Previous articleMissing music from Xiaomi phone: 7 ways to recover files on Android

You opened a player on your Xiaomi Redmi or POCO, and your favorite tracks disappeared? Music files disappear from Android phones for many reasons, from accidental deletion to malfunctions in the F2FS or ext4 file system that are used in the brand's smartphones. In 80% of cases, you can restore audio files without going to the service center - just know the right tools and sequence of actions.

In this article, we will discuss all the working methods for returning lost music, from checking hidden folders to using professional utilities like DiskDigger or EaseUS MobiSaver. Particular attention will be paid to the nuances of working with MIUI, where files often “hide” after system updates or cleaning the cache. If you did not make backups, do not panic: even after formatting the memory card, the chances of recovery are up to 45-60% with the right actions in the first 24 hours.

Why Xiaomi Music is Losing: 5 Reasons

Before you start recovering, it’s important to understand what exactly happened to the files. On Xiaomi smartphones (including the Redmi Note 12, POCO X5, Mi 11 models), the music most often disappears for the following reasons:

• 🗑️ Accidental Deletion: User deleted files via Explorer (Files) → Audio) or a third-party manager (e.g, ES The guide. MIUI There is no multimedia basket, so files are erased immediately.
• 🔄 Resetting: After Hard Reset (Settings) → The phone. → Resetting settings) or updates MIUI through OTA Music may “disappear” due to changing folder paths.
• 📁 Hidden system folders: files moved to.nomedia or Android/data After installing applications (for example, Spotify or Yandex Music).
• 💾 Damage. SD-If the music was stored on a microSD, the problem may be the file system damage (e.g., exFAT after the card is extracted while recording).
• 🦠 Viruses or optimizers: programs like Clean Master or Security (built-in) MIUI) Sometimes you delete "unnecessary" files, including music.

🔍 How do you determine the cause:

1. Are there files in the Internal Storage → Music or MIUI → Music folder through Explorer?
2. Whether the music is displayed in other players (e.g. VLC or Poweramp)
3. Connect your phone to your PC – can you see files through this computer?

⚠️ Note: If the music is missing after the update MIUI before 14+, Do not connect your phone to your PC through MTP (Media Transfer Protocol – This can overwrite file metadata and reduce the chances of recovery.

Method 1: Find hidden files and folders.nomedia

Often the music doesn't go away physically, but simply becomes invisible to the player because of the.nomedia file. This is a hidden file that prevents the Android media scanner from scanning the folder. On Xiaomi, it can appear after:

• 🎵 Installation of streaming services (Apple Music, Boom).
• 📱 Transfer files via Mi Mover or ShareMe.
• 🔧 Using SEOs like this MIUI Security.

How to remove.nomedia:

1. Open Files (standard Xiaomi Explorer) → press ⋮ → Settings → Show hidden files.
2. Go to folders where music used to be (e.g. Music, Download, MIUI).
3. Delete files called.nomedia (they are transparent, with a gray icon).
4. Restart your phone or manually start scanning media: Settings → Applications → Application Management → Media Storage → Storage → Clear data.

Enable the display of hidden files in the Explorer

Check the folders Music, Download, MIUI

Delete all.nomedia files

Reboot the phone or clear the data "Media storage"-->

If there are no.nomedia files but the music is still not displayed, check the Android/data folder — sometimes players save the cache of tracks there. For example, Spotify stores offline music in Android/data/com.spotify.music/files.

Method 2: Recovery through the MIUI Recycle Bin (if files have been recently deleted)

MIUI 12 and later has a built-in Recycle Bin, but it only works for files deleted through a standard File Explorer. If you erased music through another application (like Total Commander), this method will not work.

How to recover from the basket:

1. Open the Files app.
2. Slip on the basket in the bottom menu.
3. Select the required audio files (you can filter by type Audio).
4. Click Restore and select a folder (such as Music).

⚠️ Note: If you have cleaned the cart manually or through Settings → Warehouse → Clean up, files are deleted permanently, in which case you can move on to PC recovery methods.

Method 3: Using PCs and recovery software (without ROOT)

If the music is not lost because of hidden files and is not in the basket, you will have to connect the phone to the computer.

• 🖥️ EaseUS MobiSaver (free version recovers up to 2 files).
• 🔍 DiskDigger (works without it) ROOT, but with limitations).
• 📁 Recuva (only for the purpose of SD-If the music was stored on them).

The following steps are taken for EaseUS MobiSaver:

1. Connect Xiaomi to your PC via USB-cable (select File Transfer Mode (MTP)).
2. Run EaseUS MobiSaver and select Android Data Recovery.
3. Mark the type of audio files and click Next.
4. Choose an internal memory or SD-scanner.
5. After scanning, filter the results by formats (.mp3,.m4a,.flac) and restore the desired tracks.

💡 Tip: If the program does not see the phone, turn on Debugging USB:

Settings → About the phone → MIUI version (shap 7 times)


Settings → Additional → For developers → Debugging by USB

EaseUS MobiSaver

DiskDigger

Recuva

Another one (I will write in the comments)

No rebuilt.-->

Important: Don't save recovered files back to your phone -- use a PC or cloud. Recording to the same device can overwrite the remaining data.

Method 4: Reconstruction of c SD-The music (if the music is stored there)

If the music is lost from the microSD, the chances of recovery are higher — memory cards are less likely to be overwritten by the system, but you need to act quickly: after deleting the files are marked as free space, and they can be overwritten by new data.

Instructions for Recuva (free utility):

1. Extract. SD-card from your phone and connect it to your PC via card reader.
2. Start Recuva, select Audio in file type.
3. Specify the letter of your disk. SD-maps and press Analysis.
4. After scanning, mark the files with the green circle (high chances of recovery) and click Restore.

📌 What to do if the card is not determined?

• 🔌 Try another card reader or USB-port.
• 🛠️ Check the map for errors through chkdsk in the Windows Command Prompt: chkdsk E: /f (Replace E: with the letter of your disk).
• 🔄 If the card asks for formatting, do not agree - it will delete the data irrevocably.

Method 5: Recovery through backups (Google Drive, Mi Cloud, local backups)

If you set up sync, the music could be saved to the cloud or local backup. Xiaomi has three options for backup:

1. Mi Cloud: 🌐 Go to i.mi.com and log in. 📂 Open the Backups section → Choose a backup with the desired date. 🎵 Check if there is a Music folder in the archive (in backups) MIUI It doesn't always last).

Google Drive

If you’ve used Google Photos or Google One, check the Backup section in the web version of Drive. Music can be in the Backup → Audio archive.

Local backups

MIUI has a local backup feature: Settings → About Phone → Backup. If you've created a copy, connect your phone to your PC and find the backup file in the MIUI/backup/AllBackup folder.

⚠️ Limitations:

• 🚫 In the backups of Mi Cloud, music is only saved if you manually add the Music folder to your reservation settings.
• 🔒 Local backups MIUI encrypted – to extract files you need a phone from which a copy was made.

Method 6: Verification of system folders and application cache

Sometimes music is hidden in obscure places, especially if you've used streaming services or audio editors.

🔍 How to extract files:

1. Connect your phone to your PC and enable Hidden Files Show in Windows Explorer.
2. Go to one of the paths above (the Android folder may be hidden).
3. Copy files on your PC. If they are encrypted (like Spotify), use tools like Spotify bootloader to convert.

💡

If you don’t see the Android folder on your PC, update your MTP drivers via Android SDK Platform-Tools.

Method 7: Contact a service center (if nothing helps)

If all the ways are exhausted and the music is critical (e.g. unique recordings), you can try professional recovery.

• 💥 Damage to the file system after firmware through Fastboot.
• 💧 Physical memory damage (moisture, falling).
• 🔐 Delete files through ADB or TWRP.

📍 Where to go:

• Authorized Xiaomi Service Centers – Data recovery is not guaranteed, but can check the hardware.
• Data recovery laboratories (for example, HDD Recovery, Data Extractor) - take ~ 3-10 thousand rubles, but the chances are higher.

⚠️ What to say to a specialist:

• Make sure you have a logical (not physical) diagnosis.
• Tell them that files were not overwritten after deletion (this increases the odds).
• Please provide information about the phone model and MIUI version.

💡

If the music is lost after you have been firmwareed through Fastboot, do not try to restore it yourself - this can lead to the complete erasure of the userdata partition (Stable/Developer).

FAQ: Frequent questions about restoring music on Xiaomi