How to Recover All Data on Your Phone After Resetting Xiaomi

When you accidentally click the Reset button or your phone goes into a reboot with a complete cleanup, it causes panic, leaving important work documents, rare photos and correspondence that seemed lost forever, but there are many hidden backup mechanisms in the Xiaomi and Android ecosystem that most users do not even know about.

One thing you need to be clear about before you give up is that data recovery is only possible if it has been synchronized or saved in cloud storage. Physically deleting files from internal memory without backing up makes it extremely difficult, but not always impossible, to return them. In this article, we will examine all the available methods, from simple cloud checks to the use of specialized software.

It's important to act quickly and consistently. The less you use your phone after a reset, the better the chances of a successful return, as new data can overwrite the memory sectors where deleted files were stored. We'll look at the algorithms for different versions of the MIUI shell and HyperOS, and discuss the nuances of working with a Google account.

Primary Diagnostics and Verification of Cloud Services

The first step should always be to carefully check the cloud storage associated with your account. Often users forget that they have automatic gallery or contacts sync enabled, and look for files in the device’s memory, although they have long been stored on servers. Xiaomi smartphone owners should first pay attention to Mi Cloud, which is integrated into the system by default.

To access the data, go to the settings menu and select your Mi Account, which displays the synchronization status of various components, from notes to voice recorders, and if the slider in front of the desired partition was active prior to reset, your data is secure and ready to download.

⚠️ Note: If you logged in to a new Mi Account or created a new one after a reset, the old data will not automatically appear.

Google's services are not to be ignored either, photos are often sent to Google Photos, and contacts are saved in the Gmail address book, and checking these services through a browser on a computer can give a more complete picture than viewing from a small screen of a phone immediately after reinstallation.

Recovery through Mi Cloud and Local Backups

Xiaomi's regular backup tool is one of the most convenient in the industry, allowing you to create complete copies of the system, including application settings and desktop layout. If you used Local Backup before reset, then on internal memory or SD-The card could have been left with a file with the extension.bak, which survived the reset settings.

To check for a local copy, you need to use the hidden engineering test menu or the standard conductor. Enter the ##6485## command in the Phone app or go to the phone settings and repeatedly click on the kernel version to open a special menu. However, the easiest way to go to the settings is to find the item "Restore from local copy".

If a backup file is found, the system will prompt you to select data to recover, you can only return contacts and messages, or deploy a full copy of applications. The process can take a long time, so make sure that the battery is at least 50%.

• 📂 Open "Settings» → «The phone» → «Reservation and rehabilitation».
• 🔄 Select the tab “Mobile Device” or “Mi Cloud” depending on the source.
• 📥 Click on the desired backup file and select “Restore».

In the case of Mi Cloud, the process is even easier: once you log in, the phone will prompt you to restore data from the cloud when you first set up, if you missed this point, you can manually initiate the process through the synchronization menu, which is especially true for owners of flagship models Xiaomi 13 or Xiaomi 14, where the free cloud can be increased.

Using Google Account to Return Contacts and Photos

Google's ecosystem remains the foundation of Android data security. Even if you've never set up a backup specifically, many features work by default. Google Keep contacts, calendars and notes are saved almost instantly. To return them, just add your Gmail account to your phone's settings after a reset.

The situation is more interesting with photos. The Google Photos app is often on Xiaomi phones by default or installed by the user. If it has enabled Autoboot, all your pre-reset photos are in the cloud. Just open the app and it will start downloading thumbnails, and clicking on the originals in high quality.

To restore the device’s settings, including Wi-Fi passwords and a list of installed apps, Google also offers a recovery feature.When you first set up your phone (immediately after resetting), the system will ask if you want to recover data from the Google cloud, which will automatically download previously installed apps from the Play Market.

⚠️ Note: Restore via Google will not return files stored in the Downloads folder or internal memory unless they were part of synced apps.

If you’ve used Google Drive to manually back up important documents, be sure to check the Backup section in the settings of the Drive app itself on your smartphone, which can store copies of WhatsApp or other messenger settings, which is critical to preserving your correspondence history.

Recover WhatsApp, Viber and Telegram after reset

Messengers store their correspondence history separately from system contacts. WhatsApp and Viber use Google Drive and iCloud cloud storage (for iOS, but on Android also through Google) to back up chats. Telegram stores the entire history on its servers, so it is enough to simply enter a phone number to restore it.

To restore WhatsApp, you have to wait until it offers to find a backup on Google Drive when you install the app. It's important that the Google account that WhatsApp is linked to has that copy in place. If you haven't manually backuped, you're hoping for automatic nightly copies that are created at 2 a.m.

In the case of Viber, the process is similar, but you should be careful with the versions of the application. Sometimes it can take a long time to recover if the volume of media files is large. SIM-card and the same phone number as before the reset, otherwise it will be impossible to restore the history.

Remember that a stable Internet connection is critical to successful instant messenger recovery, and downloading your correspondence history with media files can consume significant traffic, so it is recommended to use a Wi-Fi network.

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For WhatsApp, you can try to create a local backup manually before reset by finding the msgstore.db.crypt14 file in the Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp/Databases folder and saving it to your PC.

Software for data recovery from PC

If cloud-based methods fail, there is a choice of using specialized PC software, such as Dr.Fone, Tenorshare UltData, or DiskDigger (the root-enabled PC version) that can scan the internal memory of a device, but the effectiveness of these methods depends on the availability of root rights.

Without superuser rights, modern versions of Android (starting at 10 and above) have strict security policies that prohibit direct access to the file system. So most programs will only be able to recover deleted photos from cache or thumbnails, but not the original files.

To work with such programs, you need to turn on the USB debugging mode. This is done in the Developer menu, which is hidden by default. To activate it, you need to click 7 times on the build number in the About Phone section. Once you connect to your computer and enable debugging, the program will get deeper access to the system.

• 💻 Install the selected recovery program on your computer (Windows/Mac).
• 🔌 Connect the phone with a cable and allow debugging by USB smartphone-screen.
• 🔍 Run a deep scan and wait for the results of the analysis of memory sectors.

It should be noted that most of the full-fledged features in such programs are paid. Free versions usually allow you to scan the device and show a preview of the files found. Buying a license does not guarantee 100% results, especially if it has been a long time since the reset.

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The efficiency of programs for PCs without Root rights is less than 10%, the main chance is given only by the presence of previously made backups or cloud synchronization.

Prevention: How to set up automatic preservation

To never experience data loss again, you need to set up automatic sync right now. Don't rely on memory or luck. Xiaomi smartphones have a handy "Advanced Backup" feature that allows you to set up a schedule for different types of data.

Go to the Mi Cloud settings and make sure that the ticks are in front of all the important items: Gallery, Contacts, Messages, Recorder, Notes. For Google Photos, also enable autoload and select the quality of Original if you have a Google One subscription, or Save Space for the free option.

⚠️ Attention: Check sync status regularly. Sometimes, due to network errors or cloud overflows, the process may stop and you will think that the data is stored, although this is not the case.

It is also good practice to periodically create a full local copy on your computer, plug your phone into your PC once a month and copy the DCIM, Pictures, and Download folders to an external hard drive, which will create a physical copy of your data independent of Internet services and cloud accounts.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)