How to recover deleted photos from a gallery on Xiaomi: from a cart to deep scanning

Deleting photos from a Xiaomi phone is one of the most painful mistakes for users, especially when it comes to valuable footage, family photos, documents or unique moments that can not be recreated. Fortunately, even after cleaning the gallery, the chances of returning files remain — but you need to act quickly and correctly.

In this article, we’ll look at all the possible ways to recover, from standard MIUI features (like the Gallery Recycle Bin) to professional tools like DiskDigger or Recuva. You’ll learn how the deletion algorithms work on Xiaomi smartphones, why you shouldn’t write new files to your device after data is lost, and what hidden backups can save your photos even months later.

Important: the effectiveness of the methods depends on how long it has been since the deletion and whether the functions of sync with the cloud were used. If you act in the first hours, the chances are close to 100%. If a few days have passed and new data is recorded on the phone, deeper tools will be required.

1. Check the basket in the Gallery app

The standard Gallery app on Xiaomi (including Redmi, POCO and Mi models) has a built-in shopping cart where photos are stored 30 days after being deleted.

How to open the basket:

• 📱 Open the Gallery app on your Xiaomi.
• 🗑️ Tap it on three points (⋮) in the upper right corner and select the basket.
• 🔍 View the list of deleted files, and the photos and videos will be grouped by date of deletion.
• 🔄 Select the files you need (long press) and click Restore.

If the cart is empty or files are not there, this can mean:

• 🕒 More than 30 days have passed since the deletion (files are automatically cleared).
• 🧹 You manually cleaned the basket through the Control menu. → Clean the basket.
• 📲 Photos were deleted through a file manager (e.g., Explorer) rather than from a gallery.

⚠️ Attention: The basket in the Gallery» MIUI Does not back up files deleted through third-party apps (such as Google Photos or File Manager)+). In this case, proceed to the following methods.

2.Recovery through MIUI backups

Xiaomi smartphones automatically back up photos if you have Mi Cloud sync or local backup enabled, and you can check this in two ways:

Method 1: The Mi Cloud Cloud

If your device was enabled to sync with Mi Cloud, photos could be saved to the cloud even after being deleted from your phone.

1. Open your Settings → Xiaomi Account → Mi Cloud.
2. Make sure the Gallery switch is on (green).
3. Go to i.mi.com from your PC or phone and log in.
4. In the Gallery section, check the Remote (analogue of shopping carts) folder or the main albums.

Method 2: Local backup

MIUI can create local backups of photos when you connect to Mi Account to find them:

• 🔍 Use the built-in Explorer (Files) and go to the folder MIUI/Backup/AllBackup.
• 📁 Look for archives with dates (for example, backup_20260515).
• 📂 Inside the archive, there could be a folder. DCIM Or Pictures with your photos.

If you don't have backups, it doesn't mean that the photos are lost forever. Go to the next method, which is to restore them through Google Photos or specialized programs.

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To avoid future data loss, enable automatic sync with Mi Cloud or Google Photos, and even 5GB of free cloud space is enough for the most important images.

3. Recovery via Google Photos

If your Xiaomi has Google Photos installed and sync enabled, deleted images could be saved to the Google cloud. Unlike the MIUI Recycle Bin, files are stored for 60 days.

Instructions for remediation:

1. Open the Google Photos app on your phone or go to photos.google.com.
2. In the side menu, select the basket.
3. Find the right photos, highlight them and click Restore.

If the basket is empty, try:

• 🔎 Use a search by date or keywords (e.g., “beach”, “document»).
• 📅 Check the archive: Google Photos has Archive function, which sometimes includes hidden photos.
• 💾 View the Device folder → [Name of your Xiaomi: There may be unsynchronized files.

⚠️ Note: If you have removed photos from Google Photos manually (not through the gallery) MIUI), And it's been over 60 days, and it's not possible to recover them through this service.

4.Use of PCs and programs for deep scanning

If you don't find the photos in the cart or the clouds, you'll have one last chance to recover from the phone's internal memory through the computer.

• 🖥️ Computer with Windows/macOS.
• 📱 Cable USB (preferably original).
• 🛠️ Recovery software (e.g. DiskDigger, Recuva, EaseUS MobiSaver).

Step-by-step:

Enable debugging over USB in the developer settings

Connect Xiaomi to your PC in File Transfer Mode (MTP)

Install one of the recovery programs (DiskDigger, Recuva)

Do not connect your phone to charge during scanning-->

1. Turn on USB debugging: Go to Settings → About Phone. Tap 7 times on MIUI Version to activate Developer Mode. Go back to Settings → Additional → For Developers and turn on USB Debugging.

Connect your phone to your PC:

Select File Transfer (MTP) mode in the connection notification.

Run the scan:

In a program (like DiskDigger), select the phone’s internal memory and start a deep scan.

Save the recovered files:

Once the scan is complete, select the photos you find and save them to your PC. Don't write them back to your phone, which can overwrite the remaining data.

If the software doesn’t find photos, it could mean:

• 🕐 Data was overwritten with new files (photos, videos, updates).
• 🔒 Encryption is enabled on the phone (for example, after resetting settings).
• 📱 The phone's memory is damaged (in this case, only the service center will help).

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Deep scanning is the most effective method, but it only works if the phone has not recorded new data after the photos are deleted.

5. Recovery from memory card (if the photos were on SD)

If the photos were stored on a microSD card, the recovery process is simplified. The memory cards are not encrypted by default (unlike Xiaomi's internal memory), so the chances of returning files are higher.

What to do:

1. Remove the card from your phone and connect it to your PC via a card reader.
2. Use any recovery program (the same Recuva or DiskDigger).
3. Select scanning only the memory card (not the phone’s internal memory).
4. Save the recovered files to the PC hard drive.

Advantages of this method:

• ⚡ Faster than scanning internal memory.
• 🔓 It does not require root rights or debugging USB.
• 📁 You can recover files even after formatting the card (if you did not overwrite).

⚠️ Note: If the memory card was formatted in the phone as internal memory (function) MIUI If you want to expand the storage, you can't recover data from it without root rights, and then only a professional service can help.

6. Contacting a service center: when nothing helps

If all of these methods fail, the last option is to contact the service center.

• 💥 Physical damage to the phone’s memory (for example, after falling or getting moisture).
• 🔐 Full data encryption (for example, after resetting settings with encryption enabled).
• 📱 Delete photos over a year ago with active phone use.

What can be done in the service:

• 🔧 Chip-off recovery: extracting the memory chip and reading data directly. Expensive, but effective even after formatting.
• 🔍 Hardware scanning: using professional hardware to search for fragments of files.
• 📊 Recovery from Xiaomi backups: If your phone previously synced with Mi Cloud, but you forgot your password.

The cost of services varies from 3 000 to 20 000 rubles depending on the complexity.

• 📋 Does the service have experience with Xiaomi (not all centers are taken for Chinese smartphones).
• 💰 Is there a guarantee for the restored data.
• 🕒 Timeline (sometimes the process takes several days).

If the photos are critical (e.g., single copies of documents or unique snapshots), the service center is a reasonable step. Otherwise, try to repeat the recovery via a PC with another program.

7. How to avoid losing photos in the future

To avoid the problem of deleted photos, set up Xiaomi according to these recommendations:

1. Automatic synchronization

• 🌥️ Enable autoload in Google Photos (Settings) → Backup and synchronization).
• ☁️ Activate Mi Cloud and allocate enough space for photos (minimum 5GB).

2. Local backups

• 💾 Regularly copy photos to your PC or external hard drive.
• 📁 Use the folder. DCIM/Backup Manually duplicate important images.

3 Gallery settings

• 🗑️ Increase the storage time of files in the basket to the maximum (in some firmware) MIUI 60 days).
• 🔒 Turn off automatic cart cleaning in Gallery Settings → Storage management.

Additional measures

• 📱 Install a backup app (such as Sync.com or Dropbox).
• 🔄 Periodically check the folder MIUI/Backup for the presence of automatic backups.

Even if you're sure that photos aren't critical, set up at least one way to back up. 90% of data loss happens unexpectedly, whether it's from a firmware failure, a phone theft, or accidental pressing.

Frequently asked questions