Many Android users may feel frustrated when they accidentally delete photos, empty their photo albums, or lose pictures due to device issues. Most people believe that deleted photos cannot be recovered.

Actually, when you perform the operation of deleting photos on an Android device, the data will not be immediately removed from the storage space. These data will be marked as invisible until they are replaced by new data. As long as the data has not been overwritten by new content, you can still recover them.

This tutorial will introduce multiple useful ways to recover deleted Android photos, including built-in tools, cloud backup, and professional software when available.

Method 1: Recover Recently Deleted Photos from Android Trash or Gallery

When you delete photos on Android, the photos will first be stored in the trash bin or the recently deleted files folder. Therefore, you can recover them anytime using the built-in recovery function of the system, which works as a free photo recovery app for Android without installing any third-party tools. However, the deleted photos will only be temporarily retained for approximately 30 days and will be permanently deleted after that period. Therefore, the earlier you notice and attempt to restore the photos, the greater the recovery possibility will be.

Recover Android Recently Deleted Photos from Google Photos

Step 1. Open the Google Photos app on your Android phone.

Step 2. Tap Library at the bottom bar.

Step 3. Enter the Trash folder, and you can view all the deleted photos and videos within the past 30 days.

Step 4. Select the photos that need to be recovered, click the Restore button, and the images will automatically be restored to the original album.

Recover Recently Deleted Android Photos from Android Gallery

Step 1. Open the Gallery app.

Step 2. Go to Albums and open Recently Deleted / Trash (based on the layout).

Step 3. Long-press the target photo and tap Restore.

Method 2: Restore Android Photos from Cloud Backup

If you have backed up your photos to cloud services such as OneDrive or Dropbox before deletion, you can check whether there is a copy of your photos. If the backup is still available, you can download the photos back to your device directly.

OneDrive

Step 1. Open the OneDrive app and log in to your Microsoft account.

Step 2. Tap Me at the bottom-right corner.

Step 3. Select the Recycle Bin.

Step 4. Choose and long-press the photo you want to recover, and then tap Restore.

Dropbox

Step 1. Launch the Dropbox app and sign in to your Dropbox account.

Step 2. Tap the menu button in the top left.

Step 3. Choose Deleted Files.

Step 4. Select the photos you want to recover, tap the three-dot menu next to selected items, then tap Restore.

Method 3: Recover Permanently Deleted Photos with Android Recovery Software

If your Android photos are permanently deleted (deleted from the trash), and you don't have a backup, you may need Android photo recovery software. Apeaksoft Android Data Recovery is such a professional photo recovery software for Android that can deeply scan your device for deleted photos, videos, and other lost files. Compared with a simple Android photo recovery app, it provides deep scan and preview features.

Step 1. Download this Android photo recovery software for free from the download button above.

Step 2. Connect your Android phone to your computer. Follow the on-screen instructions to enable USB debugging.

Step 3. Check the Gallery and Picture Library. Click the Next button.

Step 4. The program will start scanning your device. You can toggle on Only display the deleted item(s) to quickly locate the deleted Android photos.

Step 5. Select your desired photos, and then click the Recover button.

Bonus: Photo Recovery App for Android

If you don't want to use a computer, you can also rely on some useful photo recovery apps for Android, such as DiskDigger and EaseUS MobiSaver for Android. With it, you can directly recover deleted photos from your Android phone.

However, compared with professional Android photo recovery software, it usually has limited scanning capabilities, especially when working on devices without root access.

Step 1. Download and install a tool like DiskDigger from the Google Play Store.

Step 2. Choose a scan option and grant required permissions.

Step 3. Select the deleted photos and tap Recover.

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