How to Recover Deleted Photos on Xiaomi Phone: From Standard Methods to Advanced Tools

Did you delete important photos from your Xiaomi phone by mistake or after resetting? Don't panic, the chances of getting them back are much higher than you think. Today's Redmi, POCO or Mi smartphones store data so that even after deleting files remain in the device's memory until they're overwritten with new data. The main thing is to act quickly and correctly.

In this article, we’ll look at all the current ways to recover photos on Xiaomi, from standard MIUI features to professional utilities, how to work with the cart, Mi Cloud cloud storage, and what to do if the photos were deleted long ago, and how to avoid data loss in the future with simple settings.

Important: The effectiveness of the methods depends on how long it has been since you deleted it, and whether you have used features like File Manager → Cleanup or third-party cleaners. If you have already written new files to your device (for example, took photos or installed apps), the chances of recovery are reduced.

1.Check the Recycle Bin at Xiaomi Gallery

Modern versions of MIUI (starting with MIUI 12) automatically send deleted photos to the cart, where they are stored for 30 days before final erasure, the first and easiest way to return the images.

How to check:

• 📱 Open the standard Gallery app (flower icon).
• 🗑️ Slip on three dots in the upper right corner → pick the basket.
• 🔍 View the list of deleted files. Photos are sorted by date of deletion.
• ↩️ Select the desired pictures (long press) → press Restore.

If the cart is empty or you have used the Clean the Recycle Bin function, please move to the following method. Note that in some firmware (e.g., POCO F3 with MIUI 13), the basket may be disabled by default to activate it:

1. Open the Gallery → Settings (cog at the top).
2. Find the basket option and turn it on.

⚠️ Attention: Basket in MIUI It doesn't work for photos that are deleted through the File Manager or third-party apps like Google Photos, in which case files are erased immediately.

2. Recovery via Mi Cloud (Xiaomi Cloud)

If your Xiaomi had Mi Cloud sync enabled, the deleted photos could be saved to the cloud, which works even after the phone is reset to factory settings.

Instructions:

• 🌐 Go to i.mi.com from a computer or other device.
• 🔑 Sign in with the same Mi Account you used on your phone.
• 📁 Select Gallery or Photos (depending on the interface version).
• 🔍 Use the date filter to find the right pictures.
• ↓ Click on the photo → Download them to save them to the device.

If the photo is not in the cloud, check the archive of deleted files:

1. In the web version of Mi Cloud, go to the Recycle Bin (Dumpster Icon).
2. The files are stored here for 15 days – if less time has passed, they can be restored.

⚠️ Note: If you logged out of your Mi Account on your phone before deleting your photo, your sync with the cloud may be interrupted, in which case the Mi Cloud data will not be updated.

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Before restoring, check if there is enough space in the phone's memory. If less than 10% is free, some files may not be downloaded from the cloud.

3. Use of Google Photos (if backed up)

Many Xiaomi users set up automatic photo backup in Google Photos, and if this feature was active, you can restore photos even after years.

Step-by-step:

• 📱 Install Google Photos from Play Market if it is not available.
• 🔑 Sign in to the same Google account that was linked to your phone.
• 🔍 Go to the Library tab → Recycle bin (photos stored there for 60 days).
• 🗓️ To find old photos, use the filter by date in the Photos section.
• ↓ Select the right photos → Click Restore (they will return to the main gallery).

If the cart is empty, check the archive:

1. Open the menu (three lines at the top left).
2. Select Archives – hidden or deleted files can be stored here.

Google Photos has the advantage of free storage (15 GB per account) and longer storage for deleted files, but high-resolution images (>16 MP) can be compressed if you don’t have a Google One subscription.

4. Data recovery programs (without root)

If standard methods didn't work, it's time to turn to specialized utilities. Xiaomi can use programs that scan the internal memory of the phone at the file system level. Importantly, don't install the software on the phone itself, it can overwrite deleted data. Use a computer.

Top.-3 tested:

• 💻 DiskDigger - supports photo and video recovery with Xiaomi without root rights.
• 💻 Recuva is a simple interface, a high percentage of successful recovery JPEG/PNG.
• 💻 EaseUS MobiSaver – a paid utility with a preview of found files.

Instructions for DiskDigger (on the example of Windows):

Connect Xiaomi to your PC via USB-cable (file transfer mode)

Install DiskDigger on your computer (not your phone!)

Close all programs that can record data to your phone (for example, auto-update antivirus)

Turn off Wi-Fi and mobile internet on Xiaomi (to avoid background data recording)

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1. Launch DiskDigger and select your phone from the list of devices.
2. Specify the types of files to search: tick JPG, PNG, HEIC (for photos from iPhone, if they were on the phone).
3. Select the scan method: Full scan (longer but deeper).
4. Wait until the process is completed (may take 1-3 hours).
5. View the photos found, mark the necessary ones and click Recover.

Tip: If a program finds a lot of broken files (with artifacts), try changing the format of the save. For example, DiskDigger has a Save as DNG option - it sometimes recovers more details.

⚠️ Warning: Do not save recovered photos back to your Xiaomi phone – use a computer, external drive or other device.

5. Restoration with root rights (advanced method)

If none of the previous methods worked, the last option is root rights and low-level tools, which is suitable for power users and requires unlocking the bootloader on Xiaomi.

Advantages:

• ✅ Access to the full file system, including hidden partitions.
• ✅ Recover photos that were deleted months ago (unless they were overwritten).
• ✅ Work with utilities like PhotoRec or TestDisk.

Instructions (brief):

1. Unblock bootloader on Xiaomi through the official website (requires an account binding and a wait of 7-15 days).
2. Install custom recovery (TWRP) and get root through Magisk.
3. Connect your phone to your PC and use ADB to access memory parts:

adb shell


su




cd /data/media/0/DCIM




ls -la

1. Run PhotoRec in the Linux terminal or through Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL):

photorec /d [way for save] /cmd [section memory]

Risks:

• ❌ Loss of warranty on most Xiaomi models).
• ❌ The ability to “brick” the phone when errors in the process.
• ❌ Security breach (some banking applications will stop working).

⚠️ Note: On new Xiaomi models (e.g. Redmi Note 12 Pro)+ Xiaomi 13T) Unlocking the bootloader can lead to blocking of encrypted data, in which case it will be impossible to restore the photo - they will remain encrypted even after receiving root.

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Getting root rights is a last resort, and if you're not sure about your skills, you should go to a service center, and doing the wrong thing can lead to total data loss.

6. Contact the Xiaomi Service Center

If the photos are critically important (for example, they are the only copies of documents or memorable pictures), and independent attempts to restore failed, it is worth considering the option of contacting professionals.

What can be done in the service center:

• 🔧 Chip-off recovery – extracting data directly from the memory chip (effective even after formatting).
• 🔧 Working with specialized software (for example, UFS Explorer or R-Studio).
• 🔧 Recovery of data from damaged partitions (if the phone is not turned on).

The cost of services varies from 3 000 to 15 000 rubles depending on the complexity. in Moscow and St. Petersburg there are laboratories specializing in data recovery with Xiaomi:

• Data Recovery Lab (works with eMMC and UFS chips)
• Hetman Recovery (result guarantee)
• Xiaomi’s official service centers (but they rarely take on data recovery).

Before the visit:

1. Do not turn your phone on or connect it to charging (this can trigger overwriting processes).
2. Check if the center has experience with your model (for example, Redmi Note 11 Pro uses UFS 2.2 memory, and the old Redmi 7 uses eMMC 5.1).
3. Ask for a cost estimate before work begins – some centers charge only for a successful result.

7. How to prevent future photo loss

The best way to keep your photos safe is to set up automatic backups, which Xiaomi does in a few taps:

Reservation methods:

• ☁️ Mi Cloud:
• ☁️ Google Photo:
• 💾 Local Copying on PC:

Additional precautions:

• 🚫 Do not use cleaners like Clean Master or Security. → Cleaning in MIUI — They often delete files irrevocably.
• 📁 Check the basket regularly in the gallery and clean it consciously.
• 🔄 Backups before updating your firmware (especially in beta versions) MIUI).

Xiaomi owners’ advice with MIUI 14: new firmware versions have introduced the Mi Cloud Backup feature with the ability to select specific folders, configure it so that important photos are copied daily:

1. Settings → About the phone → Backup.
2. Select Set up a backup → tick the Gallery.
3. Set a schedule (e.g., Daily at 2:00).

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Even if you use cloud backup, make a local copy to an external drive once a month, and cloud services can delete files if they violate the rules (for example, if the system considers the images to be “unacceptable content”).

FAQ: Frequent questions about photo recovery on Xiaomi