Recovery of deleted video on Xiaomi: from the cart to deep scanning

Deleting videos from a Xiaomi smartphone is a familiar situation. One careless tap, and valuable vacation footage, family records, or important work videos disappear from the gallery. Fortunately, in most cases, files can be returned — even if you have cleaned the cart or formatted the memory card. In this article, we will analyze all the available recovery methods, from standard MIUI functions to professional utilities, and also tell you when to contact the service center and why some methods may not work.

The rule of thumb is that the faster you start, the better the chances of success. Once you delete the video, it physically stays on the drive until it is overwritten by new data. So immediately after the incident, stop writing new files to the device - this is critical! Also pay attention to the model of your Xiaomi: on devices with UFS 3.1 (for example, Xiaomi 13 Pro or Redmi K60 Ultra), the chances of recovery are higher due to the features of memory, while on budget models with eMMC (for example, Redmi 9A), the process can be complicated.

1.A check of the basket at MIUI Gallery

The first thing you need to do is look in the gallery cart. In MIUI, deleted files are stored there by default for 30 days (on some firmware, 15 days) to find the cart:

1. Open the Gallery app (or Photos on new versions of MIUI).
2. Slap the icon «⋮» (three points) in upper right corner.
3. Select "Baskbasket" item.
4. Find the right video, click on it and select “Restore”.

If the cart is empty or the video is not there, move to the following method. Note that on some models (for example, the POCO X3 Pro), the cart may be disabled in the settings.

Settings → Applications → Gallery → Storage → Cart → Include

⚠️ Note: If you have manually cleaned your shopping cart or used third-party galleries (like Google Photos), this method will not work. ES File Manager or other file managers.

2. Recovery through backups

If your Xiaomi has automatic backup enabled, the videos may have been saved to the cloud.

• 📁 Mi Cloud: Go to Settings → Xiaomi account → Mi Cloud → Gallery. This is where you store backups of photos and videos if the feature was activated. Please note: the free rate only provides 5GB, so large videos may not be synced.
• 🖼️ Google Photos: Open the app, go to the Library» → «Recycle Bin. This is a 60-day file store, and if you upload it to the cloud, you can download it back even after you delete it from your device.
• 💾 Local backups: Some users create backups through Settings → Additionally. → Backup and reset. Check the folder. MIUI/backup/AllBackup memory-root.

If the video was deleted long ago, but you regularly made backups through the Mi PC Suite, connect your smartphone to your computer and check the archives in the program. Importantly, backups through the Mi PC Suite are encrypted, so you can not recover a separate file without a full rollback of the system.

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To avoid future data loss, set up automatic sync with Google Photos as a backup storage. To do this, go to Google Settings → Backup → Google Photos and enable the “Backup and Sync” option.

3. Use of data recovery programs

If you can't find the video in the cart or the cloud, you should use specialized tools that scan the device's memory at the file system level and recover deleted data.

To recover via computer:

1. Connect Xiaomi to your PC via USB (select File Transfer mode).
2. Install and run the selected program.
3. Select a disk (internal memory or a disk). SD-map).
4. Start a deep scan (may take several hours).
5. After completion, mark the desired videos and click "Restore".

⚠️ Note: Programs without root rights will not be able to scan the internal memory of Xiaomi – only SD-Full access requires unlocking the bootloader and installing Magisk, which cancels the warranty. MIUI 14+ This can also result in the blocking of Xiaomi’s account.

Disable synchronization with clouds|Charge your smartphone at least 50%|Use the original USB-cable|Do not connect other devices to the same port|Download the program from the official website-->

4. Recovery through ADB (for advanced users)

If the video was recently deleted and you do not have time to install third-party programs, you can try to restore files via Android Debug Bridge (ADB). This method requires the developer mode to be activated and USB-Debugging:

1. Activate Developer Mode: Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (Tap 7 times)
2. Turn it on. USB-debugging: Settings → Additionally. → For developers → Debugging by USB
3. Connect your smartphone to your PC and run the command to search for deleted files: adb shell su -c "find /storage/emulated/0/ -name '.mp4' -o -name '.mov'"
4. If you find a video, copy it to your PC: adb pull /storage/emulated/0/DCIM/Camera/video.mp4 C:\Backup\

This method only works if the file system has not overwritten the data. Xiaomi with MIUI 13+ may require additional confirmation of access via adb on the smartphone screen.

5. Contact the Xiaomi Service Center

If all previous methods did not help, and video is critical (for example, it is evidence for the court or unique footage), it is worth contacting an authorized service center Xiaomi.

• 💰 The cost of the service starts from 5 000 rubles and depends on the model of the smartphone.
• ⏳ The process can take from 3 to 10 days.
• 🔒 Recovery is not guaranteed – if data has been overwritten, even professionals won’t help.
• 📄 Passport and proof of possession of the device will be required.

On file system encryption devices (e.g. Xiaomi) 12T Or the Redmi Note 12 Pro.+) It's impossible to recover data without a password -- even in a service center. PIN-code or pattern lock, inform the specialists.

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

6. How to Prevent Future Video Loss

To avoid the problem of deleted videos, follow these guidelines:

• ☁️ Automatic backup: Set up sync with Google Photos or Mi Cloud. Google Photos allows you to choose the quality “Original” (no compression) or “High” (unlimited storage).
• 📁 Duplication by SD-Map: Save important videos to two media at once. for this purpose in the camera settings (Settings) → Storage) select "Phone Memory" + SD-map».
• 🔄 Regular backups on PC: Once a month, copy the video to your computer or external hard drive. Use Mi PC Suite or Windows Backup.
• 🚫 Caution with cleaning: Do not use the “Lastage Cleanup” features in MIUI or third-party utilities (such as CCleaner) – they can delete videos by mistakenly mistaking them for unnecessary files.

Also note the camera settings: on some Xiaomi models (e.g. Redmi Note 11 Pro+), the video defaults to HEVC (H.265) format, which not all recovery programs support. To avoid problems, change the format to H.264:

Camera settings → Video format → Select H.264 (MP4)

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The most reliable way to protect video is a combination of cloud backup (Google Photos or Mi Cloud) and local duplication on the Internet. SD-This eliminates data loss even if your smartphone breaks down.

FAQ: Frequent questions about video recovery on Xiaomi