Losing important emails or photos in the messenger is always stressful, especially if the information was working or had personal value. Xiaomi smartphone owners often face features of the MIUI or HyperOS shell, which can handle file access and backup rights in different ways. Fortunately, the architecture of Android and the WhatsApp application itself provides several levels of data protection, which gives high chances of successful recovery.
In this article, we’ll go into all possible scenarios in detail, from standard recovery from the Google Drive cloud to advanced methods of working with local copies of the database. You’ll learn how to proceed if the phone was reset to factory settings or if you simply reinstalled the application on a new device. Understanding the folder structure on the Android system will allow you to not depend solely on cloud services.
Before you start taking action, you need to evaluate the current situation, and it's important to understand whether the automatic backup was enabled when it was last done, and whether you have physical access to files on your device. Data recovery is a delicate process, and proper preparation will help you avoid permanent loss of information.
Checking for backups in Google Drive
The most common and easy way to return correspondence is to use cloud storage. By default, the application is set to create daily copies at 2 a.m., but this setting may have been changed or disabled by the user before. First, you need to make sure that the Google account associated with the Xiaomi phone contains the current backup.
Open the Google Drive app on your smartphone and go to the settings menu. Find the Backups section and check for a WhatsApp record. This will show the date of last saved and the approximate size of the space occupied. If the date corresponds to the period before the messages were deleted, then your data is safe.
It is important to consider that recovery from the cloud requires a stable connection to the Wi-Fi network, as the amount of data can be significant. Also make sure that the phone has enough free memory to unpack the archive.
- 📱 Open the Google Drive app and click on the menu icon (three bars).
- 💾 Select “Backups” and find your WhatsApp account in the list.
- 📅 Check the date of the last copy – it should be up to date.
- 🔋 Make sure your phone is at least 50% charged and connected to Wi-Fi.
If there is nothing on the backup list or the date is too old, don't panic. The Android operating system installed on Xiaomi often retains local copies of the database, which may be even newer than the cloud ones. This is especially true if you deleted messages today and the cloud backup was made last night.
Using local copies of the database on Xiaomi
WhatsApp automatically creates local database backups on your Xiaomi smartphone’s internal drive every morning at 02:00, which are stored for 7 days, after which the oldest is deleted, meaning you have the option to revert to the state of correspondence for any of the last seven days.
You will need a file manager to access these files. Xiaomi smartphones are best served by using the standard Files Explorer or the more advanced MI File Manager. The path to the database may vary depending on the Android version. On newer OS versions (Android 11 and above), the path has changed due to security constraints.
⚠️ Attention: On Android 11+ file-access Android/media You may need to grant special permissions to the file manager or use a computer to access these files through a file manager. USB-cable.
Find a file called msgstore.db.crypt14 (the number at the end may differ, for example, crypt12 or crypt15, depending on the version of the application). This is your database. If you want to recover yesterday's correspondence, you need to find a file with a date in the title, for example, msgstore-2023-10-25.1.db.crypt14.
The path for Android 10 and below:
Internal Storage/WhatsApp/Databases/
The path for Android 11 and higher:
Internal Storage/Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp/Databases/To get the system to see this file when reinstalled, rename the main file msgstore.db.cryptXX (current) to msgstore.db.current, and rename the selected copy with the date to msgstore.db.cryptXXX, removing the date from the name.
☑️ Preparation of local backup
Data reinstallation and recovery process
Once you have prepared the backup file (or made sure it was cloud-based), the reinstallation phase is critical, because it's the first time you run it after you install it that the application looks for the files to recover, and if you skip that step, the application will create a new empty database, and it will be much harder to recover old messages.
Remove the current WhatsApp app from your Xiaomi. Then go to Google Play Market or GetApps and download the latest version of the messenger. Launch the app and enter the same phone number you used before. This is a must, because the binding goes to the number.
Once you enter the number and receive the confirmation text, the system will detect a backup, a screen will appear with the suggestion to "Restore." Press the "Restore" button immediately before you get to the chat list. If you click "Miss", the process will have to start again with the removal of the application.
| Type of copy | Where it's stored | Relevance | Conditions required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Drive | Google Cloud | Up to 1 day (usually) | Internet, Google account |
| Local (automatic) | Phone memory | Up to 7 days. | Access to files |
| Local (manual) | Phone/PC memory | Date of establishment | Manual copying |
| Chat exports | File.txt/.zip | Text/media only | Manual import to new chat |
The recovery process can take anywhere from minutes to an hour, depending on the size of your correspondence history and the speed of your Internet connection (for media files).Do not close the application or lock the screen during this procedure to avoid recording errors.
What to do if the recovery is suspended?
Recovery of individual media files and documents
Often users are looking for a way to return not the text of the correspondence, but specific photos, videos or documents that were sent in the chat. In Xiaomi’s MIUI shell system, media files are saved to a separate folder, and even if the message in the chat is deleted, the file can remain in the phone’s memory if the “Delete from me” option was not selected with the storage cleanup.
Use the built-in Gallery app or file manager. Go to the albums and find the WhatsApp Images or WhatsApp Video folder. There is often a hidden Private folder inside, where files deleted from the chat but stored in the gallery go. Also check the Recently Deleted folder in the gallery itself - files are stored there for 30 days.
To search for documents, use a file manager and sort by file type. Filter documents (PDF, DOC, XLS) and sort by date of change. Often the file you want can be found in the Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Documents folder.
- 📂 Open the Files app on Xiaomi.
- 🔍 Go to the "Documents" or "Images" section».
- 📅 Sort files by date to find lost data.
- ♻️ Check the gallery cart for remote media.
If files have been deleted from the “Recently deleted” folder, they cannot be restored by standard methods, in which case specialized programs for recovering data from the PC can help, but their effectiveness is not guaranteed, especially if a long time has passed since the deletion and the memory has been overwritten with new data.
Solving Common Problems in Recovery
Despite the smoothness of the process, Xiaomi users may encounter specific errors. One of the most common problems is the message “Can’t find a backup”, although Google Drive does. This is often due to the fact that when you install, you are logged into a different Google account or using a different version of the application (for example, WhatsApp Business instead of the usual one).
Another problem is the lack of space. Recovery requires that the free space on the phone be about 2-3 times the size of the backup itself, since the system needs space for temporary files and unpacking the archive. Clear the cache or delete unnecessary applications before starting the procedure.
⚠️ Note: If you use custom firmware or have received Root rights to Xiaomi, standard database paths can be changed and access rights limited, in which case recovery from local copy may not work without manually moving files to system directories.
Also, it's worth remembering version compatibility: If you backed up on a very new version of WhatsApp and you install an old version from a third-party source, the recovery process can end in error.
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Use two-factor authentication. Even if you restore messages, without a two-factor protection pin, you won't be able to log in to your account on a new device for 7 days. Make sure you remember the code or have access to your email.
Preventing Data Loss in the Future
To no longer have to worry about how to recover deleted messages, you need to set up automatic backup correctly. Go to WhatsApp settings, select Chats -> Chat Backup. Set the Daily frequency and make sure you select the right Google account.
Xiaomi owners will benefit from setting up sync via Mi Cloud for folders with media files, although WhatsApp itself does not back up text messages there. This will create an additional layer of protection for photos and videos. Also periodically make manual backups before major system or firmware updates.
Check regularly if automatic copy creation works. Sometimes, after updating the system, access rights can be reset and backups will stop being created. A simple once a month check on Google Drive will take a minute, but will save your data at a critical moment.
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Regularly checking the status of a cloud backup is the only reliable way to ensure the preservation of the history of correspondence in the long run.