It is always frustrating to accidentally delete important photos.
Believe me, I understand what I'm saying because I've been through that many times, and the last time that happened to me was a real disaster.
Photos aren't just "photos"; they are souvenirs of important moments we've had, and if the moment is one that you need handy, you'd definitely want to get it back on your phone if you accidentally deleted it.
In this guide, I've compiled a few useful apps that will let you recover your deleted photos on your Android device.
Recover Deleted Photos on Android: The Easiest Method
Android OS has improved over the past years, and for those of you using Android 10 and above, you should know that there's a built-in feature called Recently Deleted in the device Gallery that lets you recover photos and videos that have been deleted in the past 30 days.
That is the easiest way to recover deleted photos on your Android device. However, if you have already emptied this section, which was what I did, then you may want to consider using the apps below.
Best Photo Recovery Apps for Android
The best photo recovery apps for your Android phone should be the apps capable of salvaging your phone's primary and secondary storage and performing a deep storage deep to spot out all the deleted photos on these storage devices.
The best photo recovery apps for your Android phone should also be able to act as a recycle bin for your Android device, which will automatically store deleted files from your Android device in a safe place where you can easily find them if necessary.
Important!
For some of these apps, you will need to perform some in-app purchases to use some features but however, we will provide the premium versions of these apps, which you can download with all their premium features unlocked.
These best photo recovery apps for Android are as follows:
1. Dumpster
Dumpster is undoubtedly the best photo recovery app for Android, which allows you to recover almost all types of documents, such as text documents, videos, audio files, including RAW, JPG, PDF, mp3, mp4, AVI, DOC, TXT, APK, VCF, and even deleted messages. This is incredible for just a recovery app.
Unlike other photo recovery apps, which scan the storage to find deleted files, Dumpster runs in the background, similar to a plug-in for your smartphone, and creates a copy of deleted files. In other words, the application functions in the same way as a recycle bin for a PC.
Additionally, it is worth mentioning that Dumpster displays a preview of deleted images/videos for you to recover your deleted files. Again, the application automatically sorts the files, which makes it easy for you to spot the file you need.
Dumpster doesn't require any internet connection to work properly, unlike other apps that will require one to use their features stored in the database.
One more blasting thing with this application is that all of these features it works with won't require you to root your device. That means it can be used by anyone on any device.
Pros
- Instantly retrieve important files, recently deleted apps, photos, and videos.
- Deleted photo recovery tool - photo recovery with ease!
- Deleted video recovery, restore photos, or undelete any media.
- An internet connection is not required.
- No need to root your device.
- Backup photos and videos to cloud storage.
Cons
- No downsides recorded to date.
2. Dr. Fone
If you have been looking for photo recovery apps for Android and you haven't fallen on Dr. Fone, then you didn't search in the right place. Dr. Fone powered by Wondershare is one of the best data recovery apps for Android, iPhone that recovers deleted photos, videos, contacts, messages, notes, call logs, and other data types.
With Dr. Fone, you can run 2 different types of scans, which are: one for your internal storage and the other for your external storage. This can be really important in specifying where the file was located before deletion and delivering quick recovery results.
Dr. Fone has a special recovery feature that helps you recover deleted media (photos, videos, contacts, etc) from a non-working phone. That is, you can recover deleted files from a phone that is completely switched off due to damage with the help of Dr. Fone. No other app does that, and this is one feature that makes Dr. Fone outstanding as one of the best recovery tool apps in the market.
To perform a recovery, select the "Gallery" checkbox and opt for "Standard" or "Advanced" mode. The latter requires full access to the Android file system, which theoretically increases your chances of finding the necessary image.
The files found by the app will be available in the preview section, which can be easily filtered by name, date, and then stored on your PC.
A deep scan performed with Dr. Fone will find all the deleted files on your smartphone, together with hidden files you weren't aware of their existence. However, completely damaged media cannot be recovered.
Another downside with Dr. Fone is, it works just on rooted devices, but it has some features available for non-rooted devices.
Pros
- Uses two modes to recover files
- Can recover data from bricked or broken devices
Cons
- Works mainly for rooted devices
- Cannot recover the most damaged files
3. FonePaw
FonePaw Data Recovery Wizard is a powerful and commonly used software for recovering data. The service can restore lost or deleted files of any type. FonePaw Data Recovery Wizard works on both Mac and Windows. Android and iOS users can also freely download the mobile application.
The software is developed with three smart file recovery modes, which increase the chances of achieving a successful result. Gain, FonePaw Data Recovery Wizard works with different types of data from video/audio files to your notes, archives, and other documents.
Whether you accidentally deleted a file, formatted a disk on purpose, or faced a virus attack, this service deals with multiple deletion cases and quickly recovers your lost data.
However, when using this software, you may notice other apps on your PC running slowly because FonePaw eats up all the speed with its intense scanning. It is recommended to stop all running programs to ease the recovery with FonePaw.
FonePaw Android data recovery tool is a paid tool with a free trial session. To get the full version of the FonePaw app, you will need to pay for it.
However, if you want to get the full version of the FonePaw Android data recovery tool, you can click the download link below, which will take you directly to the full version of the app.
Pros
- Recovery is pretty fast
- Easy recovery steps
- Restores any lost or removed content
- Offers three options to retrieve data
Cons
- The system is slowed down while scanning data
- Impossible scanning and recovering of specific folders
Also Read: How to Fix App Not Installed Error on Android
4. DigDeep
DigDeep is another amazing photo recovery app for Android that helps you easily recover any deleted photo on your internal and external storage. It recovers a wide range of image formats such as JPG, JPEG, and PNG.
DigDeep can perform a scan on both your internal and external storage (SD Card) and restore all the necessary files you want. However, DigDeep doesn't work as a recycle bin, so you should be careful before performing any file deletion.
One great thing with this app is, you can recover files that were deleted before and after the installation of the app by performing a scan on the root folders and directories.
The app has a well-designed interface, which makes it easy to use by any class of individual (beginner, intermediate, or expert).
Just as it is the case with Dumpster, DigDeep doesn't require your phone to be rooted. So, this app is ideal for all kinds of Android smartphones.
To use the app, just toggle on the scanning; this may take some minutes depending on how much storage memory your phone has.
When the scan is completed, you will be shown many folders with files; you can select from here the file (photo) that you want to restore.
However, the recovered files you recovered with DigDeep may be corrupted or damaged, and if at all the recovery was a success, you will notice a decrease in image quality.
Pros
- Very easy-to-use and user-friendly interface
- Easily search for deleted files
Cons
- Image quality may be reduced upon recovery
- Not all images may be recovered, and most of them may be damaged.
5. DiskDigger
DiskDigger is definitely another great app to recover deleted photos on your Android device. DiskDigger can not only be used to recover deleted images on your Android device but can also recover deleted photos from external drives such as USB drives, SD cards, and even digital cameras.
DiskDigger has two scan types: basic and advanced scan, which work differently and report different results.
That said, a basic scan works effortlessly on non-rooted Android smartphones and depends on the timeframe since the photo was deleted. That is, if you deleted the photo over a week ago, you won't be able to recover the photo, though in some cases, it recovers photos deleted over a week.
An advanced scan will require the Android smartphone to be rooted because it will perform an intense scan of the system files of the Android phone.
Just as it is the case with Dumpster, DiskDigger has a preview section where you will get to choose which files to recover using the app, and they can be easily sorted by name, date.
You can also save these recovered photos on your memory card, send them by email, or better still, upload them to your cloud drive, just as it is the case with Dumpster.
The app has two versions: free and premium. The free version allows you to use just a set of features; meanwhile, the premium version gives you access to all the features the app has to offer to recover deleted files. With this premium version, you can recover images, videos, text, audio, and even messages.
The download link below will take you to a page where you can download the premium unlocked version of DiskDigger for free.
Pros
- Offer two scan types for recovery
- Can recover deleted files and upload to cloud storage
Cons
- Only photos can be restored in the free version of the app
6. Undeleter
Undeleter is another photo recovery app for Android that lets Android users recover deleted files from their internal and external (SD Card) storage. With Undeleter, you will be able to recover any file type and bring them back to their states before deletion.
The app works well for non-rooted devices, but it will have limited features. To use the full features of Undeleter, you will need to root your Android device and grant the app full access to your system files.
The app offers three main functions, which are: file recovery, data recovery, and hard drive damage. The file recovery function will allow you to recover and restore your deleted files, such as photos, videos, audio...
The data recovery function allows you to recover deleted files from other 3rd party applications, including lost messages. The hard drive damage function will help you delete any stored files or media on your Android device's storage.
Undeleter also displays a preview section which allows you to choose which file to recover, where to save it (memory card), and if you want to save it to your cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox.
The app has two versions: the free and pro versions. The free version is full of annoying ads, and the pro version has many features unlocked and is ad-free. The link below will take you to the pro version of Undeleter, which you can download for free.
Pros
- User-friendly interface
- Provide two options for file recovery
- Can recover photos from external drive (SD Card)
Cons
- Requires root access
- Annoying ads are displayed at every step
Also Read: Top 6 Best Zip Password Cracker/Unlocker/Recovery Tools
7. Restore Image (Super Easy)
Restore image is an image recovery app created by AlpacaSoft and has over 1 million downloads. It can be installed on your device directly and recover deleted pictures from Android internal memory or SD card as you like.
In addition, this free photo recovery tool will work effortlessly without root, which is ideal for all kinds of Android devices.
Restore Image is a super-easy-to-use tool that recovers images in formats JPG and PNG.
Pros
- Rooting the device is not necessary.
- Scan the entire device and recover images in JPG or PNG format without rooting.
- This photo recovery tool is completely free to use.
Pros
- It doesn’t allow you to recover images when you have cleaned the cache files and memory on your device.
- The app takes a lot of time to scan the images, which makes it slow compared to other apps.
8. Restore Image & Photo Recovery
Restore Image and Photo Recovery app, developed by Antivirus Free – GPaddy Mobile Security, can help restore images or photos easily in just a few simple steps. Unlike some other apps mentioned above, this app can easily recover deleted images on Android in various situations.
That means no matter whether you have deleted your images accidentally or intentionally, formatted your memory card, or factory reset your device, you can use this app to get back lost Android pictures completely.
Pros
- Retrieve deleted images on Android, no matter why they’re lost.
- Excellent restoring image quality and user-friendly interface design to help all of you to handle it.
- Fast scanning speed to save your time.
Cons
- Lots of users complained that they cannot find their target images.
9. Photo Recovery
Photo Recovery is another great photo recovery app for Android, and its name says it all. This app doesn't require your phone to be rooted before you can use the app, which makes it another perfect choice for all Android devices.
This free-to-use recovery tool comes with two photo recovery modes.
During a recovery, the app previews the photos to recover, where you can choose which one you want to recover. Additionally, you can use the app to transfer files between your Android device and your computer, which can be important for creating useful backups.
Pros
- Recover photos without root.
- Provide users with 2 different recovery algorithms, which can greatly improve the success rate.
- This is a free-to-use application
Cons
- Takes a lot of time when running scans.
10. Recycle Master
Recycle Master is another great app used to recover deleted photos from a recycle bin. It doesn't have any scanning function since it recovers only from the recycle bin.
This app also comes with an auto-cleaning system. That is, it will clean all the unnecessary files from your device. The app also allows you to secure your Images recovered by enabling password protection for the app.
Pros
- The app comes with an auto-cleaning system
- You can secure this app by enabling password protection
- The app works as a backup folder to review all your missing images and data
- You can immediately retrieve all your images and data
Cons
- Recovers only from the recycle bin.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I recover permanently deleted photos from my Android?
Use a photo recovery app such as Dumpster. It has a number of useful features that will help you recover most deleted photos on your Android device.
Is it possible to recover deleted photos after permanently deleting?
While it is possible to recover deleted photos on Android, recovering permanently deleted photos can be difficult, and sometimes impossible.
Can photos be recovered once permanently deleted just now on Android?
Yes, it is possible to recover freshly deleted photos on Android. You just need to use the perfect app for the task.
Where do permanently deleted files go on Android?
As you may know, the Android system lacks a dedicated trash folder for deleted data. When you delete a photo from your Android phone, it does not disappear. It's still at its original location in the phone's internal memory.
Final Thoughts on Best Photo Recovery Apps for Android
The above are the best photo recovery apps for Android, which you can use to easily recover any deleted photo on your Android device.
Some of these photo recovery apps won't only recover deleted photos but will also recover deleted videos, audio, text, documents, and even messages. This is ideal to recover a deleted conversation, which can serve as evidence for a certain situation.
We even find great apps such as Dr. Fone, which let you recover deleted media, photos, videos, and many more types of files from a broken or damaged Android device that won't turn on.
Using these apps will make your recovery a success. Which app did you choose, and what are your results? Let us know in the comments section.
