How to recover deleted photos on Xiaomi Redmi 5 Note

Accidental deletion of important photos on a smartphone is a stressful situation that almost every user has faced. Owners of the popular Xiaomi Redmi 5 Note are no exception, since this device is actively used for everyday shooting. Fortunately, in most cases, data does not disappear irrevocably immediately after clicking the “Delete” button, but only disappears from the main access.

Modern operating systems, including MIUI, are built in such a way that the physical erasure of information is not instantaneous, it gives the user a window of opportunity for rescue frames, and the main rule in this situation is to immediately stop active use of the device so that new data does not overwrite the memory sectors where your images were stored.

There are several proven methods to recover lost files, ranging from built-in system functions to the use of specialized software.

In this article, we will discuss in detail each of the available methods, focusing on the specifics of working with the Android file system in conjunction with the MIUI shell.

You will learn where to look for a lifeline in the form of automatic backups and how to act if standard methods have failed.

Check the built-in basket in the MIUI gallery

The first and most obvious place to look is the Remote System folder in the standard Gallery app. Xiaomi engineers have envisioned a buffer zone where files are stored for 30 days after deletion.

To access this section, you need to open the Gallery app and switch to the Albums tab. Scroll down to the very end, where you will find the Deleted item.

Your pictures may be here if not too long has passed since they were deleted and you have not cleaned this folder forcibly.

If you find the right photos, highlight them with a long press and select the option “Restore”.

The files will return to their original albums as if nothing had happened, a simple scenario that requires no outside intervention.

⚠️ Note: The file retention period in the recycle bin is exactly 30 days, and after this period expires, the system automatically and irreversibly clears the buffer.

It is worth considering that the volume of the basket is limited, and if there is a shortage of space, old deleted files can disappear prematurely.

Also, recovery is only possible if you have not performed a full reset of your phone after losing data.

Use of the Mi Cloud cloud service

Owners of Xiaomi Redmi 5 Note smartphones often ignore the capabilities of the built-in cloud storage Mi Cloud, and in vain. This service can automatically synchronize the gallery, saving copies of images on the company's servers.

To check for backups, go to Settings → Mi Account → Mi Cloud → Gallery. If the sync slider was active, your photos may be in the cloud, even if they are deleted from the device itself.

For a more detailed view, it is recommended to go to the official website of the service through a computer or smartphone browser, logging in under your Mi-account.

• 📸 Go to i.mi.com and log in to your account.
• ☁️ Select the Gallery section in the Cloud Storage menu.
• 🔍 Carefully review content, including the Remote folder inside the cloud.
• ⬇️ Download the required images back to the device.

It is important to understand that free space in the Mi Cloud is limited to 5 GB, so only the latest pictures or photos in low resolution could be synchronized.

However, if you have ever expanded storage or deleted a photo recently, the chances of success are greatly increased.

Recovery from the cloud is the most reliable way to do it without having to connect to a PC.

The main condition is the presence of an active Internet connection and a valid account.

Recovery via Google Photos and Google Drive

Because the Xiaomi Redmi 5 Note runs on Android, it has Google services installed by default, which also back up.The Google Photos app is one of the most popular memory saving tools.

Open the Google Photos app and check the Library → Recycle Bin section, where files are stored for up to 60 days if they were uploaded to Google.

Even if you delete a photo from your phone’s gallery, it can still be saved in the Google cloud, especially if the autoload and sync feature has been enabled.

Also, it’s worth checking out Google Drive, where some apps may have saved copies of documents or scans.

Google Photos allows you to sort images by date, making it easier to find lost frames.

Remember that Google Photos has its own compression algorithms, so the quality of the recovered images may differ from the original if the storage in the original quality was not selected.

Verifying all possible cloud services is a must before moving to complex recovery methods.

Analysis of local system backups

Shell MIUI It has a powerful built-in backup tool that is often underappreciated, and local backups can be created automatically or manually and stored in internal memory or on a computer. SD-map.

You can find them by going through Settings → About Phone → Reservation and Recovery → Mobile. This shows all the restore points you've created.

If you find a backup that dates back to the period before the photos were deleted, you can recover data from it.

However, there is a caveat: recovery from a full backup can replace the current data on the phone with data from the backup.

Therefore, before the procedure, it is recommended to make a copy of the current important files so as not to lose what appeared in the phone after the backup date.

⚠️ Attention: Recovery process from full backup MIUI It can take a considerable amount of time and require the device to restart%.

It is also worth checking the MIUI/backup/AllBackup folder through the file manager, and if there are archives, you can try to unpack or restore them through the system menu.

This method is especially relevant for those who are used to regularly doing backups before firmware or updating the system.

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Set up automatic local backups once a week at a convenient time, such as at night when the phone is charging.

Use of specialized software for PC

If the built-in tools didn’t help, deep memory scanning programs like DiskDigger, Recuva or Dr.Fone often require superuser rights (Root) to work with the Xiaomi Redmi 5 Note.

Without Root rights, programs can only find cached thumbnails or recently deleted files accessed through the standard Android API. With Root rights, scanning goes through memory sectors, which is much more efficient.

The process usually looks like this: installing the program on a PC, connecting the phone via USB in debugging mode, launching a scan.

• 💻 Install the selected recovery program on your computer.
• 🔌 Connect Xiaomi Redmi 5 Note cable and enable debugging USB.
• 🔍 Start a deep scan of the device memory.
• 💾 Save the found files to the computer's hard drive.

Getting Root rights on modern versions of MIUI can be difficult and requires unlocking the bootloader, which in itself leads to complete deletion of data (Wipe Data).

Therefore, this method makes sense to apply only if you already have an unlocked bootloader or are willing to risk data for the chance of recovery.

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The effectiveness of recovery programs depends on how much you used your phone after you deleted the photo, and the new recordings reduce the odds to almost zero.

Prevention of data loss and setting up autosave

To never again face the problem of losing photos, you need to set up an automatic data security system, and the best protection is the duplication of information in real time.

Set up sync with multiple cloud services at once, for example, using Mi Cloud + Google Photos, which creates a dual insurance policy.

Make sure that the synchronization is working correctly and does not stop due to battery savings.

It is also helpful to copy important archives once a month to an external hard drive or computer.

Use the microSD memory card as the main storage for the photo, configuring the camera to save it on it - so when resetting the phone, the photos will remain on the map.

Compliance with these simple rules will allow you to keep the memory of important moments intact and safe.

Remember that digital information is fragile and only regular backups guarantee security.