How to recover remote music on Xiaomi phone: from shopping cart to deep scanning

Removing favorite tracks from your phone is a familiar situation, especially when it comes to rare recordings, live playlists or author mixes that are not preserved anywhere else. On Xiaomi smartphones (including the Redmi, POCO and Mi lines), the recovery of deleted music in several ways, depending on how long ago the loss occurred, whether cloud services were used and whether the shopping cart function was turned on.

In this article, we'll look at 5 proven methods, from basic (checking the cart and cloud copies) to advanced (using a PC and specialized software). Importantly, the success of recovery depends on your actions after deleting. If you keep writing new files to your phone, the chances of returning music are reduced - new data can overwrite remote memory sectors.

1.Basket check in MIUI: the first step to recovery

Modern versions of MIUI (starting with MIUI 12) have a built-in file basket similar to the one on a PC. If you delete music in the standard way (via Files → Delete), chances are that the tracks are still there. The default storage period in the cart is 10 days, but it can be changed in settings.

To check the basket:

• 📁 Open the Files app (Folder icon on the desktop).
• 🗑️ In the bottom menu, tap on the Recycle Bin tab (or Recent if you use the older version). MIUI).
• 🔍 Find deleted audio files (usually marked.mp3,.m4a or.flac).
• 🔄 Select the desired tracks and click Restore (up arrow icon).

Important: if the bin is empty, it doesn't mean that the files are permanently lost, it may have been deleted by a workaround (for example, through a Gallery or a third-party application), or the storage period has expired, in which case move on to the next method.

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If the Recycle Bin is disabled, turn it on in the Files App settings: Settings → Recycle Bin → Enable Recycle Bin. Recommended shelf life is 30 days.

2. Recovery through cloud services: Mi Cloud and Google Drive

If your Xiaomi has enabled sync with Mi Cloud or Google Drive, the chances of returning music are much higher.These services automatically reserve files (including audio) if the feature is enabled in the settings.

Mi Cloud (for Xiaomi account holders):

• 🌐 Go to i.mi.com and log in.
• 📂 In the Cloud section → Find the Music or Audio folder.
• 🔽 If you have files, download them back to your phone or PC.

Google Drive (if used for backup):

• 🌐 Open drive.google.com.
• 🔍 Type:audio in the search bar – this will filter all audio files.
• 📥 Restore the desired tracks in the memory of the device.

⚠️ Note: Mi Cloud only provides 5GB of free space. If backups were not created due to space constraints, this method will not work. Also check if files were deleted from the cloud, in which case, recovery is impossible without contacting Xiaomi in support.

3.Using MIUI backups: Local recovery

MIUI allows you to back up all your phone content locally, including music. If you’ve ever done a backup through Settings → About Phone → Backup, try recovering data from there.

Instructions:

1. 📱 Go to Settings. → The phone. → Backup and reset.
2. 🔄 Select Local Backups and Find the Most Recent by Date.
3. 🎵 In the list of available data for recovery tick Music or Multimedia.
4. 📥 Click Restore and wait for the process to be completed.

⚠️ Attention: Restoration from local copy will overwrite the current files on the phone. If you add new tracks after deleting the music, they may disappear.

4. Deep scanning programs: recovery without backup

If previous methods have failed, it's time to turn to specialized data recovery software, which scans the phone's memory at a low level and can find files even if they were deleted months ago.

The best tools for Xiaomi:

Step-by-step instructions for DiskDigger (on the phone):

1. 📱 Install the app from Google Play.
2. 🔍 Start a full scan (may require root for best results).
3. 🎵 Filter the results by type of Audio.
4. 📥 Select the tracks found and save them to a safe place (for example, on the SD-map).

⚠️ Note: Programs like Dr.Fone may require you to disable the lock OEM In Settings → For developers, this is potentially dangerous for device security, use only proven sources of software.

Deactivate "Debugging by" USB" developer-setting|Install Xiaomi drivers on PC|Use the original USB-cable|Do not connect your phone to charge during scanning-->

5. PC Recovery: Mass Storage Connection

If the phone doesn’t have enough space to install additional programs, you can connect Xiaomi to your computer and scan the memory using desktop utilities. SD-map.

Instructions for Recuva:

1. 🖥️ Download and install Recuva from the official website ccleaner.com.
2. 📱 Connect your phone to your PC in File Transfer mode (MTP).
3. 🔍 In Recuva, select the Audio file type and specify your Xiaomi drive.
4. 🔄 Start a deep scan (may take several hours).
5. 📥 Save the recovered files to the hard drive of the PC.

An important caveat: if the phone is defined as a portable device rather than a disk, use PhotoRec (part of TestDisk) which works with raw partitions and can find files even without a file system.

photorec /d D:\recovery /cmd D:\xiaomi_disk

(where D:\recovery — file for preservation, and D:\xiaomi_disk — phone-letter).

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Deep scanning via PC is the most reliable method, but it takes time and care. Never save recovered files back to your phone until the process is complete!

6. Contact Xiaomi Support: Extreme Case

If the music was purchased from official services (Mi Music, Google Play Music, Yandex Music), its recovery can be possible through the support of the platform.

• 📧 Write to the service support service with the indication:
• 🔄 For Mi Music, use the feedback form in the app or at music.mi.com.

⚠️ Note: Xiaomi does not restore user files (for example, recorded from a microphone or downloaded from the Internet), Support will only help with licensed content purchased through official channels.

If the music was unique (such as live recordings or songwriting), consider contacting data recovery specialists, which starts at 5,000 rubles, but the chances of returning files are up to 80%, provided that the phone is not actively used after deleting.

FAQ: Frequent questions about restoring music on Xiaomi