Data Recovery from Android phone

[Mcinwwl]

What happened - too much data got deleted during system cleanup

Target Model - Xiaomi Redmi 6a, official ROM, no root

data stored on internal memory

We are aiming at recovering WhatsApp message history, but other data would be cool too.

Since the phone is not mine, I cannot promise data will not get overwriten, but I told multiple times to resist from browsing web, facebook etc.

I tried Googling out, but none of the websites I checked seemed not worth too much trust... There are some pieces of software told to be capable of solving my prob, but what I need is probably a recommendation from trusted source, best backed with personal experience...

[Mr.Scienceman2000]

Without root it will be hard or impossible since way storage works on android or phone overall. You cannot do data recovery over MTP. Is phone encrypted?

15 hours ago, Mcinwwl said:

Since the phone is not mine, I cannot promise data will not get overwriten, but I told multiple times to resist from browsing web, facebook etc.

phone should totally off until you find way or app may write to block with old data even if just running background

[Mcinwwl]

It's not encrypted.

[UCyborg]

On 8/30/2021 at 4:35 PM, Mcinwwl said:

There are some pieces of software told to be capable of solving my prob

Wonder what you found. Can't imagine how it would work since each app only has permission to its own data folder. Not sure how much extra the permission to access storage grants, it might only be enough for normal access to files on internal/external storage.

If root access was possible in recovery mode, image of the data partition could be taken, mounted on the PC and then any tool that can scavenge ext4 file system could be used and relevant data files found intact, if you're lucky.

[Mr.Scienceman2000]

On 9/1/2021 at 1:29 AM, UCyborg said:

Not sure how much extra the permission to access storage grants, it might only be enough for normal access to files on internal/external storage.

That is pretty much right on stock android. On android 10 atleast if allows it only trough android own framework that is limited to certain folders only and recovery needs root access. Only way do it is from sdcard

On 9/1/2021 at 12:00 AM, Mcinwwl said:

It's not encrypted.

good, then there is hope. Like UCyborg said you may need root it and do this. Sadly rooting usually wipes the device memory

On 9/1/2021 at 1:29 AM, UCyborg said:

If root access was possible in recovery mode, image of the data partition could be taken, mounted on the PC and then any tool that can scavenge ext4 file system could be used and relevant data files found intact, if you're lucky.