
3. Install Magisk to manage root rights.
4. Run DiskDigger or PhotoRec with the Superuser option.

After root-access scanning, the chances of finding a photo increase to 60-70%, but the risks are high:

⚠️ Warning: Improper unlocking the bootloader can lead to a blink (completely inoperable) of the phone.On the Redmi Note 7 with firmware MIUI 13+ And the Anti-Rollback patch is a breech chance ~15% If you are not sure of your actions, contact the service center.

Method 5: Recovery from a microSD card

If the photos were stored on a microSD card in a Redmi Note 7 hybrid slot, the recovery algorithm is different. The memory cards have their own controller, and the data on them is overwritten more slowly than in internal memory.

The best microSD recovery software:

• 🔹 R-Studio - Supports FAT32/exFAT, card-y 256 GB.
• 🔹 TestDisk – a free utility with a console interface (difficult for beginners).
• 🔹 Wondershare Recoverit is a simple interface, but a paid license.

Step-by-step:

1. Remove the card from your phone and connect it to your PC via a card reader.
2. Start R-Studio, select your map and start scanning.
3. After searching, filter the files by extensions:.jpg,.png,.dng (RAW-photo).
4. Save the recovered photos to your PC hard drive.

If the card is defined as RAW or if it gives a “No access” error, it can mean:

• 🔹 File system corruption – try formatting the card (data will be lost!) and recovering data via TestDisk.
• 🔹 Physical damage – if the card is not detected on any device, it can be tried to restore in the laboratory (cost from 2 thousand rubles.).

Redmi Note 7 often uses SanDisk or Kingston class cards A1. Their controllers are well recoverable, but if the card was encrypted through MIUI (Option Encrypt SD-card, it is impossible to return data without a password.

What do you do if nothing helps?

If all methods are exhausted, and the photos are not restored, two options remain:

1. Contact the laboratory – specialists can remove the memory dump from the chip eMMC/UFS And then we can restore the data to the binary code level. 5 before 15 In Moscow, we recommend Data Recovery Lab or Hetman Recovery.
2. Try alternative methods: 🔹 Check backups in Google Drive (Backup section). 🔹 If the photos were sent to instant messengers (Telegram, WhatsApp), check the folders Telegram Images or WhatsApp Media on your phone. 🔹 Use the thumbnail cache: sometimes in a folder /data/data/com.miui.gallery/cache Previews of deleted photos (root needed).

If the photos were of high value (such as family pictures or documents), don't skimp on professional recovery, and the chance of success in the lab is up to 90%, even if the phone is not turned on or has been formatted.

⚠️ Note: Redmi Note 7 with firmware MIUI 14 and later Xiaomi implemented the function “Secure deletion”, which overwrites deleted files by zeros. If you saw the notification “Files deleted safely” – recovery is impossible.

FAQ: Frequent questions about photo recovery on Redmi Note 7