Where are deleted photos stored on Android? Ways to recover erased photos on Android. Recovering from Samsung Cloud

Accidentally deleting photos on a smartphone or tablet is quite an unpleasant situation. If erased music and movies can still be downloaded from the Internet again, then you will not be able to return personal photos in this way. However, you should not be upset, since there are several effective methods that allow you to resuscitate missing files without outside help. Let's look at how to recover deleted photos on Android.

Ways to recover erased photos on Android

Regardless of what OS is installed on a mobile device, when certain data is deleted from its memory, it does not disappear without a trace. Their fingerprints will be stored on the media until new information is written to this location. It is these “casts” that are used by most recovery programs to search for lost files. The main condition for successfully returning erased photos is to prevent new content from being written to the same memory card.

Recovering lost photos on Android can be done in the following ways:

  • Using cloud storage (synchronization with Google+);
  • Through a computer and the 7-Data Android Recovery application;
  • Through the Undelete program.

Returning deleted photos via Google service

The most effective method to recover lost photos is to sync Android with Google+ virtual drive. When you pair your phone with this service, all images recorded on the gadget will be automatically copied to cloud storage. This will not only protect important files from unintentional deletion, but also expand the ability to manage personal data, since you can view the contents of Google Drive from any device, be it a computer, laptop, smartphone or tablet.

Synchronizing Android with Google+ is done as follows:

Now, if you accidentally delete photos from your phone’s memory, all you have to do is go to Google+ and transfer the missing files to your mobile device card or PC desktop.

Resuscitation of photos via 7-Data Android Recovery

This application is designed specifically for mobile devices running Android OS. They can recover not only deleted images, but also other types of files. In this case, it is possible to revive both an external micro SD card and the phone’s built-in memory. Another advantage of this utility is that it does not require Root access to function.

To recover erased photos using 7-Data Android Recovery, you must:


Scanning of the selected media will begin. After this process is completed, all erased folders and files will be displayed. All you have to do is select the required object (for example, the DCIM directory) and transfer it to your PC desktop or any other location. If necessary, the recovered photos can be transferred to a phone or tablet.

Recovering Images via Undelete

If for some reason you are unable to connect your computer to your smartphone, you can restore photos directly through your mobile device. Several effective applications have been developed for these purposes. They all work almost the same way, so let's take the Undelete utility as an example.

Before starting resuscitation measures, you need to unlock Root rights on your phone. This can be done using the Framaroot program:

Once you have Root access, you can begin restoring your lost photos. To do this you need to do the following:

The saved images will be located in the Undeleter directory. From there they can be transferred to a memory card or computer. It should be noted that when you delete photos, you may also lose your desktop screensaver. If this happens, after resuscitation you will need to install it again.

While working with the device, you can accidentally delete an important photo or downloaded image, which makes it necessary to restore the lost graphic file. There are several ways to do this.

Getting back lost images

To begin with, it should be clarified that not all files deleted from the phone can be recovered. The success of the operation directly depends on the period that has passed since the deletion and the number of new downloads. The last point may seem strange, but this is explained by the fact that after deletion the file does not disappear completely, but only the designation of the sector of memory it occupies changes from the status “ Busy" on " Ready to rewrite" As soon as a new file is downloaded, there is a high chance that it will occupy part of the sector of the “erased” file.

Method 1: Android Apps

There are a large number of programs for working with images and restoring them. The most common of them will be discussed below.

Google Photos

This program should be considered due to its popularity among users of Android devices. When taking a photograph, each frame is stored in memory and, when deleted, is moved to " Cart" Most users do not access it, allowing the application to independently clear deleted photos after a certain period of time. To restore a photograph taken using this method, you will need the following:

Important: This method can only give a positive result if the application has already been installed on the user’s smartphone.

1. Open the application " Google Photos».

2. Go to the section " Basket».

3. Browse the available files and select those needed for recovery, then click on the icon at the top of the window to return the photo.

4. This method is only suitable for photos deleted no later than the deadline. On average, deleted files are stored in the Recycle Bin for 60 days, during which the user has the opportunity to return them.

This application performs a full memory scan to identify existing and recently deleted files. For greater efficiency, Root rights are required. Unlike the first program, the user will be able to recover not only the photos he took, but also the downloaded images.

1. First, download and install it by clicking on the link above.

2. Open the application and click on the button Simple search».

3. All existing and recently deleted files will be displayed, select those needed for recovery and click on the corresponding icon at the top of the window.

This program does not require root rights to work, but the chance of finding a long-deleted photo is quite low. At the first launch, an automatic scan of the device’s memory will begin, displaying all images depending on their original location. Just like the previous application, existing and deleted files will be shown together, which can be confusing for the user at first.

Method 2: PC Programs

In addition to recovery using the method described above, you can use special software for your PC. To use this method, the user will need to connect the device via a USB cable to the computer and run one of the special programs listed in a separate article.

One of them is GT Recovery. You can work with it from a PC or smartphone, but the latter will require root rights. If you don't have them, you can use the PC version. For this:

1. Download and unpack the resulting archive. Among the available files, select the item with the name GTRecovery and expansion *exe.

2. When you launch it for the first time, you will be asked to activate your license or use a free trial period. To continue, click on the " Free Trial»

3. The menu that opens contains several file recovery options. To get your images back on your smartphone, select " Mobile Data Recovery».

4. Wait for the scan to finish. Once the device is found, click on it to begin searching for images. The program will display the found photos, after which the user will only have to select them and click “ Restore».

The methods described above will help you recover lost images on your mobile device. But the effectiveness of the procedure directly depends on how long ago the file was deleted. In this regard, restoration may not always be effective.



In this article you will learn how to:

  • recover deleted or partially damaged photos on Android using the free Tenorshare Android Data Recovery program
  • detect erased photos on your phone using the step-by-step reconstruction wizard in the Android Data Recovery app
  • how to recover contacts on Android and messages on a device with Android OS installed in the most optimal way
  • get back deleted photos and other media files saved on your Android tablet
  • recover photos from Samsung, HTC, Jiayu or other phone models.

If you have a tablet, phone, smartphone running Android OS and the Tenorshare Android Data Recovery program installed on your PC, then the photo reconstruction process will not take much time.

Installing Android Data Recovery

Run the installer and select the options you want. You must agree to the license agreement, select the installation path for the application and, if desired, agree to participate in a user program to improve the product (item "Agreed to..."). Next, all you have to do is click on the Install button and wait for the process to complete. However, it should be noted that some installer options may change from version to version.

Application Installer Window Tenorshare Android Data Recovery

Notable Features of Tenorshare Android Data Recovery on Tablet, Phone

The latest version of Android Data Recovery (currently 4.8.2.142) offers excellent capabilities for reconstructing multimedia information. Features that are especially popular among users are implemented here, including tools that access internal and external memory directly. In particular, a preview of photos or contacts erased or deleted by the user is available before restoring them. This is very convenient: there is no need to waste time waiting for complete recovery of files, including unnecessary ones. As practice shows, capacious memory cards can store tens of gigabytes of information that is difficult to process quickly.

A powerful system for scanning deleted photos, built into Tenorshare Android Recovery Data, allows you to efficiently recover data from Android phones or tablets after they were mistakenly deleted, unsuccessfully rooting a mobile device, restoring the phone to factory settings, ROM memory, deleting data from a memory card, unlocking the bootloader or device failure.

To correctly connect Tenorshare Data Recovery to your smartphone, you will need superuser rights.

Providing root rights to recover files on Android

Other features of Tenorshare Android Data Recovery

  1. Very easy to use interface for recover erased photos with a step-by-step wizard. The tabbed interface, visual and concise instructions make all tasks easy to complete.
  2. Recover media via Data Recovery for several specific file types for Android devices. Supports photos of messages, call history, contacts. This way, you can save a lot of your time by selecting only those file types that you need to find and return. These can be either file extensions or other patterns based on the file name.
  3. Search for deleted contacts in the internal memory of Android, as well as the external memory card of your smartphone/tablet/phone.
  4. Works on all Android mobile devices such as Samsung, HTC, LG, Motorola; Android tablets, including those from Google, Samsung, Asus and Sony.
  5. Recovering deleted photos from tablets and phones, starting from Android 2.3 to 4.2 system versions. It is worth recalling here that the program is installed on a computer and synchronized with a mobile device via USB.
  6. Saving PC data: TXT, XLS, XML formats. If you want to backup Android data or sync Android files to PC, Data Recovery is a good choice.
  7. Deleting data marked in red. This, among other things, allows users to view files or contacts before recovery.
  8. Backup or transfer Android data from mobile phone to computer - that is, synchronizing contacts and other data.

Key features of Android Recovery when recovering deleted photos. How to restore contacts on Android

  1. Will help you get your contacts back, deleted photos, pictures, text messages, SMS and exports data to HTML or XML of your choice for easy printing.
  2. Will return call history, contacts, erased video files and pictures from gallery, Android phone (optional PC). Android Data Recovery works on PCs, tablets, phones, smartphones - allowing you to bring accidentally lost information back to life.
  3. It will tell you how to recover contacts on Android, names, numbers, SMS, call history and save them in HTML, vCard and CSV formats to your PC. Finds deleted photos, videos in the gallery Works on all tablets, phones running Android: Samsung, HTC, Motorola, LG, etc.
  4. Preview, selective recreation of deleted files
  5. Works with operating systems ranging from Android 1.5 to the latest version 5.0 (Android L).

TA Data Recovery supports the following file formats

  • Photos and other pictures from the Gallery
  • Custom contacts from Android address book
  • Calendars and iCal sync files
  • Messages and correspondence on social networks
  • Videos, clips and other multimedia data
  • Office documents
  • Audio and music

In what cases is it necessary to return files or contacts?

  • If you use Data Recovery, a program to recover photos deleted from a smartphone, you will receive additional benefits in the following situations:
  • If you accidentally deleted them and you just need to recover photos using the program that were deleted from the memory card
  • Deleted multimedia data after flashing. This happens very often due to the carelessness of the user of the Android mobile OS Recovery.
  • All factory settings of the phone or tablet have been erased. In this case, a free program for Android called Data Recovery capable of providing a service.
  • Loss of files after "unlocking" (that is, unlocking) the bootloader
  • There is no access to the device after it is broken

Main advantages of Tenorshare Android Data Recovery

  • A program for recovering deleted photos is capable of resurrecting several files from a tablet or phone and making a backup of them, i.e., backup, on your computer.
  • It will help restore contacts of business co-operators, old friends, acquaintances.
  • Return sent and received message text
  • You might be curious to know how to recover contacts on Android
  • Photos and videos previously stored in the photo gallery (or downloaded)
  • Call history, including incoming and outgoing, will be saved on your computer

Summary. In general, I advise you to install the Tenorshare Android Data Recovery program to recover deleted photos and contact data. This is one of the best utilities for recovering photos and other information for Android mobile devices (smartphones/tablets). This is a very simple, fast, intuitive application to find erased photos on your phone. In a couple of clicks, you can easily recover lost or deleted contacts, call history, messages, photos, videos from your mobile phone. It is noteworthy that 2000 photos and contacts from the address book can be restored for free.

How to restore contacts on your phone: answers to your questions

I was cleaning the memory on my phone (photos and videos) and my contacts disappeared, some of which remained, which I rarely used. And one more thing: when connected to a computer, charging occurs, but the computer does not see the folder. I can't upload photos!

Answer. How to restore contacts on your phone is described above. For this procedure, you will need the Tenorshare Android Data Recovery program itself. As an alternative (and easier) option, try recovering deleted contacts by syncing your mobile device with your Google Account - where your Android address book data may be stored.

On the second question. If the files are stored on a memory card, remove it from the switched off phone and connect it to the PC via a card reader.

Please tell me how to recover deleted contacts on Android from the phone book and book after reinstalling Android? Thank you!

Answer. Yes, you can. If you exported contacts to a local file on the SD card (before reinstalling!) or synchronized contacts with your Google account. This could be done through the standard Contacts application for Android. In this case, everything is very simple: through the address book, import a local file with Android contacts or add a Google account.

Exported contacts are stored in VCard format. In general, all contacts from the address book are stored in the file contacts.db (or contacts2.db) at data/data/com.android.providers.contacts/databases/, but it is extremely difficult to restore them, since the file is contained in the internal memory of the phone, and there are essentially no good programs for scanning Android internal memory (except for the Undeleter utility).

One of the most common scenarios among mobile phone users (Android and iOS) is deleting photos from a memory card. There are proven ways to recover photos on Android after such an incident. Unlike phone memory, an SD card can be connected to a PC. This simplifies the task - you can use recovery software without restrictions.

We will look at the free and often mentioned Recuva program, explaining step by step how to recover photos using its functions. By the way, the guide will also apply to other file formats.

When is a photo deleted from the memory card?

Most often this happens after:

  • Accidentally deleting files
  • Transferring photos from a memory card to an internal one and vice versa
  • Errors appear on the memory card after an incorrect unmount
  • File corruption
  • Formatting

What you need to recover deleted photos

In fact, in order to recover photos from your phone, you don’t need anything extraordinary:

  • computer/laptop – we will install programs on it
  • card reader – a device required to connect a memory card
  • memory card on which files were deleted
  • patience and attentiveness to avoid mistakes

1. Remove the memory card from your phone

Remove the memory card from your phone (smartphone, tablet, digital camera, or other device where it was used). This is done to prevent files from being accidentally written to the memory card.

2. Install a photo recovery program

Free recovery programs work no worse than many paid counterparts (which you will always have time to test). Besides, it’s better to try the free method right away - what if it solves your problem?

So, we chose Recuva for recovery. This is a photo recovery program, it works with images, and in theory they support any photo format without restrictions, be it jpg, png, raw, gif or something else. Available for Windows; unfortunately, there is no Android version at the moment.

Install the program on your computer. It doesn’t matter which partition of the disk you install on, since the data was deleted on the memory card.

3. Select media formats

  1. When you launch Recuva, you will see the title Recuva Wizard. This is a step-by-step wizard, it is designed to help beginners: just answer a few simple questions and you will get the result.
  2. Click Next. You will then be asked to select photo formats from your phone to recover. We are talking about photographs, so we choose exactly the formats in which the photographs were stored. You don’t have to limit the filter at all; it won’t even slow down the search. However, keep in mind that in the future you will need to filter the search results, which is not always convenient when it comes to hundreds of files found.
  3. Select "Pictures" and click "Next".

4. Connect the memory card to PC

  1. Connect the card reader with a memory card to your computer or laptop. I told you how to do this.
  2. In "File location" indicate where the files were stored before deletion.

Advice. To avoid wasting time scanning other directories, you can specify a separate folder. If you are not sure or want to increase the chances of recovery, choose the root directory on the SD card.

Where are photos stored on a mobile device?

Usually, . This is a universal storage location for mobile devices that support a memory card. This folder also stores camera photos, downloaded images, videos and other media files.

5. Enable the "Deep Scan" option

The "Deep Analysis" option is a proprietary feature of the Recuva program. Thanks to it, you can find files that are not found by a regular search. Although the method does not always work, the benefits can be noticeable.

Activate the in-depth scanning option through the Recuva main menu: Tools – Actions – In-depth analysis.

6. Run a memory card scan

  1. To start scanning the SD card, click "Start".
  2. Wait until the scanner checks the selected folder on the memory card. The process may take from a few minutes to an hour.

7. Study the photos, select the ones you need

  1. Found photos are displayed as thumbnails, which is especially convenient: you instantly see the results and know what you choose to save.
  2. If necessary, you can go to Advanced mode and get acquainted with the recovered files on the SD card in more detail.
  3. The chances of photo recovery are always different. In Recuva, they are designated by color labels - red (minimum chances), yellow (average) and green (maximum).
  4. In the Summary tab - information about the file: File name, Path, Date and time of modification, as well as other data that can sometimes help. They are duplicated in the columns. The "View" tab displays the result as is: with or without damage.

Advice. If the files were not found, add formats to search during setup by restarting the Recuva Setup Wizard. This can also be done through the advanced mode in the search bar. Try adding RAW, .CR2, .NEF, or .ARW formats if you're looking for photos.

8. Save recovered photos to disk

Check the boxes for the photos you want and click the "Recover" button.

The good news is that deleted photos should always be saved to a disk different from the one where the files were deleted (especially when it comes to deleting files from the HDD). In our case, there is no difference - the main thing is not to save the photo back to the SD card, otherwise you will lose additional chances for recovery.

p.s. What to do if Recuva does not help you find deleted photos

Let's say you strictly followed the instructions and configured Recuva Wizard correctly - but you were not satisfied with the results. In this case:

  1. Please note the relevant information about recovery: we have collected here everything related to photo recovery on mobile devices and PCs.
  2. Also try free programs like PhotoRec and DiskDigger on Windows.
  3. Also check out questions from other users and our answers (see below).

Recovering deleted photos: questions from readers

I have a Huawei y5 phone, for some unknown reason it stopped working and turned itself off. Almost all the photos from the memory card have disappeared. When you scan the memory card, you can see on the card that there is more free space, which means that the photos have disappeared forever. Is there no way to get them back? It’s a pity for the photo, because this card is from an old phone, I didn’t have such problems with it for three years, but this new one – and here it is. Help me return the photo, please.

Answer. If you did not delete the photos manually, most likely there is an error on the memory card - most often, these are bad sectors. Windows will offer to format, but you shouldn't agree. Try our tutorial on . If error correction does not help, specify in Recuva the folder in which the missing photos were located and try to restore them using the standard method described in this article.

I decided to transfer photos from my camera to my computer. The message “format” popped up for me. I pressed. A warning appeared that everything would be deleted. I accidentally clicked “Ok” and everything was deleted from the memory card. What should I do to get all the photos back? There were many photographs that were only in one camera.

Answer. You needed to check the errors on the memory card via PC, but you rushed to format it. There is a chance that Recuva will help in this case too. True, only if you did a quick format and did not write files after that.

Problem: the galaxy s4 phone has stopped recognizing photos on the SD card, but it sees the applications installed on it...

In all files it shows the remaining free space as if the files are in place, each file is dated 1980, and Android Gallery does not open them. Can't see them through the laptop either. What to do, how to recover a deleted photo?

Answer. The exif data could be damaged or it could just be reading errors on the memory card. We recommend:

  1. Back up your files by copying them to your PC or Google Photos
  2. Format the memory card in Full Format mode, correcting reading errors. This can be done with the SDFormatter program.

On the phone, HTC transferred photos from the phone's memory to the card, but for some reason they were all deleted. Using the utility, I restored all the photos back, but they became blurry. How to fix it?

Answer. Most likely, you did not recover full photos, but rather thumbnails stored in the thumbnails folder. Try scanning the folder on the SD card again, but with the Deep scan option enabled.

I decided to transfer the video files via a USB cable to a memory card in the same phone using the “cut” and “paste” method. But they never appeared on the memory card and disappeared on the phone. How to recover deleted photos on Android?

It so happened that it became necessary to perform a full recovery and reset on the phone. I seem to have downloaded all the photos and videos to Mi Cloud. But after that they weren’t there. How so? Where did they go and is it possible to recover deleted photos from your phone?

I went into the gallery, and it said “empty.” I looked through the computer, and there weren’t even any damaged files there (only empty folders). In the Play Store I said some recovery applications. They all do not display deleted images (that is, they have “nothing” to recover). The gallery contained vital images! What to do?

I have the following problem: after installing a new update on my phone, at first one photo from the flash drive disappeared and stopped being viewed, then all the information from it disappeared and the phone gives a Flash card error and suggests formatting it. It is not visible on the phone that the previous data remains on it, but when I connected it to the laptop, the memory remained occupied, i.e. there is still information on it. An attempt to check it through win+R was unsuccessful; it produces something completely different from what is described in the article (I can send you a photo). What to do in this situation? How to save photos and videos deleted from your phone?

The problem is that the parents interfered where they didn’t need to, so I’ll describe “what happened” as I understood it. The LG phone froze, when it rebooted, only the LG screensaver was on the screen. After some time, dad’s interest, or rather his hand, came into play; then, due to his actions, the phone turned on as expected, but absolutely everything was missing from it. The most important thing in his memory was, naturally, the photo. Having logged into my Google account, and then into Google Photos, I realized that there was no synchronization with the latter, so there are no photos there. I tried to do something with recovery programs, but either some pictures from the applications are displayed, or they ask for root rights. King root is suitable for Android versions up to 6, and in this case LG is version 6, so this program does not help. Is it even possible to restore photos on a phone?

Samsung A5 2017 phone. The internal memory of the phone was completely full. The folder with photos from the internal memory has been moved to the memory card. As a result, the memory on the phone is cleared. There is no photo on the card or on the internal memory. Is it possible to recover deleted photos in this case?

I have a Xiaomi Mi Max phone and the last photos I took have disappeared. when I took photos it said that there was no space on the SD card, but photos were still taken. when I looked through the photos they were there and disappeared after a couple of seconds. Tell me where can I find them? Are they still there? or how can I recover deleted photos on my phone?

How to recover photos and documents deleted from Samsung Gallery. The data was transferred to Disk. They were admitted there but were not uploaded... Now important documents are inaccessible and are very necessary for work..

Which application recovers photos and videos? I have an Android Nokia 6.1 I filmed it on camera! And I accidentally pressed reset in the camera settings! The camera started working again, and all the photos and videos disappeared! There are not even residual files in the storage!

All the photos and videos on the planet have disappeared from the galleries, and when downloaded, all the photos are a white field and do not open, I looked through the computer and found nothing, help me get back the deleted photos!

There were photos on the phone that were very dear to me. I created a separate folder in the camera folder under a different name to highlight the photos and then cleared the cache and this entire folder disappeared from the phone, but other images and folders remained in the camera. I don’t know what to do, how can I restore this folder. I really need her...

With the advent of high-quality cameras on Android smartphones, users almost no longer need to buy a camera. The phone is always at hand, the pictures come out good, they are always stored on the device - all advantages. However, sometimes users accidentally or intentionally delete photos from their smartphone's memory.

In such a situation, a reasonable question arises: how to recover deleted photos on Android. A huge number have been invented for hard drives and flash drives: Recuva, DMDE, GetDataBack, Photorec. Let's see what programs can work with the Android OS, and whether you can use them to recover erased pictures.


Several ways to solve the problem

Photodoctor - a comprehensive option

Get back deleted photos in 3 steps! With PhotoDOCTOR you will find and recover images from any storage media, including ANDROID devices.

All you need to do for this:
connect the device to the PC and launch the software;
start scanning;
restore the necessary photos.

You can learn more about all the steps and download “PhotoDOCTOR” right now.

Enable debugging

To connect to a PC and work with an Android smartphone, you need to enable USB debugging.

On some smartphones, after connecting to a PC, you need to select “Enable USB storage” so that the gadget is identified as two removable media that can be worked with like regular flash drives.

Recovery conditions

The main condition for successful data recovery is the absence of overwriting. Erased photos do not disappear without a trace, the file system simply sees that space has become free and shows it as writable. If you don't write anything to this location, any lost data can be easily recovered. Therefore, if you discover that important photos are missing, stop any actions with your phone to avoid overwriting the information.

This leads to another rule: you cannot save recovered data on the media from which it was deleted. Place them on a PC hard drive or flash drive to prevent overwriting.

Photos deleted from microSD

If the deleted data was stored on the card, then to restore it it is better to use universal utilities that can return erased files. You can read about how such software works in the instructions about. If your smartphone is detected as two removable drives when connected to a computer, you can try using the same utilities to return data deleted from the internal memory. The problem is that most modern Android devices are defined as a media player.

So, you have a microSD on which the photos were located before deletion. Let's try to find them using the free Photorec utility, which is part of the TestDisk package.

Photorec is known to many Linux users, but it also works on Windows. Until recently, the utility did not have a graphical interface, scaring off inexperienced users. From this link you can download Photorec for Windows with a graphical interface (as part of TestDisk).


If you need to recover only photos, then click on the “File Formats” button and select the required file extensions. Click "Reset" to reset all marks. Look at what format the pictures are stored in on your phone - usually JPG.

Return to the main Photorec window and click Browse. Create a folder on your computer where the recovered images will be saved. Start scanning with the “Search” button.

After scanning is completed, go to the specified folder. Inside you will see a bunch of files, among which you can find data whose existence you have long forgotten. Photos will have different names, but should open correctly.

Recovering data from internal memory

If the erased photos were stored in the internal memory of the phone, then use the free 7-Data Android Recovery program to get them back.


A full scan of the selected media will start. Once the analysis is complete, you can use the preview function to choose which photos you want to save on your computer.

Instead of 7-Data Android Recovery, you can use other utilities: EASEUS Mobisaver for Android, Wondershare Dr.Fone for Android, GT Recovery. The disadvantage of these applications is that they are either paid or require superuser rights (root rights). Therefore, to return erased files, it is better to use the programs mentioned above - they are free and do not impose any requirements on the rights to the file system of the Android smartphone.