How To Recover Deleted Photos On Android

There's hardly a worse feeling than opening your Gallery app that a valuable photo you've captured is gone. Whether you accidentally deleted it or something happened on your phone and your photos are gone, Android offers us a variety of ways to save and restore photos.

In this article, we will show you how to recover your deleted photos. Unfortunately, there are times when your photos are gone forever, but those times are actually quite rare.

Check your Trash folder

All you have to do is check your Trash folder. When you delete a photo from your phone's gallery, it is stored in the Trash folder for 30 days. So, assuming you recently trashed the image, it should be there.

Here's how to access your Trash folder:

Open the Gallery app on your phone and tap the three vertical lines in the bottom right corner.

Note: Depending on the Android version you are running, the Trash option may appear below the three vertical dots in the upper right corner.

Select 'Trash'

Your missing photo will appear in this folder.

If they do, you can easily restore them by tapping the recovery icon in the lower left-hand corner.

If your photo is not in this folder, don't worry, we will help you find it.

Check out Google Photos

Google Photos is a pre-loaded photo storage application on your phone. When you sign in to your Gmail account on your phone, you're also signing in to Google Suite (your phone's native Google Apps). This means you have a great opportunity to have your photos saved in the Google Photos app

In most cases, Google Photos will only upload images to Drive when your phone is plugged in, connected to WiFi, and the app is open. So, if you want to use it as a backup option, periodically make sure that those requirements are met.

However, we will probably find your deleted photos in this app. Here's how to check:

Open the Google Photos app on your phone. Be sure to sign in to your Gmail account using the same username and password that will save your photos. This is especially important if you have a factory reset on your device. If you create a new Gmail account, your old photos will not be displayed in the app.

Assuming you are signed in to the correct account, your deleted photos will be displayed in the app. As you can see here, we successfully detected our deleted photos:

Although you may have to scroll a bit, Google Photos makes compressing your search relatively easy. Suppose you accidentally deleted your holiday photos. Hold the Drag tab on the right and quickly scroll to that date. Assuming you've found the lost photos, you'll want to bring them back to your phone's gallery.

Here's how to recover a Google photo and save it to your phone's gallery:

Open Google Photos and tap the image you want to recover. Then, tap on the three dots in the top right corner. If you want to share it with another app, tap the share icon at the bottom.

Now, tap on the 'Download' option in the menu that appears. If the download option is not present, it may say something like 'Delete from device'. This means that Google Photos is still detecting that photo in your phone's gallery.

Hopefully, your photos are back in their proper place and you can go. But, if you still can't find the elusive image, there are a few more things to try. Also, be sure to check out Google Drive; Sometimes pictures are stored there.

Check the clouds

Most phone makers have some separate cloud backups that can save your photos, videos, texts, files, etc. So let's check the manufacturer's cloud for our missing images.

First, go to your device's settings (this should work regardless of the cloud service we're looking for) and type 'cloud' in the search bar.

From the list of options displayed, select the most closely related storage service. In this case Samsung Cloud. Of course, if you see other cloud-related search results, check them out too.

Now, if you haven't already, you need to sign in. In our case, login information is different from our Google Account because Samsung Cloud is completely different from Google Suite.

If you use a Galaxy device, just click on the gallery. However, this option varies depending on the manufacturer of your phone, so choose 'Photo' or the option it gives you.

If you have missing photos here, you can recover them Just tap 'Download'.

Another common problem with this method is remembering your login information. When you first set up your phone, each manufacturer asks you to create an account. This can be a problem if you don't pay attention or if your phone is on for a long time.

Our best advice; Search your email accounts for 'LG,' 'Samsung,' 'HTC,' or any manufacturer. When you sign up for the service, you will receive a confirmation email. This will help narrow down your username. Then, you can simply reset your password.

At this point, we really hope you find and recover your lost photos. If you don't, we're not done yet. Let's continue exploring some of the methods we've used in the past to recover lost images.

Check 'My File' and your SD card

One thing we like about Android is the ability to customize; Most models will take an external storage card for more space. If you have one, hopefully, your deleted photo is there. But, how do you check?

Start by searching your app drawer for the 'My Files' folder if you don't already know where it is. Once it is opened, you will see several folders. Tap the 'SD card' option (in the screenshot below, it simply says 'not inserted', so we know the external storage option is a wash). If an SD card is inserted, tap the file and identify your photos.

If your photos appear here, just tap the 'Share' or 'Download' icon to retrieve the photos in your phone's gallery.

Assuming you do not have an SD card, there is another folder to check and that is the 'Image' folder. When you tap this folder, you will see all your photo albums. To retrieve your photos from Trash, follow the instructions above, tap the three vertical dots in the top right corner and tap 'Trash'. If they appear here, we restore them as above

Check out Google Play

So it may seem a little weird, but believe me, it has worked in the past. If you're still with us, that means you still haven't been able to recover your photos, so there's something else to try.

We're looking for any third-party apps that save photos and that you've previously downloaded. Here's what to do:

Open the Google Play Store on your phone and tap your profile icon in the upper right corner.

In the submenu that appears, tap 'My Apps and Games'.

First, you'll see all the apps on your device. Start scrolling. In our search, we found several gallery apps, Shutterfly, Photo Timestamp App, Dropbox and even Instagram. There are options to save all these photos. All you have to do is download them, sign in and check your lost photos

To search for all applications associated with your Google Account, tap 'Installed' at the top left, then tap 'Uninstalled'. You can find a photo storage app like Dropbox that is not on your phone but you still have some valuable photos.

If you find this method tedious, it is. However, if the only way to recover your childhood dog photos is to give it a try. Of course, after you restore the Photos app, you'll need to sign in Quickly search through your email accounts for confirmation emails by typing the name of the app to compress the username.

Third party recovery service

If you've ever searched for 'How to Recover Deleted Photos on Android,' you've probably seen countless ads for third-party services that promise to recover your photos. We won't go too far to review these services here because it's really a "buyer alert" situation.

We have tested various data recovery tools and here is an article for Mac and Windows users. However, some of these tools will also work for Android devices. However, there are many websites that promise to recover your lost photos but do not actually work. So, this method is definitely a 'buyer careful' situation.

If an image is really gone, there is no way to restore it. No matter what you are promised. So, keep in mind that this sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

About Debmalya Datta

Welcome to our blog “CYBER SUGGEST“. Debmalya Datta is a professional Blogger, Developer, Social Media Influencer, Digital Marketer and Entrepreneur. He loves doing work which makes him happy, that’s why he choose Blogging and Educate people. You will love exploring educational stuff on our blog. Live your dreams as much as you can. Be a SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTER