Recovering Deleted Photos on Xiaomi: From Recycle Bin to Deep Scanning

Why are photos disappearing from Xiaomi and can they be returned?

Deleting photos on Xiaomi smartphones is one of the most painful problems for users. The reasons for losing photos range from accidentally clicking “Delete” to firmware failures or damage to the memory card. Fortunately, in most cases, files do not disappear permanently — they can be restored if you act quickly and correctly.

Modern Xiaomi devices (from Redmi Note 10 to Xiaomi 14 Ultra) use several data protection mechanisms: a shopping cart in the gallery, automatic backup in the Mi Cloud, and even hidden system folders where “deleted” files are temporarily stored. However, the longer you delay recovery, the greater the risk that new data will overwrite old ones, for example, after deleting a photo, it remains in the device’s memory until another file takes its place – this is called “soft deletion”.

In this article, we will analyze all the current ways to restore photos on Xiaomi in 2026, including little-known tricks with the help of the new model. ADB Features of working with different file systems (F2FS, ext4). Important: the effectiveness of methods depends on the model of the phone, version MIUI Type of storage (internal memory or microSD).

Method 1: Recovery from the Xiaomi Gallery Cart

The easiest and fastest method is to check the shopping cart in the standard Gallery app, and starting with MIUI 12, all deleted photos and videos are automatically moved to the cart, where they are stored for 30 days (on some models, up to 60 days), after which they are deleted irrevocably.

How to restore:

• 📱 Open the Gallery app (icon with colored squares).
• 🗑️ Slip on three dots in the upper right corner → pick the basket.
• 🔍 Scroll down the list or search by date.
• ↩️ Select the files you need. → Click Restore (Icon with an arrow up).

If the basket is empty, check:

• 🔄 Have you turned on Cart Cleaning manually in the gallery settings (Settings) → Basket → Auto-cleaning).
• 📁 Have you deleted the photo through Explorer or third-party file managers (for example, ES Explorer - they bypass the gallery basket.
• 🛠️ Have you been resetting (Settings)? → The phone. → Resetting settings) – this clears the basket.

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On some models (e.g. POCO F5), the cart is hidden. To see it, update the Gallery via Google Play or go to Settings → Apps → Gallery → Storage → Clear the cache.

Method 2: Recovery via Mi Cloud (Xiaomi Cloud)

If your Xiaomi has automatic backup enabled, the chances of returning a photo are much higher.Mi Cloud service saves copies of photos, contacts and notes, but there are nuances:

• 📤 By default, only photos taken on the main camera are reserved (screenshots and images downloaded from the Internet may not be saved).
• 📅 Storage period – up to 90 days for a free account (5 GB).
• 🔒 If you logged out of your Mi Account or dropped your phone, access to the cloud could be lost.

Instructions for remediation:

1. 🌐 Go to i.mi.com or open the Mi Cloud app on your phone.
2. 🔑 Sign in with the same account that was linked to the phone at the time of the photo deletion.
3. 📷 Select the Gallery section → Remote (or basket).
4. 💾 Click Restore next to the desired files or highlight them and select Download.

If the photo is not in the cloud basket, try:

• 🔍 Search by date or keyword (e.g. beach, 2023).
• 📂 View Archival Backups: Settings → Mi Cloud → Backup → History of copies.

Method 3: Restore via Google Photos (if synced)

Many Xiaomi users don’t know that Google Photos can be more reliable than Mi Cloud, and if the phone has been synced to Google, you can return deleted photos after a few months.

How to check:

1. 📱 Open the Google Photos app (if not, install it from Play Market).
2. 🔍 Go to the Library section → Recycle bin (photos stored there for 60 days).
3. 🔄 If the basket is empty, try searching by date or place (e.g. Moscow, summer 2023).
4. 💾 To restore, click on the photo → Restore.

Features:

• 📌 Google Photos saves all images, including screenshots and downloaded from instant messengers.
• 📊 Free storage is limited to 15 GB (on all Google services).
• ⚠️ If you delete photos from Google Photos manually, they will not be returned.

Method 4: Deep scanning programs (if the basket is empty)

If you don't find a photo in the cart or the cloud, you'll have software recovery from internal memory or microSD, and this works because when you delete it, it doesn't physically erase it, it's just labeled "free."

• ⚠️ New data (photos, videos, updates) can overwrite deleted files.
• ⚠️ On phones with encryption (for example, Xiaomi) 13T s MIUI 14+) Recovery is almost impossible without root rights.
• ⚠️ MicroSD cards with exFAT file system recover worse than FAT32.

The best recovery programs:

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

1. 📱 Install DiskDigger from Play Market (requires Android 5.0)+).
2. 🔍 Run a full scan (not fast!).
3. 📂 Select the Internal Storage section or SD Card.
4. 🖼️ After scanning, mark the desired photos (formats.jpg,.png,.heic) and click Recover.
5. 💾 Save files on Google Drive or PC (not on the same phone!).

✅ Turn off mobile internet and Wi-Fi on your phone

✅ Do not install new applications

✅ Use the original. USB-cable

✅ Enable file transfer mode (MTP)

✅ Don't format a memory card-->

⚠️ Warning: If the phone gives a "No storage access" error when scanning, it means that the manufacturer (Xiaomi) has blocked low-level access, in which case only a connection to the PC via a PC will help. ADB or rooting.

Method 5: Recovery through ADB (for power users)

If standard methods don't work, you can try extracting photos through Android Debug Bridge (ADB), which is a method for advanced users, because it requires working with the command line, and the advantage is that you can access files that are not visible through the Explorer.

What you need:

• 🖥️ Computer with Windows/Linux/macOS.
• 🔌 USB-cable (preferably original).
• 🛠️ Utility. ADB Platform Tools.
• 📱 On the phone: Settings → The phone. → Version. MIUI (Press 7 times to enable Developer Mode, then Settings → Additionally. → For developers → Debugging by USB.

Recovery teams:

adb shell


su




cd /storage/emulated/0/DCIM




ls -la | grep ".jpg" # search for JPG- files




exit




adb pull /storage/emulated/0/DCIM/Camera/ C:\Xiaomi_Photos # copying to PC

If the files are not displayed, try searching by temporary folders:

adb shell


find /storage/ -name ".jpg" -o -name ".png" 2>/dev/null

⚠️ Note: Su and find commands require root rights. On new Xiaomi models (such as Xiaomi 14), root is difficult to obtain due to a blocked bootloader. TWRP (Custom recovery, but this will void the warranty.

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ADB is the only way to retrieve photos from phones where storage access via MTP is disabled (for example, after a firmware is reset or damaged).

Method 6: Contact Xiaomi Service Center

If all previous methods failed, the last chance is the official service center, Xiaomi provides data recovery services, but with reservations:

• 💰 Cost: 3,000 to 10,000 ₽ depending on the complexity.
• ⏳ Time: 3-7 days (sometimes longer if you need to work with a memory chip).
• 🔒 Warranty: Data recovery does not apply to warranty obligations (i.e. if the phone is warranty, it will remain in place).
• 📌 Success: ~60-70% for internal memory, ~80% for microSD.

What to do before visiting the service:

• 📋 Write down the serial number (Settings) → The phone. → General information).
• 🔐 Don’t say you’ve tried to recover your data yourself (this can make it harder to do so).
• 📂 If the photo was on the memory card, take it with you (sometimes services recover data only from it).

The addresses of official Xiaomi service centers in Russia can be found on the website mi.com/ru/service. Check by phone before visiting whether they provide data recovery services – not all centers do this.

What NOT to do after removing the photo

Mistakes that reduce the chances of recovery to zero:

• 🚫 Format a memory card or internal memory (Settings) → Warehouse → Clean up).
• 🚫 Install cache cleaners (e.g., CCleaner or SD Maid – they can overwrite deleted files.
• 🚫 Reset to factory settings (Settings) → Resetting settings).
• 🚫 Record new photos/video on your phone or update your firmware.
• 🚫 Connect your phone to public charging (risk of virus infection that could damage your data).

If you have already made one of these mistakes, the chances of recovery drop dramatically, in which case you only need to go to specialized laboratories (for example, Data Recovery or Hetman Software), where professional hardware is used to read memory chips.

FAQ: Frequent questions about photo recovery on Xiaomi