Deleted photos on Android? Where to look first

Deleting the wrong album on an Android phone is easy: a few taps in Gallery or Google Photos and a holiday, a wedding or a baby’s first months seem to vanish. In most cases the photos are not gone yet. Android phones and the apps on them keep deleted pictures for a while, and many photos have a second copy somewhere you have not looked. This guide goes through where to check, in the right order, and what to avoid while you do it.

First: stop using the phone for photos

Until you have found the pictures, avoid taking new photos or videos, installing apps, or running “clean-up” or “free up space” tools. Do not empty any bin or recycle bin, and do not factory reset the phone. If the photos were on a microSD card, take the card out of the phone and put it somewhere safe.

1. Check the Gallery recycle bin (Samsung and others)

Samsung’s Gallery app has a Recycle bin, and deleted pictures usually stay there for 30 days before they are removed for good. Open Gallery, tap the menu (three lines or three dots) and choose Recycle bin. Select the photos and tap Restore. Other makers’ gallery apps, such as those on Xiaomi, OnePlus and Motorola phones, often have a similar “Recently deleted” album, so look in the album list as well as the menu.

2. Check the Google Photos Bin

If you use Google Photos, open it, tap Collections (or Library on older versions) and then Bin. Google keeps items that were backed up in the Bin for 60 days. Items that were not backed up, deleted on Android 11 or later, stay for 30 days. Select them and tap Restore.

It is also worth signing in to photos.google.com on a computer with the same Google account. If backup was switched on, photos deleted only from the phone’s storage may still be in your Google account, and the computer view makes it easier to see what is there.

3. Check other places the photos may have synced to

• OneDrive: many Samsung phones sync Gallery to OneDrive. Check the OneDrive app or website, including its own recycle bin.
• Other accounts: if the phone has more than one Google account, check the Google Photos Bin and backup for each one.
• Messaging apps: photos you sent or received in WhatsApp or other apps may still be in those chats, or in the other person’s phone.
• Computers and old phones: pictures copied to a laptop, an old phone or a previous phone backup can be the only remaining copy.

4. If the photos were on a microSD card

A microSD card is the one place where deleted photos have a realistic chance of being recovered after the bins are empty. Deleting a file on a card normally removes the reference to it, not the picture itself, until new data is written over the same space. Take the card out, do not put it back in the phone or camera, and do not accept any prompt to format it. Recovery is done from a copy of the card, so the original is not changed.

Why the phone’s internal storage rarely gives deleted photos back

People are often surprised that a lab cannot simply “scan” an Android phone for deleted photos. Modern Android phones encrypt their internal storage, and the flash memory inside discards deleted blocks in the background, much like an SSD in a computer. Once a photo has been removed from every bin and the space has been released, it is usually not recoverable from the phone’s internal storage, whatever an app advertises. Be cautious with apps that promise to restore deleted photos from internal storage: at best they find thumbnails and cached copies, and installing them writes new data to the phone.

That is why the bins, backups and other copies above matter so much, and why it is worth checking them carefully before giving up.

When the phone itself has a problem

The situation is different if the photos were never deleted but the phone will not turn on, keeps restarting, or has been dropped or got wet. Then the data is often still intact on the phone, and the job is getting the phone working long enough to copy it off. Our Android phone data recovery page explains how that works.

Quick checklist

1. Stop taking photos and installing apps.
2. Check the Gallery Recycle bin or Recently deleted album.
3. Check the Google Photos Bin, and photos.google.com on a computer.
4. Check OneDrive, other accounts, chats, computers and old phones.
5. If a microSD card was used, remove it and keep it safe.

Need help?

If the photos were on a memory card, or your Android phone has failed with photos still on it, call Data Retrieval on 020 7064 4996 for a free assessment, with no obligation, or request a quote online.