How to recover remote music on Xiaomi smartphones: from the basket to deep scanning

Deleting your favorite tracks from Xiaomi is a familiar situation. One careless tap, and the playlist you've been working on for months disappears without a trace. But don't panic: 80 percent of the time, music can be returned even if you've already cleaned your cart or formatted your memory card. In this article, we'll look at all the possible recovery methods, from basic (checking your basket and cloud copies) to advanced (using ADB and professional utilities).

The rule is, the faster you start, the better the chances of success. Deleted files don't disappear instantly -- they're just labeled "free space" and can be overwritten with new data. So turn off the Internet and don't save new files to your device until you've finished recovering. Also, on devices with encrypted storage (such as the Mi 11 Ultra or Redmi Note 12 Pro+), the chances of returning data are lower, and only a backup will help.

If you delete music from an external memory card (microSD), the recovery process is simplified — such drives are not encrypted by default, but for internal memory (Userdata) you need root rights or specialized tools like Dr.Fone or EaseUS MobiSaver. But about everything in order.

1. Check the basket in the standard file manager

The first thing to do is to look into the Recycle Bin of the Mi File Explorer file manager, which is available on all Xiaomi smartphones with MIUI 12 and newer, but many users are unaware of its existence.

To find the basket:

1. Open the Files app (a blue background folder icon).
2. Slip on three horizontal lines in the upper left corner.
3. Select the item "Trash".
4. Find the deleted audio files (they are sorted by the date of deletion).
5. Select the desired tracks and click Restore.

Important: the files in the bin are stored for a maximum of 30 days, and then automatically deleted. If you manually cleaned the basket, this method will not work.

⚠️ Note: On some firmware (for example, MIUI Global 14.0.4) Recycle Bin can be disabled by default. To activate it, go to Settings → Warehouse → Cart and turn on the option.

If the cart is empty, move on to the next method – checking cloud backups.

2.Recovery via Mi Cloud or Google Drive

If your Xiaomi has Mi Cloud or Google Drive enabled sync, chances are that the remote tracks are saved in the cloud, which works even if you format your device, but requires you to set up your backup beforehand.

For Mi Cloud:

• 📱 Open the Settings. → Xiaomi account → Mi Cloud.
• 🔍 Check the Backup section – if music was included in the backup, you can download it back.
• 🎵 If there is no backup, try going to the web version of Mi Cloud and look for files in the Files section. → Music.

For Google Drive:

• 🌐 Go to Google Drive from the computer.
• 🔎 Type:audio in the search bar – this will filter all audio files.
• 📁 Check Backup or Xiaomi folders – sometimes files are saved there automatically.

Note: Mi Cloud only provides 5GB of storage for free, so music might not have made it to the backup due to space shortage.Google Drive gives 15GB, but Xiaomi backups there are only created if you manually set up sync through Settings → Google → Backup.

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If you don't remember whether you've backed up, check the MIUI/Backup/AllBackup folder in internal memory through the file manager, and there may be local backups.

3. Use of PCs and software for data recovery

If you can't find music in the cart or cloud, you need to connect your computer and specialized utilities, a method that can be used to recover files from both internal memory and microSD cards.

Tools required:

• 🖥️ Computer with Windows/macOS/Linux.
• 🔌 Cable USB (Preferably original from Xiaomi).
• 🛠️ Recovery software: Recuva (free), EaseUS MobiSaver (paid), DiskDigger (there is a version for Android).

Step-by-step instructions for Recuva (Windows):

1. Connect Xiaomi to your PC in File Transfer (MTP) mode.
2. Start Recuva and select the Audio file type.
3. Specify your smartphone’s drive (usually internal storage or storage). SD-map).
4. Press Analysis and wait for the scan to be completed.
5. Mark the tracks found and click Restore.

You can use Deep Scan for a memory card, but it takes longer, and if the music was in.mp3 or.flac, the chances of recovery are higher than for rare formats like.aac or.ogg.

⚠️ Note: Do not save recovered files back to your smartphone or memory card - this can overwrite the remaining data).

4. Recovery through ADB (for advanced users)

If you have root rights or are willing to get them, you can try recovering music through Android Debug Bridge (ADB), a method that is more difficult, but sometimes saves you when other methods have failed.

What you need:

• 🖥️ Computer installed ADB and Fastboot.
• 📱 Included debugging by USB on Xiaomi (Settings) → The phone. → Version. MIUI → 7 times tap to unlock the developer mode, then additionally → For developers → Debugging by USB).
• 🔧 Root access (optional, but increases the odds).

Commands for searching for deleted files:

adb shell


su




cd /sdcard/ && find . -name ".mp3" -o -name ".flac" -o -name "*.m4a" | grep -i music

This team is looking for audio files in a folder /sdcard/ (If the music was on the map, replace the path with the /storage/XXXX-XXXX/ (You can find out the exact path through adb shell ls. /storage/).

If files are found, they can be copied to the PC:

adb pull /sdcard/path/to/file.mp3 C:\RestoredMusic\

⚠️ Attention: No root rights ADB It will only show the files that you can access, and you'll need Magisk or a similar tool to get superuser rights to do deep scanning.

5. Specialized Android Apps

If you don't want to connect your smartphone to your PC, you can use mobile data recovery apps, which are less efficient than desktop utilities, but they're easy to use.

Top.-3 applications:

• 📲 DiskDigger - supports root-free recovery, but with limitations.
• 📲 Undeleter Recover Files & Data – a simple interface that works with memory cards.
• 📲 Dumpster - analogue of the basket, but with advanced functions (you need to install the cart!).

How to use DiskDigger:

1. Install the app from Google Play.
2. Select the type of audio files.
3. Find the location of the search: internal memory or SD-map.
4. Press Start scanning.
5. Once completed, mark the tracks found and save them to the cloud or another medium.

Note that without root permissions, apps only see recently deleted files, and you’ll need Magisk or a similar tool to find old tracks.

Disconnect mobile internet and Wi-Fi

Charge your smartphone by at least 50%

Free up space on the memory card (if you restore it there)

Do not interrupt the scanning process

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6. Contact the Xiaomi Service Center

If all of these methods didn’t work, and the music was critical (like unique recordings or author’s tracks), you can try contacting Xiaomi’s official service center, and they have specialized equipment to extract data even from damaged drives.

What you need to know:

• 🔒 The warranty on the device is not removed, unless the problem is related to a physical breakdown.

Before the service visit:

1. Don’t tell me you’ve tried to recover data yourself, which can make it harder for the team to do the work.
2. Bring checks or confirmation of purchase (if the device is warranty).
3. Check if they have experience with encrypted partitions (relevant to MIUI 13/14).

⚠️ Warning: Some “unofficial” services offer low-cost data recovery, but may use questionable methods (such as flashing) that can cause loss of all data or even a brick-in device.

7 How to Avoid Losing Music in the Future

To avoid the problem of remote tracks, follow these tips:

Automatic backup:

Proper storage:

• 📁 Create a separate folder for music (for example, /Music/) Do not store files in the root directory.
• 🔒 Use encrypted archives for valuable records (e.g, 7-Zip password-wise).

Additional measures:

• 🛡️ Install Dumpster or similar shopping cart application.
• 📱 Regularly check the health of the memory card through Settings → Warehouse → Diagnostics.

Critical information: Devices with MIUI 14 and later have automatic internal memory encryption enabled, which means that without a password from your Xiaomi account, it is almost impossible to recover data after resetting. Always link the device to your Mi Account and remember your password!

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The most reliable way to avoid losing music is a combination of cloud backup (Google) Drive/Mi Cloud) + localized.

FAQ: Frequent questions about restoring music on Xiaomi