Losing important photos, documents or contacts on your smartphone Xiaomi always causes panic. An accidental touch, a system crash, or a memory wipe can cause valuable information to disappear. Fortunately, the shell MIUI and architecture Android provide several levels of data protection, which are often ignored by users.
Before taking drastic measures, you need to understand where exactly the file was moved. In most cases, the data is not physically erased from the drive immediately, but is only marked as free space or moved to temporary storage. Knowledge of these mechanisms allows you to recover what you have lost without using complex paid software.
In this article we will analyze in detail the standard system tools, cloud ecosystem services and third-party recovery methods. You will learn how to check hidden folders and what to do if standard methods do not work.
Checking the built-in trash in Gallery and Explorer
The very first and obvious step, which is often missed due to haste, is checking the built-in trash. Starting from certain versions MIUI, the system automatically saves deleted media files in a special buffer for 30 days. This gives the user ample time to think and recover.
To access this storage, open the application Gallery. At the bottom of the screen, find the tab Albums and scroll the list to the very bottom. There you will find the item Deleted. If files were recently erased, they will be located here, ready to be returned with one touch.
A similar function exists for documents. Go to the application Explorer, select the menu and find the section Trash. Not only images are stored here, but also archives, APK files and documents in office formats.
⚠️ Attention: Files in the trash take up space on the internal storage. If the phone's memory is critically full, the system can automatically clear the oldest files from the recycle bin before the set period of 30 days.
If you did not find the necessary data in these sections, it means that they were permanently deleted or too much time has passed. In this case, proceed to checking cloud services.
The built-in MIUI recycle bin stores deleted media files for exactly 30 days, after which they are erased irrevocably.
Data recovery via the Mi Cloud
Ecosystem Xiaomi is closely integrated with its own cloud service Mi Cloud. Many users activate synchronization when setting up their phone for the first time and forget about it, but this feature can be a lifesaver. Data may be duplicated on the company's servers even if you do not remember to enable this option.
To check for backups, go to Settings your device. Find the section Mi Account and select item Mi Cloud. The synchronization status for Gallery, Contacts, Notes and Voice Recorder is displayed here.
If the slider next to the desired data type is active, go to the official website of the cloud service through a browser on your computer or phone. Log in using your Mi Account and check the relevant sections. Often, photos deleted on the device remain available in the web interface for some time.
- 📸 Gallery: stores up to 1000 recent photos in the cloud with a free plan.
- 📞 Contacts: complete history of phone book changes with the ability to rollback.
- 📝 Notes: text files and to-do lists are synchronized almost instantly.
It is important to understand the difference between synchronization and backup. Synchronization mirrors changes: if you delete a file on your phone, it can also be deleted in the cloud. However, the web version often has its own recycle bin or version history, which is worth checking.
Free cloud limits
The free Mi Cloud account provides only 5 GB of space. If this limit is reached, new photos will stop downloading, but old ones will remain available for viewing and downloading.
Using Google Photos and other cloud services
Don't forget about standard tools Android. The application Google Photos is pre-installed on most smartphones Xiaomi and often runs in the background. Even if you primarily use the MIUI Gallery, Google may have quietly backed up your photos.
Open the app Google Photos and go to Library. Select item Cart. Here, files are stored for up to 60 days if they were uploaded to the cloud, or 30 days if they were only stored locally. This is significantly longer than in the standard Xiaomi cart.
Also check other installed cloud clients: Dropbox, Yandex.Disk or OneDrive. Many users install them for specific tasks and forget that camera autoloading could be enabled there. Searching for these services through the web interface often gives unexpected positive results.
⚠️ Attention: When restoring from Google Photos, the original image quality may be reduced to "Economy" if storage in the original size is not selected in the account settings.
If files found in the cloud, just click the restore button or download them back to your device. Make sure your phone has enough free memory to accept the recovered data.
Search for hidden and system folders through Explorer
Sometimes files are not deleted, but are moved to hidden directories as a result of application failure or viruses. In the file system Android folders whose names begin with a dot are hidden from the user by default. However, the built-in explorer Xiaomi can display them if configured correctly.
Run the application Explorer. Click on the menu icon (three bars) and select Settings. Activate the switch Show hidden files. After this, return to the root directory and carefully examine the folders that appear.
Pay special attention to directories .thumbnails i DCIM/.Trash. The folder .thumbnails often stores thumbnails of deleted photos, which can serve as proof of the existence of the file, although it will not be possible to restore the original in high quality from them.
/storage/emulated/0/DCIM/.thumbnails
/storage/emulated/0/MIUI/Gallery/cloud/.trash
Use the search by file extension inside Explorer. Enter .jpg, .png or .pdf in the search bar and sort the results by date modified. This will help you find files that have been moved to places that aren't obvious.
Use the Cleanup feature in the Security app with caution. Sometimes it marks rarely used files as garbage and suggests deleting them, although they may be important.
Data recovery via connection to a PC
When software methods have been exhausted, the most effective way remains connecting the smartphone to the computer. This allows you to use powerful software for deep scanning of the drive, which has more access rights than mobile applications.
First you need to activate the USB debugging mode. Go to Settings → About phone and quickly click on the item MIUI version seven times until a message appears stating that you have become a developer. Then in the advanced settings, enable USB debugging.
Connect the phone to the PC with a cable and select the transfer mode files MTP. Run a specialized data recovery app, such as Dr.Fone, DiskDigger (PC version) or Recuva. Follow the instructions of the recovery wizard.
| app | Access type | Efficiency | Complexity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recuva | No Root | Low | Low |
| DiskDigger | Without Root / Root | Medium / High | Medium |
| Dr.Fone | Without Root | Average | Low |
| PhotoRec | Root / ADB | High | High |
apps without superuser rights (Root) can only find cached thumbnails or recently deleted files whose indexes have not yet been erased. Deep recovery often requires obtaining root access, which can lead to loss of warranty.
☑️ Preparing for recovery on a PC
Preventing data loss and setting up autosave
The best way to combat file loss is to prevent the situation. Setting up automatic backups takes a few minutes, but saves hours of hassle in the future. Owners Xiaomi are recommended to set up double synchronization.
Set up automatic downloading to Google Photos as the main archive, and Mi Cloud use it as a backup channel for contacts and system settings. This duplication ensures that if one service is blocked, the data will remain available in another.
Check synchronization regularly. Once a month, go to the cloud settings and make sure that the status of the last upload is up to date. It is also useful to periodically copy important data to an external hard drive or computer.
⚠️ Attention: MIUI interface and menu layout may vary depending on the firmware version (Global, China, EEA) and Android version. If you do not find the specified item, use the settings search.
Use reliable memory cards with a high speed class if you store data on them. Cheap drives often fail, leading to complete loss of information that cannot be recovered even in the laboratory.
A dual backup strategy (local + cloud) is the only reliable way to protect against complete data loss.
Is it possible to recover files if the phone has been reset to factory settings?
Data recovery after a Hard Reset it is extremely difficult. On modern smartphones with data encryption, the encryption keys are deleted upon reset, making the residual information on the memory unreadable. The chances are close to zero without professional equipment.
Is it safe to obtain root access to recover files?
Obtaining root access (unlocking the bootloader) officially voids the warranty on a Xiaomi smartphone. In addition, this procedure completely clears the internal memory of the device. Doing this to restore already deleted files is impractical, since you will lose what is left.
Why do deleted files take up space in memory?
Until they are physically overwritten with new data, deleted files continue to take up space on the drive. However, in the case of the MIUI or Google Photos trash, the system simply moves them to a hidden section, which is officially counted as occupied space by the user.
How to find deleted messages in WhatsApp on Xiaomi?
Whatsapp messages do not end up in the general trash of the phone. They can only be restored from a Google Drive backup or a local copy stored in the Android/media/com.whatsapp/WhatsApp/Databasesfolder. To do this, you need to reinstall the messenger and agree to recovery upon first launch.