Recovering Deleted Videos on Xiaomi Smartphones: From Cart to Deep Scanning

Deleting videos from a Xiaomi smartphone is often a nasty surprise — especially if the videos weren’t synced to the cloud or backup. Unlike photos, video files take up more space, so users are more likely to manually clean them, risking losing important points. Fortunately, the MIUI operating system and storage architecture on Android provide several ways to return deleted files — even if you’ve already emptied the cart or performed a reset.

In this article, we will look at all the current recovery methods, from standard Xiaomi tools to professional utilities that work at the file system level. You will learn how to proceed depending on scenarios: accidental deletion, formatting a memory card, firmware failure or even physical damage to the drive. We will focus on hidden MIUI folders, where you temporarily store “deleted” files until you completely overwrite, and explain why the speed of your actions directly affects your chances of success.

1.A check of the basket at MIUI Gallery

The first thing to do after deleting a video is to look into the MIUI Recycle Bin. Unlike standard Android, Xiaomi’s shell stores deleted files in a special storage for up to 30 days (setting depends on the model and firmware version), this method works even without root rights and does not require the installation of additional applications.

To open the basket:

• 📱 Open the Gallery app (icon with color circle).
• 🗑️ Slip on three dots in the upper right corner → pick the basket.
• 🔍 Scroll through the list or search by deletion date.
• 🖱️ Select the required video with a long tap → press Restore.

If the cart is empty or the video is missing, it 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.
• 🔄 Videos were deleted from the microSD card - the basket does not work for it.

⚠️ Note: In Xiaomi Redmi Note models 10/11 and POCO X3/X4 The cart is disabled by default. To activate it, go to Gallery Settings. → Basket → Turn it on.

2. Search for video through system conductor

Even if the videos are not displayed in the gallery, they can remain in the device's memory as hidden or corrupted files. MIUI System Explorer allows you to search for files by extensions and folders that the gallery ignores.

Search instructions:

1. Open the Files app (yellow folder icon).
2. Go to the Device or Internal Memory section.
3. In the search bar, type:.mp4 OR.mov OR.3gp OR.mkv (these are the main video formats on Xiaomi).
4. Check the folders: /storage/emulated/0/DCIM/ /storage/emulated/0/Movies/ /storage/emulated/0/MIUI/Gallery/cloud/

Pay special attention to the folders with a dot at the beginning of the name (for example,.trash or.nomedia) - they are hidden by default.

• 🔧 In the conductor, tap three points. → Settings → Enable Showing Hidden Files.
• 🔍 Look for files with extension.mp4.part — These are underloaded or interrupted videos that can be recovered.

⚠️ Note: If you have used the function of memory optimization in MIUI, The system could automatically delete old videos, in which case they can only be restored through specialized utilities (see section 4).

3. Recovery through MIUI backups

Xiaomi offers two types of backups that can contain deleted videos: local backups (save on the device) and cloud backups (in Mi Cloud). Local backups are created automatically when you update your firmware or manually through the Settings menu → About Phone → Backup.

How to recover video from local backup:

1. Go to Settings → About Phone → Backup and Reset → Local Backup.
2. Select the last backup (pay attention to the date of creation).
3. Click Restore and tick the Gallery or Multimedia.
4. Confirm the recovery (the process can take 10–30 minutes).

Cloud Recovery through Mi Cloud:

• 🌐 Open i.mi.com on your PC or in your phone browser.
• 🔑 Sign in with the same Mi Account as on your smartphone.
• 📁 Go to the Gallery section → Recycle Bin (stores files for up to 60 days).
• 📥 Highlight the video → Restore to the device.

If the cloud doesn’t have the files you need, check:

• 📅 Last synchronization date in Settings → Xiaomi account → Mi Cloud → gallery.
• 📦 Cloud storage size (only 5GB is available for free, the rest is subscription-based).
• 🔄 Auto Sync Settings: Videos may not be in the cloud due to Wi-Fi down or traffic savings.

💡

If you regularly clean gallery cache through applications like Clean Master, backups may get corrupted. disable automatic cleanup for DCIM and MIUI folders.

4.Programs for deep memory scanning

If standard methods don't work, you'll have to use specialized tools that scan the device's memory at a low level, and they look for signatures of video files (unique byte sequences) and restore them even after formatting. Importantly, for maximum efficiency, don't write new files to the device until you restore them, they can overwrite deleted data.

Top.-3 Xiaomi programs (with support) MIUI):

Step-by-step instructions for DiskDigger (without root):

1. Download DiskDigger from Google Play.
2. Launch the application and select Basic Scan (for root-free search).
3. Mark the file types: MP4, MOV, 3GP.
4. Click Scan the device and wait until it is completed (may take 1-3 hours).
5. View the videos you find (preview available) and save them to your PC or cloud.

For root-enabled models (such as the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra or POCO F3), deep scanning is available that analyzes not only user partitions, but also system areas.

• ⚠️ Could be disrupting work. MIUI (For example, to get lost in the setting of topics).
• ⚠️ On Dynamic Partition devices (e.g. Redmi Note) 12) This can cause an error in E:unknown command. [logical].

5. Recovery after resetting settings or firmware

If you have performed a hard reset or reflashed your device through Fastboot, the chances of returning a video are reduced, but not zero, in which case the data may remain in unaffected memory areas (for example, userdata or media) if it was not overwritten by the new firmware.

Method 1: Use of ADB (for advanced users)

Connect your phone to a PC with USB debugging enabled (Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version → 7 taps to unlock the developer menu → turn on USB debugging).

adb shell


su




dd if=/dev/block/bootdevice/by-name/userdata of=/sdcard/userdata.img

This command will create a userdata partition image that can be scanned on a PC using Autopsy or PhotoRec.

Method 2: Contacting a service center

If the videos are critical (e.g., court evidence or unique footage), contact the authorized Xiaomi service with a request for chip-off recovery. Specialists will remove the memory chip and read its contents on the programmer. The cost of the service: from 5 000 to 20 000 rubles depending on the model.

• 📍 Services Addresses: Xiaomi's official website.
• ⏱️ Recovery period: 3-7 days.
• 💾 Success: Up to 80% for devices without physical damage NAND-chip.

⚠️ Note: Do not use programs like KingRoot or Magisk to recover from a reset, they rewrite boot and system partitions, which can irretrievably destroy the remaining data.

6.Loss prevention: how to protect video in the future

To avoid repeat situations, set up Xiaomi to automatically back up and use cloud services. Here are 5 key recommendations:

• ☁️ Enable autosynchronization with Mi Cloud: Settings → Xiaomi account → Mi Cloud → gallery → Set a mobile download limit (e.g. 50MB) to avoid heavy traffic.
• 🔄 Set up local backups: Settings → The phone. → Backup → Local backups → Weekly
• 📁 Use the folder. DCIM/Protected: Move important videos there – they won’t be deleted when you clear the cache.
• 🔗 Sync with Google Photos: Install the app → Settings → Backup and synchronization → Free 15 GB (video compression before) 1080p).
• 💾 Regularly copy the video to PC via MTP Xiaomi File Manager.

For models with OTG support (for example, Xiaomi 13 Pro or Redmi K50) you can use standalone drives:

• 📀 SanDisk Ultra Dual Drive (USB-C + USB-A) — quick-copy.
• 🖥️ WD My Passport Wireless – Creates its own Wi-Fi backup network.

💡

Even if the video is removed from the gallery, it can remain in the device’s memory for up to 30 days – the main thing is not to write new files or reset settings.

FAQ: Frequent questions about video recovery on Xiaomi