How to Recover Deleted Photos from Android Gallery

David Darlington

Mar 09, 2023 • Filed to: SD Card Solutions • Proven solutions

You most probably use your Android device to capture and store photos. The photos you take with the device are often stored in the Gallery app and the app, depending on the internal storage size of the device can store thousands of photos and videos at a time. But like all apps on your device, the Gallery app is also prone to data loss.

So, what can you do when you lose some or all of the photos on the Gallery app? Is it possible to actually recover the photos? In this guide, we take a look at some of the ways you can recover deleted photos from Android Gallery.

Part 1: Can Photos Deleted from Gallery be recovered?

Before we get to the solutions, it is important to take a moment to look at whether it is possible to actually recover the deleted photos. If you have a backup of the photos in your Google account or elsewhere, then the recovery process is very easy; all you have to do is restore the backup to get them back.

If on the other hand you've stored the photos in your SD card and you don't have an additional backup, the only way to get them back would be to use a powerful data recovery tool.

Part 2: How to Recover Deleted Photos from Android Gallery?

That being said, there are still several options for the recovery of deleted photos from the Android Gallery. These include the following;

Method 1: Recover from Google Photos

All Android devices have Google Photos, Google's premier photo sharing, and storage app. Whenever you take a photo using your device, the photo is automatically backed up to Google photos and will remain there even if you delete it in the Gallery app. To restore the photos from Google photos, follow these simple steps;

Step 1: Open Google Photos on our device

Step 2: Locate the photo you would like to restore and select it

Step 3: Tap on the menu icon (three dots) and then choose "Save to device"

You'll find the recovered photos in the Gallery app under "Albums > Restored"

Method 2: Recover from Google Drive

You may also be able to recover the photos from your Google Drive account on your computer or device. Follow these simple steps to do it;

Step 1: Open Google Drive on your computer browser or device

Step 2: You should see all the uploaded and backed up photos. Select the ones you would like to restore and download them to save them back to your device.

Method 3: Restore via Android Backup Services

Most Android device manufacturers offer in-built functions that can be on the device's internal memory or a cloud service. The process for restoring data from these devices will often depend on the device model, but the backup and restore options can be found in the device's settings. Here are a few examples;

On Samsung devices: Settings > Cloud & Accounts > Backup and Restore

On LG Devices: Settings > Backup & Reset > LG Backup Service

Part 3: Tips to Avoid Losing Gallery Photos

Prevention is always better than cure and the following are just some of the things you can do to avoid losing the Gallery photos;

• If you don't see any photos in the Gallery app, don't immediately assume that they've been deleted. It is possible that they may be stored somewhere else. We recommend using a file manager app like ES Explorer to transfer the photos from the camera/ DCIM folder or the SD card to the device's internal memory so they are visible in the gallery.
• It is also very important to ensure that the backup feature is enabled on the Android device. The automatic backup will come in handy when you need to recover ant lost files
• You may also need to create more storage space on the device to enable the Gallery app to store new photos taken on the device. If storage is not sufficient, the photos will not be saved and they will disappear from the device.
• If you only see the thumbnails for the photos in the gallery app, consider clearing the cache in the gallery app.

Losing data on your device is always frustrating. But with the solutions above, you can easily recover the photos from the Gallery. As always your comments and questions are always welcome. Just post them below and we'll do our best to find solutions for you.