Xiaomi Cloud Photo Search: 5 Ways to Find Lost Photos

Why photos are missing from the Xiaomi cloud and how to get them back

You took hundreds of photos on a Xiaomi smartphone, you synced with Mi Cloud, but when you needed to find a particular image — is it not in the gallery or in the cloud? — This problem is familiar to many users of Redmi devices, POCO or Mi. The reasons can be different: from a trivial failure of sync to errors in account settings. 80% of the time, the photos are not lost forever — they just need to be searched correctly.

In this article, you will learn how to find photos in the Xiaomi cloud even if they do not appear in the standard gallery, how to recover deleted images (including those that were deleted more than 30 days ago), and why some files can disappear from the cloud after a firmware update. We will analyze all the current search methods, from basic (date and album search) to advanced (backups and API).

Important: if you use a device older than MIUI 12, some features may not be available. For owners of smartphones POCO F1, Redmi Note 8 Pro and other models of 2019-2020 release, we recommend first update to the latest version.

Method 1: Search through the official Mi Cloud web application

The most reliable way to find photos in the Xiaomi cloud is to use the web version of the Mi Cloud on a computer or other device, which works even if the smartphone is disabled sync or the gallery does not show cloud files.

To begin the search:

1. Go to i.mi.com and log in to the same Mi Account that is linked to your smartphone.
2. In the main menu, select the Gallery section (or Photos in English).
3. Use the filter panel on the left to sort by: 📅 Date (shows pictures on timeline) 📁 Albums (automatic folders such as Screenshots, Downloads or custom folders) 🏷️ Tags (if you have previously added tags to your photo) 🔍 Keywords (search by file name or EXIF-data)

If the photo is not displayed, check:

• 🔄 Synchronization status – in the upper right corner should be a green icon “Cloud is actively burning».
• 📥 Download settings – some files may not sync due to size limitations (up to 20MB of photos are downloaded by default).
• 🗑️ Recycle Bin - Deleted photos are stored there for 30 days (Section recently deleted).

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If you’re looking for photos taken on another device (like the Redmi Note 11 but browsing with the POCO X5), make sure both are tied to the same Mi Account.

Method 2: Search through the mobile application "Gallery"

If you prefer to search directly on your smartphone, use the standard Xiaomi Gallery app, which can show both local and cloud files, but you need to set the display correctly.

Search instructions:

1. Open the Gallery app and tap the icon ⋮ (three points) in upper right corner.
2. Select Settings → Xiaomi Cloud and make sure the Show Cloud Photos Switch is active.
3. Return to the main gallery menu and go to the Cloud (or Mi Cloud) tab.
4. For easy search: 📅 Click on the Calendar in the top bar to select a specific date. 🔍 Enter the request in the search bar (for example, “beach” or “beach «2023-08-15»). 📂 Switch to the Album View if you are looking for a photo from a specific folder (e.g., WhatsApp Images»).

If the gallery does not display cloud photos, try:

Sync your account manually (Settings → Xiaomi Account → Sync)

Update the Gallery app to the latest version in Google Play or App Store

Clear the cache of the gallery (Settings → Applications → Gallery → Storage → Clear the cache)

Reboot your smartphone (sometimes helps with synchronization failures)

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Attention! If you use custom firmware (like LineageOS or Pixel Experience), the standard Xiaomi gallery may not work. In this case, install an alternative app like Google Photos and link it to the same Mi Cloud account via Settings → Accounts.

Method 3: Recover deleted photos from the Mi Cloud Recycle Bin

You deleted the photos by mistake and think they're lost forever? Mi Cloud has a hidden bin where files are stored for up to 30 days after they're deleted. Here's how to recover them:

Steps to recover:

1. Go to the web version of Mi Cloud or open the Cloud section in the mobile gallery.
2. In the side menu, select the Cart (or Recently Deleted in English).
3. Check the necessary photos and click Restore.
4. Select the folder to restore (by default – Gallery or Camera).

The limitations of the Mi Cloud cart:

If photos were deleted more than 30 days ago, you can try to restore them through Xiaomi support. For this, write to the help team (Feedback section in Mi Cloud) with the exact date of deletion and file names (if you remember), In 30% of cases, specialists can return files from server backups.

Every week.

Once a month

Only when I lose something.

Never checked.

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Method 4: Search through MIUI backups

If photos are missing from the cloud but were previously on your phone, you can try to find them in MIUI backups, which automatically saves copies of the gallery when you update your firmware or reset your settings.

How to find a backup copy:

1. Go to Settings → About Phone → Backup and Reset.
2. Choose Local Backups (if copies were saved to your phone) or Cloud Backups (if Mi Cloud was used).
3. Find the most recent copy made before the photo went missing and click Restore.
4. Select only the Gallery item so as not to overwrite other data.

Important nuances:

• 🔄 Backups are created automatically once a week, but only if the phone is connected to Wi-Fi and charged more than 80 times a week%.
• 📱 Local copies are stored in a folder /MIUI/backup/AllBackup (You can view it through the file manager).
• ⚠️ Restore from backup will overwrite current photos in the gallery.

Method 5: Search through the Mi Cloud API (for advanced users)

If standard methods don’t work, you can try to find photos through unofficial access to the Mi Cloud API, which is suitable for users who know how to work with Python or Postman.

Basic steps:

1. Get access token to access API: curl -X POST "https://account.xiaomi.com/oauth/token" \ -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \ -d "client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID&client_secret=YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET&grant_type=password&username=YOUR_EMAIL&password=YOUR_PASSWORD" Replace. YOUR_CLIENT_ID, YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET and account details on your own.
2. Use the received token to request a list of photos: curl -X GET "https://cloud.mi.com/v1/feed/albums" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"
3. Download the desired files by direct links from the API response.

Attention, unofficial use of the API may result in account suspension for suspicious activity.

• 🔐 Use of official documentation API (If it is available in your area).
• 🛡️ Do not make more than 50 requests per minute.
• 📧 Create a separate Mi Account test account for experiments.

To simplify the work, you can use ready-made scripts, such as mi-cloud-bootloader on GitHub, which automate the download of all photos from the cloud, including those that are not displayed in the gallery.

Frequent problems and their solutions

If the photo is still undetected, check out these typical reasons:

Problem 1: Photos are not synced to the cloud

• 📶 Solution: Check your Internet connection. Sync only works over Wi-Fi (unless you have mobile sync option enabled).
• 🔋 Solution: Make sure the battery level is above 20% (by default, synchronization is turned off when the charge is low).
• 📱 Solution: Update the Mi Cloud app to Google Play or App Store.

Problem 2: Not all photos are displayed in the cloud

• 📁 Solution: Check if the files are hidden. In the Gallery, go to Settings → Show hidden files.
• 🔍 Solution: Use search by EXIF-For example, type in the search box camera:Xiaomi or date:2023-12).
• 🗃️ Solution: Maybe the photos are saved in another album (e.g. Screenshots or Telegram Images).

Problem 3: After resetting the photos disappeared from the cloud

• 🔄 Solution: Link the same Mi Account to your phone after the reset.Photos should appear within 24 hours.
• 📥 Solution: Check the folder MIUI/Backup/AllBackup availability of local backup copies.
• 📧 Solution: Write in support of Xiaomi with a request to restore the link of cloud data to the account.

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If you have changed your Mi Account password, cloud sync may temporarily stop. After changing your password, be sure to re-enter your account on all devices and check your sync settings in Settings → Xiaomi → Mi Cloud Account.

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions