How To Recover Deleted Files From Your Android Phone

It has happened to all of us – at one point or other we all wanted to go back in time and change something. As most pop songs will make you believe “you can’t turn back time”, but when it comes to technology nothing is ever completely impossible.

If you’ve ever had a fight with a loved one, you may remember the urge that suddenly takes over and tells you to delete everything connected with that person: photos, videos, chat history.. And if you are reckless enough to act upon that feeling, you will probably regret it in a few minutes.

Or it does not have to be that dramatic – you can simply delete a nice photo or a fun video by accident, by pressing the wrong button at the wrong time or letting your phone toss in your handbag without blocking your keyboard.

Whatever the reasons might be, once you realize that something important is deleted – you will start desperately wanting it back.

So what do you do? Do not panic just yet! There may be a way to get those precious files back. But first, make sure that you:

• don’t save anything else onto your device before the recovery (or this information may be written over your deleted files)
• stay away from any updates (by turning off your Wi-Fi and other connections)

Now let’s get down to the recovery process. There are two approaches here and which one you choose depends on whether your device is rooted or not.

If your device is not rooted, the easiest way to recover data from your phone is by running a specialized programme on your PC. You will need to start by downloading this programme first and you will find a number of options available (like Android Data Recovery, Recuva, Coolmaster and others). Once you have the software installed, you will need to connect your phone to your PC via a USB cable or insert your phone’s SD card into the card reader on your PC.

With most of these programs you will have to specify the type of files you want to recover (jpg,. txt., mp3, etc). You will also be presented with folders from which data can be recovered. Follow the instructions and once you succeed in recovering the lost files, make sure to save them on your PC first and only then go on to transfer them to your Android device to avoid any complications, that may occur if you try to restore the files to their previous location.

If your device is rooted, the process will be a bit easier and you will not have to involve your PC. You will need to install an app like DiskDigger or Undelete on your rooted device,. These applications are made exactly the purpose of restoring deleted files and will do most of the work. So from here on now, the procedure gets pretty straightforward:

You will need to choose the location (phone memory or SD card) from which you hope to retrieve the files.

The application will them scan your chosen location for any information that can be retrieved.

Once the scan is complete, the app will show you the data that can be recovered in different folders: Music, Video, Pictures, Files, etc.)

You can then check the folders for the needed files and pick the ones you want restored.

Once you select the files to be retrieved they will be reappear in their previous location.

Ta-da! You have now achieved the impossible: you have traveled back in time and undone a mistake you’ve made. Now, if only life were that easy…