Accidentally deleting an important photo, video or document on a Xiaomi smartphone is a stressful situation familiar to many users. Fortunately, the MIUI and HyperOS operating system are designed with human factors in mind and provide several levels of protection against data loss. Before panicking or downloading questionable recovery programs, it is worth checking the built-in system folders where remote objects are placed.
In this article, we will take a closer look at where recently deleted files are on Xiaomi devices, how the Recycle Bin mechanism works across applications, and what time limits exist for data storage. Understanding the principles of the file system will help you quickly recover lost files without resorting to complex technical manipulations.
There are several recovery scenarios depending on whether you've used a standard Gallery, Explorer, or cloud service, and it's important to act quickly because file storage time in the buffer zone is limited. Let's look at the basic methods of retrieving and returning information.
The basket in the annex Gallery
The first and most obvious place to look is the Gallery app, which is built-in, and since certain versions of MIUI, developers have implemented the Recycle Bin functionality, which automatically saves deleted media files for a certain period, which works for both on-camera photos and instant messenger images.
To get into this section, open the app and go to the Albums tab. Scroll down to the very end, and you'll see a folder called "Recently Deleted," which is where your files that have been erased by the user but have not been permanently deleted by the system are stored, usually 30 days in storage.
- 📸 Open the Gallery app on the home screen.
- 📂 Go to the bottom tab of "Albums».
- ⬇️ Scroll through the album list to the bottom.
- 🗑️ Find and click on the folder “Recently deleted».
Inside the folder, you'll see all the media files with the time left until they're erased, you can select a particular photo or video, click the Restore button, and it'll return to your original album, and if you don't need the file anymore, you can force it to be deleted, freeing up space.
💡
Files in the Gallery Recycle Bin take up space in the phone’s memory until they are finally deleted or the storage period expires.
Deleted files in the Explorer
Documents, archives, and installation files (APKs) are a little different from media. The standard file manager, often called Explorer or Files, also has its own security system, but its availability and location depend on the shell version and the specific conductor application installed by default.
In new versions of HyperOS and recent MIUI updates, the recycle bin functionality is integrated directly into the system file manager, and you need to open the Files app (folder icon) to access it. You should find the Documents section or the three-bar menu in the program interface where the Recycle Bin option may be hidden.
If the standard means of finding deleted files can not be, you should pay attention to cloud services. Often users unconsciously sync folders with Google Drive or Xiaomi Cloud, where copies of files can be stored longer, checking these sources can be a salvation in a critical situation.
Why isn't there a basket in the Guide?
It is worth noting that files deleted through third-party applications (for example, through the file manager Total Commander or ES File Explorer) do not always fall into the system basket Xiaomi.
Cloud storage Xiaomi Cloud and Google Photos
If you can’t find data locally on your device, the next step is to check cloud services, which is one of the most reliable ways, since the cloud often backs up even after you delete them from your phone, putting them in your own cloud service basket.
Xiaomi Cloud (Mi Cloud) is critical for users of the Xiaomi ecosystem. Even if the gallery sync was disabled, some metadata or old copies could be saved, you can access the cloud through a browser on your computer or any other device using your Mi Account.
- ☁️ Go to the official website of i.mi.com.
- 🔐 Log in by entering the username and password from the Mi-account.
- 🖼️ Select the "Gallery" or "Files" section».
- 🗑️ Find the “Recently Deleted” item in the cloud menu.
The same is true for Google Photos, where if your phone has been synced, photos deleted from your device often stay in the Google Cloud for 60 days. Open the Google Photos app, go to the Library and select Recycle Bin, where files can stay up to 60 days, and if they were in original quality, up to 30 days.
💡
Enable autoload in Google Photos right now so that your photos will be saved automatically to the cloud in the future, even if your phone is lost.
It's important to understand the difference between deleting from the cloud and deleting from a device. If you've cleared a cart in the cloud, it's almost impossible to recover files using standard methods. So when you're working with cloud storage, always double-check where you're deleting an object from.
Reestablishment of contacts and communications
Special attention should be paid to contacts and SMS-Messages that can be even more critical than photos lost, with Xiaomi’s Contacts and Synchronization services operating on smartphones, and the recovery mechanism also being tied to cloud and local backups.
The easiest way to restore contacts is to use the Google Contacts web interface (contacts.google.com), which keeps a history of changes and allows you to roll back your contact list to 30 days ago, which works even if you didn't back up manually, as long as you keep the sync active.
If you're syncing through a Mi Account, go to your phone's settings, Mi Account, then Cloud -> Contacts, where you can have a recovery option from the cloud, and check the Security app on your phone, where local backups can be stored in the Backups section.
| Type of data | Storage area | Storage period | Method of recovery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Photos and videos | Gallery (Basket) | 30 days | Reinstate in the annex |
| Photo (Google) | Google Photo | 60 days | Through an app or website |
| Contacts | Google Contacts / Mi Cloud | Up to 30 days. | Reversing History in the Web Version |
| Files. | Conductor (rarely) | Depends on the version. | Through the file menu |
In the case of SMS-If you have not backed up in advance through Mi Cloud or third-party apps (for example, SMS Backup & Restore, restore deleted messages with standard system tools, most likely will not work.
Using third-party programs to restore
When embedded tools are powerless, specialized PC software comes to the rescue, but it is worth warning that the effectiveness of such methods on modern smartphones with Android versions above 6-7 is extremely low without superuser rights (Root).
Popular utilities like Dr.Fone, DiskDigger (Android version) or Recuva (for memory cards) can try to find traces of deleted data, and they work by looking for tails of files that have not yet been overwritten with new information, and the less you use your phone after deleting, the better the odds.
⚠️ Warning: Installing recovery apps directly on your phone can lead to the rewriting of deleted data with new application files. Use your PC to connect your phone in debugging mode USB.
If you have a MicroSD card installed on your phone, the chances of success are much higher, and you have to retrieve it, plug it into your computer through a card reader, and run a deep scan with a program like Recuva, in which case you can often get the data back in its entirety.
☑️ Actions before using software for recovery
Don’t count on the “magic” apps from Play Market that promise to recover everything with a single click, most of which either simply open access to the system basket (which we’ve already reviewed), or are paid and inefficient. Free versions often find only low-quality cached thumbnails.
Prevention of data loss and settings
The best way to combat data loss is to back it up regularly. In Xiaomi smartphones, this process can be automated to make it happen unobtrusively to the user. Setup takes a few minutes, but can save hours of nerves in the future.
It is recommended to configure the Sync Gallery with Google Photos or Mi Cloud. To do this, go to the settings of your Google account on your phone, select Sync and make sure that Google Photos is ticked. Also in the Google Photos app, turn on the Autoboot and Sync mode.
- 🔄 Set up automatic backups once a week.
- ☁️ Use the Cloud for Critical Documents.
- 💾 Repare data to an external hard drive periodically.
- 🔒 Don’t store important data in just one place.
It’s also worth checking periodically to see if contact sync is enabled, which is often overlooked when changing your phone or resetting your settings. Make sure your contacts are saved to your Google account rather than your phone’s memory (“Device”), as it’s harder to recover data from the device’s memory when the device breaks down.
💡
Regular backup is the only 100% way to protect against data loss, and no recovery program offers such guarantees as a copy in the cloud.