Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphone owners often face the unpleasant situation of trying to open an image in the gallery, when an error message appears.The system can claim that the file type is not supported, or claim that the image is damaged. This happens suddenly, for no apparent reason, and can affect both old photos and newly taken photos.
This problem often causes panic, as users fear losing important moments captured on the camera of the device. However, in most cases, the data did not disappear physically, but only stopped showing correctly due to logical failures in the file system or software conflict. Understanding the nature of the error is the first step to successfully restore access to media files.
In this article, we will discuss in detail the causes of read errors on MIUI and HyperOS devices, and provide a step-by-step algorithm for correcting the situation, learn how to distinguish software glitches from physical damage to the memory card and learn how to restore access to archives without loss of quality.
Reasons for the error of reading files on Xiaomi
The main reason for the file-damaged or type-not supported notification is the violation of the image header structure. When you take a picture, the smartphone processor encodes the information into JPEG or HEIC format, recording metadata. If there is a power failure or system crash at that point, the file is written incorrectly.
Another common reason is codec incompatibility: Modern Xiaomi smartphones often use the high-performance HEIF/HEIC format to save space, and when transferring such files to older computers or devices with an outdated version of Android, the system cannot decode the image and gives a support error.
It's also worth considering the physical state of the drive, because if you use a microSD card, it could have run out of rewrite cycles, and in that case, the sector where the photo is stored becomes unreadable, and the operating system interprets this as file corruption.
⚠️ Warning: If the error appears massively in all new photos, immediately stop shooting and make a backup copy of the data. This may indicate the imminent failure of the built-in smartphone drive.
Sometimes the problem is application conflict: Third-party photo editing software or memory cleaners can change file attributes, making them invisible to the standard MIUI gallery.
Basic methods of restoring access to photos
Before you go to a complex technical solution, try a series of simple steps that help 80% of the time, and the first step is to reboot the device, which is clears the cache of system processes that could have stalled and blocked the normal operation of the media scanner.
If the reboot didn't help, try opening the problematic image through another explorer or gallery.There are plenty of alternative viewers available in the Google Play or GetApps store that have their own codecs and can ignore minor errors in the file structure.
- 🔄 Restart your smartphone in Safe Mode to eliminate the impact of third-party apps.
- 📂 Use the built-in Explorer app instead of the gallery to search for a copy of the file.
- 📸 Send a photo to yourself in the messenger (Telegram, WhatsApp) – the server often automatically converts the image into a readable format.
- 🗑️ Clear the cache of the "Gallery" application through the system settings.
Another effective method is to rename the file, sometimes the system is hampered by an extension or hidden characters in the name, try changing the extension from.jpg to.jpeg or simply adding a digit at the end of the file name through the file manager.
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If none of the basic methods worked, try connecting the phone to your computer in file transfer mode (MTP) and copy the image to your PC hard drive. Windows is often able to read a file that doesn't open on Android.
Use of built-in MIUI and Google Photos
Xiaomi’s ecosystem offers powerful media tools that users often ignore: First of all, check the Xiaomi Cloud or Google Photos. If synchronization was enabled, the original image could be saved to the cloud intact even if the local copy is corrupted.
There's a recovery feature in the Gallery app on HyperOS. Go to the Recently Deleted or Archive album. Sometimes the system automatically tags the file as corrupt, but saves it back up in the service folders. It's also worth checking the shooting format settings.
Go to the camera settings and find "Format." If HEIF is selected, try switching to JPEG or Ultra HDR (if available), which will prevent compatibility issues in the future.
Google Photos has a more advanced decoding algorithm than the standard MIUI gallery. Open the image through it. If the photo is displayed, use the Save to Device or Create a Copy function to overwrite the file with the correct structure.
Checking the memory card and file system
If your photos are stored on an external MicroSD card, the probability of error is significantly increased, memory cards are prone to fragmentation and the appearance of broken sectors. For diagnostics, remove the card and paste it into the computer through the card reader.
On your computer, run error check. On Windows, this is done through the disk properties. Right-click on the disk, select "Properties", go to the "Service" tab and click "Check". The system will try to correct the logical errors of the file system.
| Symptoms. | Probable cause | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Photos don't open on the phone alone. | Android/MIUI software failure | Cache cleanup, application settings reset |
| Errors on all devices | Damage to a file or card | Recovery via PC, formatting |
| Files are partially opened (artifacts) | Incomplete data recording | Use of repair programmes |
| The map is not defined by the system | Physical card breakdown | Replacement of the drive |
If your computer can’t read files or needs formatting, use specialized data recovery tools like Recuva or DiskDigger that can ignore damaged sectors and pull out surviving information.
☑️ Diagnostics of memory card
Convert and repair damaged files on PC
When embedded methods are powerless, desktop programs come to the rescue, the computer has more computing power and more flexible tools to work with binary image data, and the easiest way is to try to open a file in a graphics editor.
Programs like Adobe Photoshop or free GIMP can often open "battered" files without ignoring damaged sections of the header, and once opened, simply save the image again under a new name, and the structure of the file will be restored.
There are specialized JPEG repair utilities, such as JPEG Repair Shop or Stellar Repair for Photo. They analyze the structure of a file, compare it to a reference one, and try to rebuild damaged code segments.
⚠️ Warning: Never save a recovered file over the original. Always create a new copy so that if you fail, you have the raw material to experiment with.
If the file has an exotic extension or RAW format that the phone stopped understanding after the update, use the converter.The XnConvert program allows you to (package) process hundreds of photos, bringing them to a single JPEG standard with compatible parameters.
Preventing and setting up Xiaomi camera
To minimize the risk of future errors, it is recommended that you adjust your shooting settings correctly. Avoid recording photos in RAW format if you do not plan to process them professionally. These files take up a lot of space and are more sensitive to recording errors.
Regularly defragment (indirectly) by fully copying data to a PC, formatting a memory card, and returning files back, this aligns the file table and eliminates fragmentation that often leads to damage to large files.
Why are photos damaged when the battery is discharged?
Also, keep an eye on the memory space. When more than 90% of the internal storage is full, the write speed drops, and the risk of file system errors increases dramatically. Try to keep 5-10 GB free.
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Regular backup to the cloud or external hard drive is the only guaranteed way to avoid losing photos if your phone’s file system is damaged.