How to restore deleted SMS on Xiaomi Redmi: the complete guide

Accidental deletion of important messages or a sudden system failure can be a real nightmare for the owner of the Xiaomi smartphone. In a moment of panic, it seems that data is lost irretrievably, but the Android operating system has hidden reserves to save information. Often users do not know that correspondence could be saved in the cloud storage or local cache of the application.

Before you start actively searching for missing data, you need to stop using the device actively. Any new information, whether it is an incoming message or a downloaded picture, can overwrite the memory sector where the deleted text was physically stored. In this article, we will discuss in detail all available methods, from regular MIUI tools to specialized software.

Checking the folder "Basket" in the Messages application

Starting with the updated versions of the MIUI shell and HyperOS, the standard Messages app has a built-in feature that protects against accidental deletion. It is the easiest and fastest way that does not require an Internet connection or installing third-party software. If you recently deleted the dialog, it is highly likely to be in the system buffer.

To access the hidden folder, you need to open the Messages app and find a menu icon represented by three dots or a gear in the top corner. In the list that opens, you should select the Recycle Bin or Recently Deleted one, and this stores all dialogs deleted within the last 30 days.

• 📂 Find the right dialogue in the list of deleted messages.
• 🔘 Press and hold your finger on the correspondence to highlight.
• ↩️ Select the Restore option to return to the shared folder.

It's worth noting that if you've cleaned the bin manually or more than a month has passed, this method won't work, and then the data is considered permanently erased from the visible part of the file system, but even after cleaning the bin, the theoretical possibility of recovery remains, but requires more sophisticated tools.

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Deleted messages are stored in the cart for exactly 30 days, after which the system automatically deletes them forever without the possibility of regular recovery.

Use of a backup copy of Google Drive

The Android operating system by default prompts the user to back up data in a Google account. If your Xiaomi Redmi was enabled sync, then text messages could be saved to the cloud automatically, the most reliable way that works even after resetting to factory settings.

To check for backup, go to your phone’s settings and go to Google → Backup. Here you’ll see the date of the last saved copy. It’s important to understand that recovering from the Google cloud often requires a complete device reset, as the system only offers data back when you first set up your smartphone.

The recovery process is as follows: you need to perform a full reset via the recovery menu or settings. When you re-activate the device, log in to the same Google account you used before. The system will detect an available copy and prompt to restore applications and data, including SMS-message.

⚠️ Warning: Restore from Google backup will replace the current data on the phone with the ones that were at the time of the backup creation.

Some users prefer not to reset their phone but to try to extract data from the backup file on their computer, but Android backup files are encrypted and tied to a particular device and account, making it almost impossible for third-party programs to read them without special decryption keys.

Recovery through Mi Cloud and Synchronization

Xiaomi smartphone owners have access to their own cloud service, Mi Cloud. Unlike Google, the Mi ecosystem allows you to more flexibly manage individual types of data, including messages. If you had a Mi Account account and synchronized, your SMS could fly to the cloud.

You can check for data via the web interface on your computer. Go to i.mi.com and log in to your login. From the menu, select the Messages section. If it displays your correspondence, you can copy important codes or texts manually.

To automatically return data to your phone after a reset or on a new device, it is enough to simply log into your Mi Account at the initial setting. The system will tighten the saved SMS and MMS. If you have one phone and the reset was not made, the cloud may not offer to “merge” data over the current one to avoid duplication.

It is important to consider the regional features of Xiaomi services, in some versions of firmware for the global market, the functionality of the Mi Cloud may be limited or redirected to partners, in which cases, reliance on Google Drive becomes more relevant.

Application of specialized software for PC

When standard methods fail, heavy artillery, a deep-scanning program, comes into play, and these tools can find traces of deleted files that have not yet been overwritten by new data. One popular solution is the SMS Backup & Restore app, but it is only effective if the backup was created in advance.

To search for deleted data, computer systems such as Dr.Fone, Tenorshare UltData or DroidKit are more often used. The principle of their work is to create a sector-by-sector copy of memory or request deep scanning through a debugging bridge.

Instructions for using such programs usually look like this:

• 💻 Install the selected program on a computer running Windows or macOS.
• 🔌 Connect Xiaomi Redmi with a cable USB and turn on the debugging. USB.
• 🔍 Run the scan and wait for the file system analysis.

The effectiveness of these programs depends heavily on the version of Android. On current versions of the system (Android 10, 11, 12 and above), access to low-level memory is severely limited by security policies. Without Root rights, programs often show only what is already in the phone, not what has been deleted.

⚠️ Note: Most powerful data recovery software is paid.The free versions usually only show that files can be found, but require payment to actually retrieve them.

Root rights in the recovery process

Having a superuser (Root) right makes a difference: With normal rights, access to the mmsms.db database, where all correspondence is stored, is closed to third-party programs, and once you get Root, you give the software full permission to read all sectors of internal memory.

But getting Root rights on today's Xiaomi is a complex and risky process, requiring bootloader unlocking, which automatically deletes all data from your phone for security purposes, so if you haven't already got Root, getting rights to restore old SMS is pointless, you'll lose everything.

If Root is already installed (for example, through Magisk), you can use utilities like SQLite Editor or specialized scripts to recover deleted records from the database, which requires technical knowledge and work with the command line.

adb shell


su




cd /data/data/com.android.providers.telephony/databases/




ls -la

This sequence of commands allows you to go to the database directory. However, simply having access does not guarantee success. The file system of modern smartphones uses journaling and encryption, which makes recovering dead links extremely difficult even for professionals.

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Getting Root rights after data loss will not help them to return, since the procedure of unlocking the bootloader requires a complete reset of the phone.

Table of effectiveness of recovery methods

To structure the information and choose the best strategy, consider a method comparison table that will help you understand what will work for your situation.

As the table shows, having a pre-built backup is a crucial factor: “deep scanning” methods without pre-preparedness are working increasingly poorly with each new generation of smartphones due to the strengthening of encryption protocols.

Preventing Data Loss in the Future

To never again face the problem of missing important SMS, you need to set up an automatic backup system. The human factor has not been canceled, and you should not rely on memory in this matter. Modern software allows you to configure the process so that the user will not notice its work.

It is recommended to install the SMS Backup & Restore app from Google Play, which allows you to flexibly adjust your schedule, such as making a copy every night and sending a file to Google Drive or to mail. It is critical to periodically check for these files in the cloud, as sometimes sync can silently fail due to space shortage or password change.

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Set up an automatic SMS backup email once a week – this will create an independent copy of the data outside of your phone.

Also, don’t ignore Xiaomi’s built-in tools. Check sync status regularly in your Mi Account. If you’re changing your phone or reflashing your device, always choose the option to recover from the cloud in the first minutes of a new device.

Remember that SMS is often used for two-factor authentication on banks and social networks, and losing access to a number or message history can make it difficult to restore accounts, so regularly archiving important communications is not only a matter of memory preservation, but also of digital security.