Accidentally deleting an important folder with photos, documents or work projects on a smartphone Xiaomi is a stressful situation familiar to many users. The operating system Android is designed in such a way that when you click the “Delete” button, the data does not disappear instantly and without a trace, but is only marked as free space available for overwriting. It is this principle of the file system that gives us a temporary window of opportunity to save information if we act quickly and competently. Device owners often encounter aggressive memory optimization or random swipes that lead to the loss of entire directories. It is important to understand that the success of recovery directly depends on how actively you used the phone after the incident. The less new data is written to the disk, the higher the chances of recovering what was lost.
Device owners Redmi And Poco often encounter aggressive memory optimization or accidental swipes that lead to the loss of entire directories. It is important to understand that the success of recovery directly depends on how actively you used the phone after the incident. The less new data is written to the disk, the higher the chances of recovering what was lost.
In this guide we will look at all available methods: from built-in shell functions MIUI and HyperOS to using specialized software on a computer. We will not rely on chance, but will follow a clear algorithm of actions, which covers both simple cases of recovery from the recycle bin, and complex scenarios with deep memory scanning.
Primary diagnostics and stopping data recording
The first and most critical action that must be performed immediately after discovering a loss is to put your smartphone in airplane mode or completely turn off the Internet. Background synchronization, incoming messages in instant messengers and notifications from social networks take up space in memory, potentially overwriting the sectors where your deleted files are physically located.
Many users make the mistake of frantically installing recovery applications directly on the same phone. This is absolutely impossible to do. Installing a new app, even a small one, creates new files that can take up the very space needed to save data. If you plan to use third-party software, it is better to connect your phone to a PC or use cloud services through a browser.
⚠️ Attention: Do not try to take screenshots or record video of the screen while searching for a solution. Any new write to the internal storage reduces the likelihood of a successful recovery.
Check that you do not have Find My Device or remote management enabled, as they can also initiate communication with the server. Ideally, after losing a folder, the phone should remain unconnected until you prepare the computer or choose a safe recovery method.
Use Airplane mode not only to turn off the Internet, but also to prevent accidental incoming calls that could interrupt the recovery process or create new call log files.
Checking the built-in trash in the gallery and file folder manager
The easiest and most often ignored way to get a folder back is to check the built-in clipboards. Shells MIUI and HyperOS equipped with a protection mechanism that moves deleted media files and documents to a special hidden directory before final destruction. The storage period there is usually 30 days, after which the files are deleted permanently.
To check photos and videos, open the standard Gallery application. At the bottom of the screen, find the “Albums” tab and scroll to the bottom of the list. There you will see a folder called “Deleted Items” or “Recently Deleted Items.” If your missing folder is not there entirely, the files may have been scattered, and it is worth checking the contents of this recycle bin in detail.
For documents, installation files APK and archives, you need to open the File Manager application. The interface may differ depending on the OS version, but the logic remains the same:
- 📁 Click on the menu icon (three bars or dots) in the corner of the screen.
- 🗑️ Select “Recycle Bin” or “Recently Deleted.”
- 🔍 Find the desired folder by date of deletion or name.
- ↩️ Select the objects and click “Recover.”
☑️ Algorithm for checking the Trash
It is important to note that if you emptied the Trash manually or used the “Cleanup” function in the Security application, this method will no longer work. In this case, the files are considered deleted from the file table, and more complex tools will be required to return them.
Recovery via Mi Cloud and Google cloud services
If an account was activated on your device Xiaomi account was activated Mi Account, there is a high probability that your data was synchronized with the cloud storage Mi Cloud. This is one of the most reliable methods, since the cloud stores a copy of the data regardless of the state of the phone's memory. To check, go to the smartphone settings, select the section Mi Account and then Mi Cloud.
In the web version of the service at i.mi.com, the functionality is often wider than in the mobile application. Go to the site from your computer, log in using your username and check the “Gallery”, “Voice Recorder” or “Notes” sections. Even if the folder is deleted from the phone, it can be stored in the cloud for up to 60 days in a separate basket of the cloud service itself.
A similar situation is with the ecosystem Google. If you had synchronization enabled Google Photos or Google Drive, check their web interfaces. Users often forget that a folder with documents could be automatically uploaded to Drive, and photos flew to Google’s unlimited (or conditionally unlimited) storage.
| Service | Storage period in cart | File types | Do I need internet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mi Cloud | 30-60 days | Photos, Contacts, SMS | Yes |
| Google Photo | 60 days | Photo, Video | Yes |
| Google Drive | 30 days | Documents, Archives | Yes |
| Dropbox / Yandex | 30-90 days | All types | Yes |
What to do if the cloud is full?
If the space in the cloud has run out, synchronization of new files stops, but old deleted data may remain in the cloud service recycle bin even after the limit is overflowed. Check the web version of the service - cart management functions that are not available in the mobile application are often available there.
Using specialized software on a computer
When built-in tools are powerless, apps for deep memory scanning come to the rescue. To work with them, you will need a computer (Windows or macOS), a USB cable, and, in some cases, USB debugging mode enabled. One of the popular solutions is the app DiskDigger (PC version) or Dr.Fone.
The recovery process usually looks like this: you connect your smartphone to the PC, select file transfer mode (MTP) or debugging mode (ADB), and the app begins analyzing memory sectors. It is important to understand that without root access apps can only see cached thumbnails or recently deleted files accessible through the standard Android API.
If your phone has superuser rights (Root), the recovery efficiency increases by an order of magnitude. apps have direct access to the file system and can read raw data. However, obtaining root access on a modern Xiaomi is a complex process that requires unlocking the bootloader, which in itself can lead to a complete data reset (Wipe).
⚠️ Attention: Unlocking the bootloader on Xiaomi leads to the complete deletion of all data from the device. If you have not yet received root access, this method will not suit you now, since there will be nothing to restore.
When using free versions of apps, there is often a limit on the number of files to be restored or their size. Paid versions offer a more in-depth analysis, but no one can guarantee a 100% result, especially if a lot of time has passed since the deletion.
Analysis of local copies and application cache
Do not forget that many applications create their own local copies of data. For example, messengers like WhatsApp or Telegram can store media files in their hidden folders, even if you deleted them from the shared gallery. The path to them often looks like Android/media/com.whatsapp or Android/data/org.telegram.messenger.
It is also worth checking the folder MIUI on the internal drive. In some firmware versions, logs, backup copies of settings and temporary editing files are saved there. If the deleted folder contained text documents or voice recorder recordings, traces of them can be found in the directories of the corresponding system applications.
Another source is the browser cache. If the remote folder contained downloaded files from the Internet, copies of them may be lying around in the folder Download or in the browser cache (Chrome/Cache), although it is more difficult to find whole files there, more often it is fragmented data.
- 📂 Check the path
Internal Storage/Android/media. - 📂 Look into
Internal Storage/MIUI. - 📂 Sort all files in Explorer by modification date.
Use advanced file managers such as FX File Explorer or Total Commanderthat can show hidden files and folders (starting with a dot). This will allow you to see what is hidden from the user’s normal eye.
Local copies in the Android/media folders often remain untouched even after deleting the originals from the gallery, since systems consider them to be the system application cache.
Loss prevention and setting up automatic backup
After a successful (or even unsuccessful) recovery, it is critical to configure system so that the situation does not repeat itself. The best defense is automation. Set up synchronization of important folders with the cloud immediately, without putting it off until later. In the settings Google Photos turn on the “Original” or “Space Saving” mode to be sure of the safety of your pictures.
For documents and work files, use services like Google Drive, Dropbox or Yandex.Disk with the autoload function enabled. Many users Xiaomi underestimate the built-in application "Security" -> "Backup", which allows you to create complete copies of the system on an external drive or in the Mi cloud.
Regularly check the functionality of your backups. Once a month, try restoring one file from the backup to make sure that the archive is not damaged and you can access it. Storing data on only one medium is always a risk of losing it.
Is it possible to restore a folder if the phone has been reset to factory settings?
After a Factory Reset, it is almost impossible to restore information on modern smartphones with data encryption. The encryption keys are removed and the data becomes an unreadable string of characters. There is a chance only if the reset was “fast” (without overwriting sectors), but in practice this is rare.
Will connecting the phone as a flash drive to the computer help?
The USB storage mode (MTP) itself does not restore data. However, it allows you to use powerful PC apps that have more access rights to the file system than mobile applications. This increases the chances of success.
Is data recovery free in service centers?
No, professional data recovery is a paid and often expensive service. It requires special equipment and clean rooms. They can only check the logic of the file system for free, but not the physical level of memory.