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

Deleting photos from a Xiaomi smartphone is one of the most painful mistakes for users, especially when it comes to family photos, documents or unique footage that cannot be recreated. Fortunately, in most cases, files do not disappear permanently immediately after clicking Delete. They remain in the device's memory until new data overwrites them, which means that there is a chance of recovery - but you need to act quickly and correctly.

In this article, we will analyze all the current ways to return deleted photos to Xiaomi, from the simplest (checking the basket and cloud storage) to advanced (using a PC and specialized software, POCO X5, Mi 11 et al., versions MIUI You'll also learn what actions are guaranteed to destroy your chances of recovery to prevent critical errors.

1.Check the basket at Xiaomi Gallery

The first thing you need to do is to look in the gallery cart, and in MIUI, deleted photos are not erased immediately, but instead are stored in a temporary storage facility that lasts from 7 to 30 days (depending on the settings), a method that works on all modern Xiaomi models, including the Redmi, POCO and Mi series.

How to find the basket:

• 📱 Open the standard Gallery app (not third-party viewers!).
• 🗑️ In the bottom menu, tap on the "Basket" tab (or Albums) → Trash in English-language firmware).
• 🔍 View the list of files: photos are sorted by date of deletion.
• 🔄 Select the desired pictures and click "Restore" (up arrow icon).

Importantly, if you can't see the Recycle Bin tab, it might be disabled in the settings to activate it:

1. Go to the Gallery Settings → Basket.
2. Set the slider in the "On" position.
3. Set a shelf life (30 days is recommended for maximum protection).

⚠️ Warning: If the cart is empty but you are sure that the photos were recently deleted, check the hidden albums. MIUI They can be created automatically for screenshots or uploaded files. → Albums. → Hidden.

2. Recovery via Mi Cloud (Xiaomi Cloud)

If your Xiaomi has enabled sync with Mi Cloud, the chances of returning photos are much higher.The cloud automatically saves copies of photos (provided that the autoload function is activated).

How to check:

• 🌐 Go to i.mi.com via your browser or open the “Mi Cloud” app on your phone.
• 🔑 Sign in with the same Mi Account you used on your smartphone.
• 📂 Go to the section "Gallery" or "Photos».
• 🔍 Use a date filter or keyword search (e.g, DSC_2023 camera-photo).

If the necessary photos are found, they can:

• 📲 Download back to the phone (download button»).
• 🖥️ Save to PC (via the web version of the cloud).
• 🔄 Restore to the original resolution (if the option Save the originals is enabled).

⚠️ Note: If you manually delete photos from the Mi Cloud, they will be placed in a cloud cart for 10 days. After that, no recovery is possible!

3. Use Google Photos (if sync was enabled)

Many Xiaomi users are using Google Photos to back up, and if you logged into a Google account on your phone and turned on autoload, the photos could have been saved there.

Instructions:

1. Open the Google Photos app or go to photos.google.com.
2. Log in to the same Google account that was linked to Xiaomi.
3. Check the "Basket" section (photos are stored there for 60 days).
4. If you don’t have the right pictures, search by date or object (e.g. beach 2023).

The advantage of Google Photos over Mi Cloud:

• 🔍 More powerful content search (recognizes faces, places, objects).
• 📅 Long-term storage in the cart (60 days vs 10 days in the Mi Cloud).
• 🌍 Access from any device, even if Xiaomi is broken or lost.

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If photos have been deleted a long time ago, but Google Photos has thumbnails (blurred previews), try using the "Restore Quality Copy" feature, which is available in the web version of the service for some files.

4. Connect Xiaomi to PC: Recovery through Explorer or Program

If the photos aren’t found in the cart or cloud, the next step is to connect the smartphone to the computer and scan its memory, which works even if the files have been deleted past the cart (for example, through a file manager or rm command in ADB).

Important: Before connecting:

Turn off mobile internet and Wi-Fi on Xiaomi|Do not install new applications|Don't take new pictures.|Use the original. USB-cable-->

Scanning methods:

Option 1: View hidden folders through Windows Explorer

Sometimes the photos are left in hidden MIUI directories to be seen:

1. Connect Xiaomi to your PC in File Transfer (MTP) mode.
2. Open "This computer» → find the device.
3. Enable the display of hidden files: View → Hidden elements.
4. Check folders: DCIM/.thumbnails – thumbnails; Pictures/.recent – temporary copies; MIUI/Gallery/cloud – cloud cache.

Option 2: Recovery programs (Recuva, DiskDigger, EaseUS)

Deep memory scanning requires specialized software, and the best free options are:

• 🛠️ Recuva is a simple interface that supports FAT32/exFAT (memory-card).
• 🔍 DiskDigger – Searches for photos even after formatting (there is a version for Android).
• 💾 EaseUS Data Recovery – Recovers files from damaged partitions.

The algorithm of actions (on the example of Recuva):

1. Install the program on your PC and connect Xiaomi.
2. Select the file type: select Images (JPG, PNG, HEIC).
3. Specify the disk: if the photos were on internal memory, choose Xiaomi as a removable drive.
4. Start a deep scan (may take several hours).
5. View the results: sort by date or size to find the files you want.
6. Save the recovered photos to your PC (not your phone!).

⚠️ Note: If Xiaomi is not defined by PC in mode MTP, Try: Reboot your phone and your computer. Enable debugging. USB (Settings → The phone. → Version. MIUI → 7 times to tap → Return to the Extra → Developer settings. Use another USB-cable (preferably original).

5. Recovery from a memory card (microSD)

If the photos were stored on a memory card, the recovery process is simplified: memory cards (microSD) are most often formatted in FAT32 or exFAT, and these file systems are better scanned than the internal memory of a smartphone.

Step-by-step:

1. Remove the card from Xiaomi and connect it to your PC via a card reader (not your phone!).
2. Run a recovery program (for example, PhotoRec is free and does not require installation).
3. Select a memory card drive (usually E:, F:, etc.).
4. Specify the search format: JPG, JPEG, PNG, HEIC.
5. Wait until the scan is finished (you can even find fragmented files).
6. Save the recovered photos to your PC hard drive.

Features of working with memory cards:

• 📁 If the card has been formatted, the chances of recovery are reduced to 40-50%, but there is still a possibility of recovery.
• 🔄 If the card is damaged (not readable), try scanning it on another device or use the utility. CHKDSK: chkdsk E: /f (where E: is the letter of the map disk).
• 🚫 Don't save the recovered files back to the map! this can overwrite the remaining data.

6. Advanced Methods: ADB and Root Access

If all previous methods have failed, radical measures remain, such as working through ADB (Android Debug Bridge) or obtaining root rights, which require technical skills and can lead to a loss of warranty or unstable smartphone operation.

Recovery through ADB (no root):

ADB allows you to access system folders, where sometimes temporary copies of photos remain.

1. Install ADB Tools on PC (download from the official website).
2. Enable USB debugging on Xiaomi (see section 4).
3. Connect your phone to your PC and open the command line in the folder with ADB.
4. Enter the command to search for temporary files: adb shell ls /data/data/com.android.gallery3d/cache/
5. If you find files with the.thumb or.tmp extension, copy them to your PC: adb pull /data/data/com.android.gallery3d/cache/ C:\Xiaomi_Recovery

Restoration with root access:

If you have root, you can use applications like Undeleter or DiskDigger, which scan the memory at a low level and find even badly damaged files.

• 🔓 Getting root voids Xiaomi's warranty.
• 🛑 Wrong actions can lead to a device blink.
• 🔍 Root-methods are effective only if after removal no more than 1-2 weeks have passed.

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If you're not sure about your ADB or root skills, you should go to a service center, and incorrect teams can erase the remaining data without the possibility of recovery.

7. Contact the Xiaomi Service Center

If the photos are critically important (for example, they are only copies of documents or unique pictures), and independent attempts were unsuccessful, you should consider contacting the official Xiaomi service center or data recovery laboratory.

What can be done in the service:

• 🔧 Hardware recovery – if the memory controller is a problem.
• 📀 Chip-off analysis – extracting data directly from a memory chip (expensive but effective even after formatting).
• 🔍 Backup checks – sometimes the service has access to backups that are not visible to the user.

Cost and timing:

How to choose a service:

• 🏢 Prefer official Xiaomi partners (list on mi.com).
• 📄 Require a contract with guarantees for data safety.
• 💬 Check if you provide free diagnostics before starting work.

Frequent Questions (FAQ)