Recovery of deleted photos on Xiaomi Redmi 9 Note: from the cart to deep scanning

Deleting photos from Xiaomi Redmi 9 Note is a familiar situation, one careless click, factory reset or MIUI failure, and valuable images disappear from the gallery. Fortunately, the chances of recovery remain high even if you did not make backups. In this article, we will examine all the current methods of returning deleted photos, from built-in MIUI tools to professional utilities for PC.

The rule is, the faster you start, the more likely you are to succeed. When you delete files, they don't disappear from memory instantly, they're marked as "free space" and can be overwritten with new data. So don't save new files to your phone or install applications until you've finished recovering them.

We tested all the methods described below on the Redmi 9 Note with firmware MIUI 12.5–14 (including global and Chinese versions) Instructions adapted to the specifics of this model, such as the work with the Chinese and Chinese versions. ext4-sections and limitations MIUI access to system folders.

If you’ve already tried to recover a photo and encountered errors (such as “Files Unable to Find” or “No Access Rights”), the article has solutions for these cases – including bypassing restrictions without obtaining root rights.

1.A check of the basket at MIUI Gallery

The first thing you need to do is to look into the hidden basket of the standard Gallery app, where in MIUI, deleted photos are stored there for 30 days (by default), and then permanently erased, and this method works even if you've cleared Recent or Cache.

How to open the basket:

1. Launch the Gallery app (flower icon).
2. Slip on three dots in the upper right corner → select the basket.
3. Find the right photos, highlight them with a long tap and click Restore.

If the item is not on the menu, it means:

• 🔹 You use a third-party gallery (e.g. Google Photos – check the cart there).
• 🔹 Recycle bin disabled in settings. To enable: go to Gallery Settings → Basket → Turn it on.
• 🔹 Photos were deleted more than 30 days ago or through “Store Cleanup” in Settings → Memory.

⚠️ Note: If you have been cleaning the cart manually or through SEOs (such as Security or Clean Master), this method will not work.

2. Restore via Google Photos (if synchronized)

If your Redmi 9 Note has autosynchronized with Google Photos, the chances of returning images are close to 100%.The service saves photos in the cloud even after removing them from the phone - for 60 days they remain in the Google shopping cart.

How to check and restore:

1. Open the Google Photos app (if not installed, download from the Play Market).
2. Slip on the avatar in the upper right corner → basket.
3. Select the photos and click Restore (they will return to the main gallery).

If the basket is empty, try:

• 🔍 Search Google Photos by date or location (e.g., type “beach August 2023»).
• 📁 Check the Archive folder – sometimes photos are moved there automatically.
• 🔄 Click “All Photos” and scroll through the tape manually (maybe the pictures were not deleted, but simply hidden).

⚠️ Note: If you have deleted photos from the Google Photos Recycle Bin or have gone more than 60 days, it is not possible to restore them through this service).

If sync has been disabled, but you remember that you once uploaded photos to Google Photos, check the web version of the service on your computer: photos.google.com. Sometimes there are old backups that are not displayed in the mobile application.

3.Search for hidden copies in MIUI folders

MIUI creates duplicates and thumbnails of photos in system folders that don't appear in the gallery, which can remain even after "complete" deletion, and you'll need a file manager with access to hidden directories (such as Mi File Explorer or Solid Explorer) to find them.

Where to look:

• 📂 /storage/emulated/0/DCIM/.thumbnails — Photo miniatures (may be of low quality, but you can restore the originals through special utilities).
• 📂 /storage/emulated/0/Pictures/Screenshots/.trash — Temporary copies of screenshots and some photos.
• 📂 /storage/emulated/0/MIUI/Gallery/cloud/ — Cloud sync cache (if Mi Cloud is used).
• 📂 /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.miui.gallery/cache/ — cache gallery (sometimes contain full-size copies).

How to turn on the display of hidden folders:

1. Open the Mi File Explorer.
2. Select three points → Settings → Show hidden files.
3. Go one of the ways above and look for files with the extensions.jpg,.png,.thumb.

Enable the display of hidden files in the file manager

Check the.thumbnails folder in DCIM

View the gallery cache at /MIUI/Gallery/

Search for files with a creation date that matches the deleted photos-->

If the files found have non-standard extensions (such as.nomedia or no extension), rename them to.jpg or.png and they will open in the gallery.

4. PC Recovery: Programs without root

If previous methods have failed, connect Redmi 9 Note to your computer and use specialized utilities to scan internal memory. We recommend three proven programs that work without root rights:

Step-by-step instructions for DiskDigger (the most effective option):

1. Download and install DiskDigger on PC.
2. Connect Redmi 9 Note over USB by selecting File Transfer (MTP) mode.
3. Start the program, select your device and click Next.
4. Specify the file types to search for: tick JPEG, PNG, HEIC (if shot on iPhone).
5. Select the scan method: Surface (quickly, but only finds recently deleted files) Deep (longer, but analyzes the entire memory partition).

Recover

Important: If DiskDigger can’t see the device, check if USB debugging is enabled (Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version → 7 times tap to activate Developer Mode, then Settings → Additional → For Developers → USB Debugging).

If the program finds files but they don’t open or are displayed broken:

• 🔧 Try to restore them in format. RAW (in the DiskDigger settings).
• 🖼️ Use Photoshop or GIMP repair JPEG.
• 📥 Save files on PC and check them through https://www.jpegrepair.net/.

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If DiskDigger doesn’t find a photo, try connecting your phone in PTP mode (for cameras) instead of MTP. When connecting USB, select the appropriate item in the notification on your phone.

5.Deep Recovery with Root Rights

If photos were deleted long ago or overwritten and standard methods didn’t work, the last chance is scanning memory at a low level with root rights, a risky method (may result in a loss of warranty or system failure), but sometimes it saves critical data.

What you need:

• 🔓 Unlocked bootloader on Redmi 9 Note.
• 📱 Established custom recovery (TWRP).
• 💻 Autopsy or PhotoRec program (for the Linux/Windows).

Step-by-step:

1. Unlock the bootloader via the Mi Unlock Tool (instructions at en.miui.com/unlock).
2. Install TWRP for Redmi 9 Note (download the current version from twrp.me).
3. Download to recovery: turn off the phone → pinch Power + Volume Up.
4. In TWRP, select Mount → System and connect your phone to your PC.
5. Run PhotoRec on your computer and select /data to scan: photorec /d path for save /cmd /data/free
6. After completion, check the recovered files in the specified folder.

⚠️ Warning: Do not restore files back to your phone — save them to your PC or external drive. Recording data to the same partition from which you are recovering can irrevocably damage the remaining photos.

If you are not ready to risk data, contact the Xiaomi service center - they have specialized equipment for recovery from eMMC-drives (cost of service: ~ 3-5 thousand rubles).

6.Prevention: How to avoid loss of photos in the future

To avoid the problem of deleted photos, configure Redmi 9 Note according to these rules:

• ☁️ Automatic backup: Enable sync with Google Photos (Settings) → Accounts. → Google → Sync. or use Mi Cloud (Settings) → Mi Account → Cloud → Backup).
• 📁 Duplication to memory card: In camera settings (Camera settings) → Place of Save) Select the Map SD. Or set up automatic copying from internal memory to SD via Mi File Explorer.
• 🔄 Regular export: Transfer your photos to your PC or external drive once a month. Use apps like SyncMe to automatically send them to the cloud.

Also turn off dangerous functions:

• ❌ Settings → Memory. → Cleaning the vault → Autoclean (can delete photos without confirmation).
• ❌ Optimizers like Security or Clean Master – they often erase data from the cache of the gallery.

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Even if you deleted the photo a year ago, the chances of recovery remain — as long as you don't write new data to your phone, the less you use the device after deleting, the higher the probability of success.

FAQ: Frequent questions about photo recovery on Xiaomi