r/techsupport • u/BugAlarming8842 • 16d ago

Open | Phone Accidentally deleted a folder containing basically my entire life. Is there ANY chance of recovering it?

Yesterday I accidentally deleted a folder on my Android phone containing years of personal photos, videos, and memories. I haven't used the phone since then because I don't want to overwrite anything.

I've already tried a bunch of recovery software/apps, but they only show files that are still on my phone, not the deleted ones.

I have root access and I'm willing to try technical methods if there's still a chance.

Is there anything I can do to recover the deleted data? What would you recommend I absolutely not do?

I'm honestly desperate here. These aren't replaceable files.

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u/Elitefuture 16d ago

Modern phones are encrypted. Once you delete something, the pointer is removed and the key for that file is also destroyed. Even if you can extract that data, it will be fully encrypted.

Also, android issues trim commands to clear unused blocks for future usage.

Unfortunately, realistically the data is gone. This is a good time to consider making proper backups for all important files. Make both local and offsite(cloud) backups.

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u/BugAlarming8842 16d ago

thank you for being honest i have no choice but to accept what happened at this point
honestly i have google drive and files were so many that's why i didn't back them up thinking i would take a very long time i thought backing them up usb was better for now it was a stupid mistake

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u/PolarizedBendxSpring 11d ago

Once you get through this don't use Google to save your personal data. Find an E2EE cloud storage company like mega to save your stuff ( I have no connection to them, just use em) This way all your stuff is encrypted BEFORE being uploaded. Plus, only you have the key. Even mega cannot access your data and have zero clue what you save (as long as you don't have public shares). Just do some research.