You are not sure when a deleted file can be overwritten. So, there is no fixed answer to how long is too long before a deleted file is unrecoverable. You might discover that some files that were deleted years ago are still recoverable. But, some files that were deleted recently become unrecoverable.
On your Android phone, open Settings app. Then, scroll down and tap Backup and restore option. From the list of the backup, choose the one that contains the files you deleted 6 months ago or 3 years ago and choose Restore to get back the deleted data.
When you permanently delete a file, the storage drive makes its space available for new data. However, the file is not deleted. It remains on the hard drive; only the file pointers get deleted. (The File pointer shows you where the file exists and keeps track of it being accessed.)
You can restore old data if you keep a backup of your pictures. However, if you don't have a backup, you can use an old photo recovery tool like Photos Recovery to retrieve photos, video, and audio deleted a year ago unless the data is not overwritten.
When you delete a file or folder, it goes into the Recycle bin, where you have a chance to restore it.
Basically, the answer is a bit complicated but here's the short version: you should assume that data is never truly deleted unless the device has had a complete wipe. To understand why this is this case, you need to look at how data is generally “Deleted” (and those quotes are intentional) from devices.
Can they be recovered, how can you know whether they can be recovered or not, etc.? Truth of the matter is that your data is never really deleted when you delete it from your computer manually. When you delete your files, they are being sent to the Recycle Bin, where they can be recovered at any time.
Press the Windows key, enter Windows File Recovery in the search box, and then select Windows File Recovery. When you are prompted to allow the app to make changes to your device, select Yes. There are 2 basic modes you can use to recover files: Regular and Extensive.
Use Google Drive Backup to recover old deleted photos
Google Drive allows users to save data in the cloud and sync files across all their devices. If you use Google Drive, look for your old photos here. Google Drive may contain your old deleted pictures on your Android phone and computer.
Delete photos or videos
When you delete photos and videos, they go to your Recently Deleted album for 30 days. After 30 days, they'll be permanently deleted.
Permanently deleting pictures on an Android phone is similar to removing pictures on a computer's hard drive. Briefly speaking, when you delete photos from Android's internal memory or SD card, the File Access Table on the disk is rewritten to show the area with the data for the file you've deleted as free space.
When you delete a file from your computer, it moves to the Windows Recycle Bin. You empty the Recycle Bin and the file is permanently erased from the hard drive. ... Instead, the space on the disk that was occupied by the deleted data is "deallocated."
You can only retrieve the data from Google Drive if you factory reset the Android. Hence, a hacker intending to access your deleted photos backed up on Google Drive can factory reset the Android. After factory resetting the phone, he can easily access and misuse your deleted photos.
For Your Information: As long as the deleted files on storage devices were not overwritten by new data, there is still a chance to restore them. The key point of restoring deleted files is whether you have saved new data onto the device where the deleted files were.
On Google Photos, open the app, select Library, then Trash or Bin. Long-press on each image you want to recover, and hit Restore. They'll be re-added back in place in your library. Deleted files remain available for 60 days; after that, they'll be gone forever.
To recover data after factory reset Android, navigate to the "Backup and Restore" section under "Settings." Now, look for the "Restore" option, and choose the backup file you created before resetting your Android phone. Select the file and restore all of your data.
When Windows deletes a file, it moves it to a specific hard drive sector and hides it from the operating system. Even after emptying the Recycle Bin, there is still a chance of data recovery if no new data is written on those specific sectors where the deleted files exist.
Cybercriminals and hackers can gain access to personal information stored in your computer even after you think you've deleted the files. This includes everything from financial documents to scanned images. If you think those files are gone because they've been deleted, think again.
Data recovery and forensics software can recover deleted files (on Windows/NTFS) by looking for entries in the file table that have not been overwritten. If the entries are still in place, they will show the locations where the file was stored.
The file still exists on the hard drive and could easily be retrieved with recovery software. So, just because you can't see a file in the directory after it's been deleted doesn't mean that it's not there. This is a real security issue most computer users do not take seriously until it's too late.
Yes, police can recover permanently deleted photos from a phone using special tools and software for mobile forensic investigations. However, the success of data recovery depends on several factors such as the type of disk, encryption, and file system used.
Recycling Bin
When a file is deleted, it is sent to the Recycle Bin. The Recycle Bin can be found on the Desktop. Its icon resembles a recycle bin or trash can, and the icon changes depending on whether the Recycle Bin contains any files. The recycle bin is a holding place for deleted files.