Recovering Deleted Photos from a Nokia Lumia Phone
Accidentally deleting photos from your Nokia Lumia phone can be frustrating. Those photos may contain precious memories or important documents you need. Fortunately, there are several methods you can use to try to recover deleted photos from your Nokia Lumia device.
Check the Recycle Bin on Your Nokia Lumia
When you delete photos on your Nokia Lumia, they are not immediately erased from the device. Deleted photos are first moved to the Recycle Bin where they will remain for a period of time before being permanently deleted.
To recover deleted photos that are still in the Recycle Bin:
- Open the Photos app on your Nokia Lumia.
- At the bottom of the Photos app screen, tap on the Recycle Bin icon.
- This will open up the Recycle Bin, displaying all of your recently deleted photos.
- Tap and hold on any photo you want to recover.
- Select ‘Restore’ to move the photo back to your camera roll.
The Recycle Bin will keep deleted photos for 30 days before removing them permanently. So if you act quickly, you may be able to recover deleted photos easily from there.
Use a Photo Recovery App
If the photos you want to recover have already been permanently deleted from your Nokia Lumia phone’s Recycle Bin, then your best bet is to use a dedicated photo recovery app.
There are a few different photo recovery apps available for Nokia Lumia devices:
- DiskDigger Photo Recovery – This photo recovery app works very well for recovering lost images from Nokia Lumia phones. It can extract photos from the phone’s internal memory or SD card. DiskDigger has a free trial version with a 1,000 photo limit.
- PhotoRescue – PhotoRescue claims to recover lost or deleted photos, videos, and audio files from Nokia Lumia phones. It can apparently recover photos from corrupted or reformatted memory cards as well. The app offers a free trial.
- Mobisaver – Mobisaver is a recovery app designed specifically for Windows phones like Nokia Lumia devices. It can restore photos and videos from the internal memory of your phone or external SD card. However, Mobisaver can be a bit pricier than other options.
To use one of these photo recovery apps:
- Download and install the photo recovery app onto your Nokia Lumia phone.
- Grant the app the necessary permissions and access to your files/storage.
- Open the app and scan your device for recoverable photos.
- Preview found photos to identify those you want to recover.
- Recover and save the deleted photos to your device or external SD card.
Just keep in mind that the more you use your Nokia Lumia phone after deleting photos, the lower your chances of recovery become. As the device gets used, data can be overwritten with new data. So recover deleted photos as soon as possible with one of the apps.
Recover from a Cloud Backup
If you had your Nokia Lumia phone set up to backup photos to OneDrive or another cloud storage service, you may be able to restore deleted photos from the backup.
Connect to OneDrive or the relevant cloud service and see if there are available backups of your Nokia Lumia device. You may find photos in your cloud backup that are deleted locally on your phone.
To recover from a cloud backup:
- Go to OneDrive.com or the website for your cloud storage service.
- Log into your account.
- Navigate to the folder or backup of your Nokia Lumia device.
- See if there are photo files stored here that are now missing from your phone.
- Select any photos you want to restore and download them back to your device.
This method can work well if you maintained a recent cloud backup before losing photos on your Nokia Lumia phone.
Try Data Recovery Software
Another option is to use data recovery software that is designed to restore deleted files from Nokia Lumia devices. These special software tools can “undelete” files that were removed from your phone’s internal memory or SD card.
Some data recovery programs that support Nokia Lumia phones include:
- EaseUS MobiSaver – This program claims to recover deleted photos, videos, contacts, messages and more from Nokia Lumia phones. It can restore data lost due to system crashes, viruses, operating system issues, accidental deletion, factory resets and other scenarios.
- FonePaw Nokia Data Recovery – FonePaw offers a recovery tool dedicated specifically to Nokia Lumia devices. It enables restoring deleted photos, videos, contacts and text messages.
- Tenorshare UltData for Windows – Tenorshare is another data recovery option that is fully compatible with Nokia Lumia phones. It restores photos, videos, contacts, messages and more.
To use data recovery software:
- Download and install the data recovery program on your Windows computer.
- Connect your Nokia Lumia phone to your computer via a USB cable.
- Grant the software access to your device.
- Select the file types and storage locations you want to scan for recoverable data.
- Allow the software to run a deep scan of your device.
- Preview found files and select those you want to recover.
- Specify a save location on your computer or external media to store the recovered data.
Professional data recovery software maximizes your chances of rescuing deleted files from Nokia Lumia devices. Just be sure to use a trusted program from a reputable provider.
Preventing Photo Loss on Nokia Lumia Phones
While the above methods may help you recover deleted photos from your Nokia Lumia device, prevention is always better than a cure. Here are some tips to avoid losing photos on your Nokia Lumia phone in the future:
Set Up Automatic Backups
Configure your Nokia Lumia phone to automatically backup photos to the cloud. This provides you with a copy of photos that can be restored if ever deleted or lost on your device.
Microsoft OneDrive offers seamless image backup for Nokia Lumia users. But you can also automatically backup photos to Google Photos, Dropbox, iCloud and other cloud storage services.
Use External SD Card Storage
Rather than storing all photos on your Nokia Lumia’s internal memory, use an external microSD card to hold your photos. This provides redundancy in case the internal storage fails or data is corrupted/deleted.
Install Antivirus Software
Malware and viruses can sometimes corrupt or delete files on phones. Protect your Nokia Lumia with a strong antivirus program to defend against malicious software.
Export Photos Frequently
Make it a habit to regularly export photos from your Nokia Lumia to a computer, cloud service, external drive or other storage medium. This gets photos off your phone to another location in case of phone issues.
Avoid Unreliable Apps
Be cautious when downloading apps to your Nokia Lumia, as some low-quality apps may cause glitches that result in data loss. Only download reputable apps from reliable sources like the Microsoft Store.
Conclusion
It can certainly be stressful when important photos get deleted from your Nokia Lumia smartphone. Hopefully the data recovery solutions provided above can help you rescue those lost images. Just act quickly before deleted files get overwritten.
And going forward, implement preventative measures like cloud backups and external SD storage to keep your memories safe. With the right recovery methods and preventative steps, you can rest assured knowing your photos are protected from potential deletion mishaps.
