Accidentally Deleted Files from Your Phone? Here’s How to Get Them Back
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Losing files after accidentally deleting them from a phone can cause panic, particularly if they are photos, videos, work documents or other important data. However, you do not need to assume straight away that the files are gone for good.
On many phones, recently deleted files are moved to a Trash folder or a dedicated album before being permanently erased. The first step, therefore, is to check that folder.
Here is how to recover files accidentally deleted from a phone.
- Check the Trash or Recently Deleted folder
If the deleted files are photos or videos, first check the phone’s gallery app. Some devices have a folder called Trash, Recently Deleted or something similar.
On Android devices using Google Photos, open the app and select Collections > Trash. Choose the photos or videos you want to restore, then tap Restore. The files will return to Google Photos, their previous album and the phone’s gallery. Google says photos and videos still in Trash can be restored as long as they have not been permanently deleted.
On an iPhone, open the Photos app, select Collections, then look for the Recently Deleted album under Utilities. Choose the photos or videos you want to recover and tap Restore. Apple gives users up to 30 days to recover photos or videos in this album.
- Check Google Photos or iCloud
Files may still be stored in a cloud service even if they are no longer visible in the phone’s gallery.
On Android, try opening Google Photos with the Google Account normally used to back up photos. Make sure it is the right account, as backed-up photos may be stored under a different Google Account.
Google also advises users to check their backup settings and device folders if photos or videos cannot be found. Photos from other apps, such as WhatsApp or social media apps, may be stored in different device folders.
On an iPhone, users who have enabled iCloud Photos can check their files in the Photos app or on iCloud. Deleted files may still be found in the Recently Deleted album, provided they are within the retention period.
- Check the file manager app
If the deleted item is a document, PDF, video or download rather than a photo, open the phone’s file manager app.
Look for folders such as Trash or Recently Deleted. Some file manager apps also have recovery features that can restore recently deleted files.
If the file came from a particular app, check that app as well. For example, a document previously stored in a cloud service may still be available in the user’s account even if its local copy has been deleted from the phone.
- Do not rush to use recovery apps
If the file is no longer in the Trash folder, do not immediately install recovery apps indiscriminately. First check whether a backup exists in Google Photos, iCloud, Google Drive, on a computer or on another storage device.
Photos and videos permanently deleted from Google Photos cannot be restored using Google Photos’ recovery feature.
The same applies to iPhone photos permanently deleted from the Recently Deleted album. Apple says photos and videos deleted from that album cannot be recovered.
So, if you accidentally delete a file, do not panic. Check the Trash or Recently Deleted folder straight away, then look at the backup services you use. The sooner you check, the greater the chance that the file will still be somewhere it can be recovered from.
To prevent the same thing happening again, enable automatic backups for important photos, videos and documents. That way, if a file is deleted from your phone, you will still have a copy available.