Recovery of deleted videos on Xiaomi Redmi: from the cart to deep scanning

Why do videos disappear from your phone and can you get them back?

Did you accidentally click "Delete" instead of "Share" or did the system clean up the memory by removing precious videos? On Xiaomi Redmi smartphones (be it Redmi Note 12, Redmi 10 or older models), videos can disappear for various reasons, from the banal human factor to malfunctioning of the file system. The good news is that in most cases files can be restored if you act quickly and correctly.

The big secret is that when you delete video (or any other file) from your phone, it doesn't physically disappear from the drive. The system simply labels the memory area as "free," and until new data overwrites those sectors, the chances of recovery remain high, but with every passing hour, the likelihood of success drops — especially if you continue to shoot new videos, install apps, or update the system.

In this article, we’ll look at all the ways you can return deleted videos, from standard MIUI features to professional tools that work even after formatting. Importantly, some methods require root rights or PC connectivity, so prepare your cable and free time in advance.

Method 1: Checking the basket in the Xiaomi gallery

Starting with MIUI 12, the standard Gallery app introduced the Recycle Bin feature, which is the equivalent of a computer junk bin, where deleted files are stored for 30 days before being permanently erased, and if less than a month has passed, the chances of recovery without additional software are 99%.

How to check:

• 📁 Open the Gallery app on your Redmi.
• 🔍 Slip on three horizontal lines (menu) in the upper right corner.
• 🗑️ Select the Recycle Bin (or Recently Deleted in Older Versions).
• 🔄 Find the right video, click on it and select Restore.

If the cart is empty or the video is not there, move on to the next method. Note: the files in the cart take up space in the memory of the phone, so if there is a lack of space, the system can automatically clear it before 30 days.

Method 2: Restore through Google Photos (if synced)

If your Redmi enabled autosynchronization with Google Photos, the deleted videos could be saved to the cloud, which works even if the file was deleted months ago, so the sync is active before being deleted.

Instructions:

• 🌐 Open the Google Photos app or go to photos.google.com.
• 🔍 In the search bar, enter the title of the video or the date of shooting.
• 🗃️ Go to the Recycle Bin section (on the menu on the left) and the videos are stored there for 60 days.
• 🔄 Select the desired file and click Restore.

Important: Google Photos compresses video when downloading if you don’t have original quality enabled (the High Quality option is limited to 15GB of free space). To check the format of the recovered file, open its properties: if the resolution is lower than the original, then the video has been recoded.

Method 3: Use of recovery software (without root)

If the video is not in the cart or in the cloud, it's time to connect third-party utilities. For Xiaomi Redmi, root-free programs that scan the phone's memory through ADB or directly from the memory card are suitable.

Step-by-step instructions for DiskDigger (the most reliable option for MIUI):

1. Download DiskDigger from Google Play.
2. Connect your phone to your PC and enable USB Debugging (Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (Tap 7 times) → Additional → For Developers).
3. In the program, select Full Scan (requires superuser rights) or Basic Scan (no root).
4. Wait until it is completed (may take a few hours).
5. Tag the videos you find and save them to your PC or cloud.

⚠️ Warning: Do not save recovered files back to your phone, this can overwrite the not yet scanned memory sectors.

Charge your phone at least to 50%|Release. 1-2 GB of memory for temporary files|Disable automatic update of applications|Use the original USB-cable-->

Method 4: Deep scanning with root rights

If the videos were deleted long ago or new files were recorded after them, the usual programs may not help, in which case you will need to unlock the bootloader and obtain root rights to Xiaomi Redmi. This is a risky method (may lead to loss of warranty or “bricking” the phone), but it gives access to low-level memory scanning.

For deep recovery, Undelete for Root Users or GT Recovery is suitable.

1. Unlock the bootloader through the Mi Unlock Tool (instructions on the official Xiaomi website).
2. Install custom recovery (TWRP) and get root through Magisk.
3. Download GT Recovery and give it root access.
4. Select the /data or /sdcard partition to scan.
5. Wait for the results and recover files in.mp4 or.mov format.

Critical: Once rooted, some MIUI features (such as Mi Pay or encryption) may stop working, and the risk of infection by viruses when installing unofficial firmware increases.

💡

Before unlocking the bootloader, make a full backup via Mi PC Suite or TWRP. This will help return the phone to working condition if something goes wrong.

Method 5: Recovery after resetting settings or firmware

If the videos are lost after hard reset or flashing, the chances of them returning are minimal, but there is still a chance, in which case only professional software like R-Studio or TestDisk that works with memory images will help.

What can be done:

• 💾 Create a complete image of the phone’s internal memory through ADB: adb pull /dev/block/mmcblk0 mmcblk0.img (requires an unlocked loader).
• 🔧 Scan the image in R-Studio by selecting the file system F2FS or EXT4 (used MIUI).
• 🔍 Look for signature files. MP4, MOV or 3GP.

This technique requires technical knowledge and often does not guarantee 100% results, but in some cases, even fragments of video can be recovered. SD-card, the chances are higher – connect it to the PC through the card reader and scan in Recuva or PhotoRec.

⚠️ Note: After resetting, Xiaomi Redmi encrypts user data. without the encryption key (which is stored in the /data It's almost impossible to recover files. If the phone has been encrypted, contact a service center, where you can extract data using specialized equipment.

What NOT to do when trying to recover

Mistakes at this stage can permanently destroy your videos, and this is strictly forbidden.

• 🚫 Write new files to your phone (photos, videos, apps) – this will overwrite deleted data.
• 🚫 Formatting internal memory or SD-map.
• 🚫 Update MIUI through OTA — It can erase temporary files.
• 🚫 Use a memory cleaner like Clean Master.
• 🚫 Connect your phone to your PC in Charging mode – always choose File Transfer (MTP).

Also avoid programs that promise "magic recovery" in 1 click - often it's fraudulent software that will only infect your Redmi with viruses.

💡

The faster you start your recovery, the better the chances of success, and the optimal time is the first 24 hours after removal.

FAQ: Frequent questions about video recovery on Xiaomi