Previous articleMissing photos from Xiaomi gallery: a complete guide to recovery

You opened a gallery on your Xiaomi, Redmi or POCO, and your favorite photos disappeared without a trace? This is a familiar situation for many users - pictures can disappear after a MIUI update, reset, sync errors or even due to bugs in the standard Gallery app. Fortunately, 90% of the time, files are not permanently deleted, but simply become unavailable for viewing.

In this article, we will discuss all possible causes of disappearance of photos and 7 working methods of their recovery - from basic (checking hidden folders) to advanced (use of the software) ADB We will focus on the nuances of working with MIUI 14/15, where the algorithms for storing media files have changed. 30 After the day of disappearance, the chances of returning pictures are close to 100%.

Before you start recovery, answer the key question: Are your photos synced to the Mi Cloud or Google Photos cloud? If so, the problem is solved in 2 minutes. If not, read on and choose the appropriate method.

1. Check hidden folders and system directories

Most often, the missing photos are simply moved to hidden system folders after updating MIUI or cleaning the gallery cache.

• 📁 /storage/emulated/0/DCIM/.thumbnails — miniatures and temporary copies
• 📁 /storage/emulated/0/Pictures/Screenshots — Screenshots (sometimes photos are included here)
• 📁 /storage/emulated/0/MIUI/Gallery/cloud/ — cloud synchronization cache
• 📁 /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.miui.gallery/ — annexes "Gallery"

To see the hidden folders:

1. Connect your phone to your PC via USB (in File Transfer mode).
2. Turn on the hidden elements: On Windows: View → Hidden elements in Explorer. On Mac: Finder → Command+Shift+.

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or

.png

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If you are using a file manager on your phone (such as Mi File Explorer), turn on the hidden files display in the app settings: Three dots → Settings → Show hidden files.

Pay special attention to the DCIM/.thumbnails folder - you can store smaller copies of the original photos (size ~10-30 KB). If you found only thumbnails, go to the section about recovery through DiskDigger - the program can restore the originals by thumbs.

2.Recovery via Mi Cloud and Google Photos

If your Xiaomi has enabled cloud sync, you can return your photos in a few clicks.

Mi Cloud (Official Xiaomi Cloud)

Go along the path: Settings → Accounts → Mi Cloud → Gallery. If the sync was active, you will see all the uploaded photos.

1. Click Download next to the desired albums.
2. Select Save to your device and specify a folder (e.g. DCIM/Camera).
3. Wait for the download to be completed and restart the Gallery app.

2.2 Google Photo.

If you have used Google Photos to back up:

1. Open the Google Photos app.
2. Go to the Library → Recycle Bin (photos are stored there for 60 days).
3. To restore, click on the photo → Restore.
4. If the photo is not in the cart, check the Archive or use the date search.

Important: Google Photos compresses photos for free storage (High Quality) To restore the originals, you must have an active subscription to Google One or backup enabled in Original Quality.

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Recovery through the Gallery application basket

The standard MIUI Gallery has a built-in cart where photos are stored 30 days after being deleted to check it out:

1. Open the Gallery app.
2. Slip on three dots in the upper right corner → Basket.
3. Select the desired photos and click Restore.

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

Reboot the phone

Check the cart in the alternative gallery (Simple Gallery, QuickPic)

Make sure that the photo is not hidden manually (in the gallery: highlight → Hide / Show)

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Why can the Recycle Bin not work? MIUI 14+ has a bug that doesn't update the Recycle Bin after manually deleting files through the file manager, in which case you can only recover photos through ADB or third-party utilities (section 5).

4.Use ADB to Recover Gallery Metadata

If the photos are physically left on the phone but not displayed in the gallery, the problem may be the damaged metadata of the MediaProvider database. ADB (Android Debug Bridge).

Be prepared first:

1. Download Platform Tools (the official package from Google).
2. Turn on USB Debugging: Go to Settings → About Phone → MIUI Version (tap 7 times to become a developer). Go back to Settings → Additional → Developer → Debugging on USB.

Connect the phone to the PC and confirm the debugging permission.

Now run commands to rebuild the database of media files:

adb shell


su




cmd media scan --volume=/storage/emulated/0

If the photos do not appear after this, try resetting MediaProvider cache:

adb shell pm clear com.android.providers.media

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The cmd media scan command forces the system to re-scan all files on the device, which helps if the gallery "can't see" the photo because of an indexing failure.

⚠️ Attention: If you are using MIUI 15 based on Android 14, some ADB-In this case, the commands may require additional permissions:

adb shell appops set com.android.providers.media android:legacy_storage ALLOW

5. Deep memory scanning programs

If previous methods didn't work, it's time for specialized utilities that scan the phone's internal memory at the file system level and recover deleted data.

Instructions for DiskDigger (the most reliable option):

1. Download DiskDigger from Google Play.
2. Run a full scan (requires root permissions for maximum efficiency).
3. Select the file type: JPG, PNG, HEIC.
4. After scanning, mark the desired photos and click Restore.
5. Save files to SD-Map or cloud (do not restore to internal memory!).

Here's what we can do:

6.1 If the discharge was through Recovery

When reset via Recovery (a menu using Volume Up + Power), the user data (/data) is not completely erased.

1. Connect your phone to your PC and scan your internal memory via PhotoRec or TestDisk.
2. Use the ADB command to extract the raw image of the userdata partition: adb pull /dev/block/mmcblk0pXX userdata.img (replace XX with the current partition number - you can find it through adb shell ls /dev/block/platform/*/by-name).
3. Open the image in DMDE or R-Studio for recovery.

6.2 If the discharge was via Fastboot

When you reset through Fastboot, the data is permanently deleted. The only chance is if:

• 🔄 You can act within the first 24 hours after the reset (data not yet overwritten).
• 💾 The phone was enabled sync with Mi Cloud or Google Photos.
• 🔧 You are ready to use the chip-off method (direct connection to the memory chip) – it is expensive and requires a specialist.

Critical information: On devices with a UFS 3.1 chip (e.g., Xiaomi 13 Pro, Redmi K60 Ultra) the chances of recovering from a Fastboot reset are close to zero due to hardware encryption at the processor level.

7.Prevention: How to avoid loss of photos in the future

To avoid missing photos, set up a reliable backup and monitor the health of your phone's memory.

Enable autosynchronization in Mi Cloud (Settings → Mi Cloud → Gallery → Autoboot)

Activate backup in Google Photos (Original quality if there is space)

Install an alternative gallery (A+ Gallery) to duplicate metadata

Regularly copy photos to PC or external SSD (once a month)

Disable Memory Optimization in MIUI (Settings → Battery → Memory Optimization → Exclusive)

Check the health of the drive using ##6484## (eMMC/UFS test)

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Additional tips for Xiaomi owners:

• 📸 Use the format. HEIF/HEIC instead JPEG — It takes up less space at the same quality, which reduces the risk of loss due to memory loss.
• 🔄 Turn off automatic cleaning of the gallery cache: Settings → Annexes → gallery → Clearing the cache → Autocleaning → Never.
• 💾 If you take pictures often, buy a class microSD card. A2 (For example, SanDisk Extreme and set up the default photo saver.

⚠️ Attention: B MIUI 15 has a Smart Cleanup feature that can delete duplicate photos without you knowing. To turn it off, go to Settings. → Warehouse → Smart cleaning → Settings → Cleaning duplicates → Otknocked..

FAQ: Frequent questions about missing photos on Xiaomi