Where did the music from the phone Xiaomi Redmi 9: search and recovery

The situation when after another system update or a simple reboot Xiaomi Redmi 9 stops seeing music files, causes confusion for many users. It would seem that the files are not gone anywhere, take up space in memory, but the standard MIUI Music player or third-party applications like Poweramp show an empty playlist. This is a common problem associated with the features of the MIUI shell and the indexing system of Android media files.

Tracks are often physically on the device, but the system mistakenly tags them as hidden or does not scan the folders to which they were moved. In some cases, the culprit is a malfunction of Media Storage, the system component responsible for cataloging content. Also, the human factor should not be excluded: files could be accidentally moved to nested directories or hidden by privacy settings.

In this detailed guide, we’ll look at all the possible causes of audio files disappearing on Redmi 9 and suggest step-by-step solutions: You’ll learn how to properly configure your media scanner, use hidden system functions, and avoid common errors when working with your smartphone file system.

Checking the availability of files through the file manager

The first step in diagnosing the problem is to confirm the physical presence of audio files in the device’s memory. Often users panic ahead of time, relying only on the display of tracks in the player, whereas files can simply be scattered across different directories after a crash or update of the bootloader application.

Open the standard Explorer (or File Manager) app and go to Audio. If it's empty, don't get upset. Click on the folder icon at the top of the screen to switch to all folder viewing mode. You need to manually check the main directories: Music, Download, Telegram/Audio or WhatsApp/Media if the tracks were downloaded via instant messengers.

⚠️ Note: If files are displayed in the file manager but have a gray icon or are not opened, the file system may be damaged or SD-In this case, copy the important data to the computer before further manipulation.

For a deeper search, use the size or date sorting feature to help you find recently downloaded or relocated compositions that may have been lost in the system debris. Make sure the file format is supported by the system, although Redmi 9 reads most popular codecs without installing additional plugins.

• 🔍 Check the Download folder, where files from the browser are often saved by default.
• 📂 Look for files with extension.mp3,.FLAC or.WAV at the root of internal memory.
• 📱 Use keyword search in the top line of the explorer to quickly find tracks.
• 💾 If you use a memory card, remove it and check on the computer for errors.

It's important to understand that not having files in a standard Music pack doesn't mean losing them. MIUI allows you to store media files in random places, but the player only scans certain directories by default. If you change the way you save them in a music service or bootloader, the files could settle in a new, unindexed folder.

The problem of hidden folders and the file.nomedia

One of the most common reasons why the music on Xiaomi Redmi 9 is missing is the presence of a special system file called.nomedia. This blank file serves as a command for the Android operating system: “ignore media files in this folder.” Its presence is often the result of third-party applications or errors when transferring data.

To fix this problem, you need to enable the display of hidden files. In Explorer, click on the three dots in the menu corner and select Settings. Find "Show hidden files" and activate it. After that, carefully examine the folders where the music should be located. If you see a.nomedia file, just delete it.

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After deleting the.nomedia file, be sure to restart your phone or clear the Media Storage app cache so that the system scans the folder again and adds tracks to the library.

Sometimes users accidentally create files themselves, trying to hide photos or videos, but forget about the consequences for the music library. It is also worth checking the attributes of folders: some file managers allow you to hide folders without creating special files, which also leads to the disappearance of tracks from the view of standard applications.

If you can't find a.nomedia file even with hidden object mode enabled, try creating it artificially in a music folder and then deleting it. This action sometimes forcibly triggers the re-indexing process in certain versions of MIUI, forcing the system to re-attract the contents of the directory.

• 👁️ Enable the display of hidden files in the Explorer settings.
• 🗑️ Find and delete the.nomedia file in the music folders.
• 🔄 Rename the music folder, add a character at the end of the name, and then return it as it was.
• 📂 Move files to a new folder with a name, for example, MyMusic_New.

Settings of the Music and Media File Scanner

The second biggest reason for the loss of tracks is the settings of the MIUI Music app itself. In recent versions of the MIUI shell, scanning algorithms have become more stringent in order to comply with copyright and optimize performance, and the player may simply "not see" folders unless they are added to exceptions or selected manually.

Go to the Music app, click on the menu icon (three bars or dots) and select Settings. Find the Music Folder section or Select Folders to scan. Here you will see a list of all directories on your Redmi 9. Make sure the switches opposite the folders with your tracks are activated. If the desired folder is not in the list, use the Add folder button and specify the path manually.

It’s also worth checking the app’s permissions. Go to Settings → Apps → All Apps → Music → Permissions. Make sure that access to Files and media is allowed. Without that permission, the app won’t be able to physically read the contents of the memory, even if the files are there.

Remember that Xiaomi has an aggressive power saving system. If the music app was closed by the system to save power, it might not have completed the background scan of new files. Add the player to the battery exception list to make it work properly.

Media Storage malfunctions and cache cleaning

The Media Storage system process is responsible for creating a database of all the media files on the device, and that's the database that the player accesses when you open the list of songs, and if that process fails, the database may or may not be updated, leaving the music out of sight.

To correct this, clear the system component’s data and cache. Go to Settings → Applications → All applications. In the upper right corner, click on three dots and select Show System Processes. Find Media Storage in the list. Go inside and click Clear → Clear Everything (or Reset).

After this procedure, the phone may behave unusually: it may start to warm up or work slowly for 10-20 minutes. It's normal for the system to re-scan the entire memory and rebuild the database. Don't interrupt this process and let the device finish.

⚠️ Attention: Media Storage does not delete your files (photos, music, videos), it only deletes the index (list).However, in rare cases, album covers or track order can get lost, so patience after a reboot is necessary.

If the problem persists, try to force the Media Storage process to stop before cleaning, sometimes by repeating the cleaning procedure twice with an intermediate reboot, ensuring that the old erroneous records are completely removed from the system cache.

Conflicts with cloud services and third-party players

Modern smartphones, including Redmi 9, often sync with cloud services such as Google Play Music (if still in use), YouTube Music or the Mi Cloud. Sometimes sync settings are set so that local files are hidden in favor of cloud, or vice versa – the cloud library blocks access to local files due to conflict versions.

Check your Google account settings and Mi Account. Make sure that Download Music or Sync Library doesn’t block local tracks from being displayed. The Google Play Music app (or its analogues) often has a Cloud Only switch that you need to turn off to see files on a memory card or in internal storage.

It is also worth testing playback through a third-party player, such as VLC or AIMP. If the music is displayed and played normally in a third-party application, then the problem lies solely in the settings or bug of the standard MIUI Music application, in which case updating the application through GetApps or Google Play can solve the problem.

• ☁️ Check your sync settings in Mi Cloud and Google One.
• 📱 Install a third-party player (VLC, Poweramp to check file availability.
• 🔄 Update the Music app to the latest version in the app store.
• 🚫 Turn off the function "Hide matching tracks" in the player settings.

Frequent Questions (FAQ)