Losing photos on your Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge can be frustrating and upsetting. Those precious memories and moments gone in an instant!
But don’t panic. With the right tools and techniques, you can recover deleted photos on your Galaxy S6 Edge or Edge+.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the top methods for retrieving deleted photos on the Galaxy S6 Edge. Whether you accidentally deleted a photo or your phone became corrupted, this guide has you covered.
Let’s start with understanding why photos vanish in the first place.
Why Photos Get Deleted on the Galaxy S6 Edge
There are several reasons why you may suddenly lose photos on your Galaxy S6 Edge:
- Accidental Deletion: You might have accidentally deleted important photos while cleaning out your phone’s storage. One slip of the finger and those photos could be gone.
- Storage Corruption: If your phone’s storage gets corrupted or damaged, photos stored on it can become inaccessible or get deleted entirely.
- Software Bugs: Bugs or crashes in apps like Gallery could end up deleting photos stored on your device.
- Virus or Malware Attack: Malicious software that infects your phone could potentially delete or encrypt photos stored on it.
- System Upgrade: In some cases, a botched system upgrade can cause photo loss on the device.
- Hardware Damage: Physical damage to your device through drops, water contact etc. can also lead to photo loss along with storage corruption.
- Unintentional Factory Reset: If your phone is reset to factory settings without proper backup, all photos not backed up earlier would be deleted.
Now that you know what causes photo loss, let’s look at how you can get those photos back.
How to Recover Deleted Photos from Galaxy S6 Edge
There are several effective techniques you can use to recover deleted photos from your Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge or Edge+ device.
Using Samsung Cloud
One of the simplest options is to use Samsung’s built-in cloud backup service called Samsung Cloud.
Here’s how it works:
- Samsung Cloud automatically backs up your photos if you have the option enabled in settings.
- If photos get deleted from the phone, you can restore them via the cloud as long as they were backed up earlier.
To recover deleted photos using Samsung Cloud:
- Open the Samsung Cloud app on your phone.
- Tap on Gallery > Restore Data.
- Select the photos you want to restore.
- Tap Restore to get them back on your device’s storage.
This method works great if you had Samsung Cloud backup enabled. Make sure to keep it on to prevent future photo loss.
An advantage of Samsung Cloud is that it provides 15GB of free storage for Galaxy users. But a limitation is that it only works for Samsung devices.
So what if you need to restore photos on a new non-Samsung device? That’s where cross-platform cloud services come in handy…
Using Google Photos Backup
An alternate cloud backup option is to use Google Photos.
Benefits of Google Photos:
- Works across iOS and Android devices.
- Offers free unlimited storage for photos up to 16MP.
- Has a trash folder that retains deleted photos for 60 days.
To recover deleted photos using Google Photos:
- Install and open the Google Photos app on your device.
- Go to Library > Bin. This is the trash folder.
- Find the deleted photos you want to recover.
- Select them and tap Restore to retrieve them.
The photos will restore to the same device or any other device with Google Photos set up and synced to the same account.
I highly recommend having Google Photos backup enabled especially if you plan to switch to a non-Samsung device in the future.
Between Samsung Cloud and Google Photos backup, you have reliable tools to avoid photo loss. But what if you didn’t have any backups enabled? Not to worry, you can still get deleted photos back with data recovery apps.
With Local Data Recovery Apps
If cloud backups are not an option, your best bet is to use a dedicated data recovery app on the device itself.
These apps can scour the phone’s storage to find and restore deleted photos even if you don’t have backups enabled.
Some top data recovery apps for Galaxy S6 Edge are:
- Dr.Fone – Data Recovery (Android) – Recovers photos, videos, messages, contacts, call logs, WhatsApp data etc.
- DiskDigger Photo Recovery – Specialized tool just for photos and videos.
- EaseUS MobiSaver for Android – Retrieves a wide range of lost files.
The overall process is quite similar across these apps:
- Download and install the data recovery app on your computer.
- Connect your Galaxy S6 Edge to the computer via USB cable.
- Grant permissions to the app and enable USB debugging when prompted.
- Select the file types (photos, messages, etc.) you want to recover.
- The app scans your phone’s storage for deleted data.
- You get a list of recoverable files. Select the photos you want to restore.
- Save the retrieved photos to your computer or back to the device storage.
The recovery success depends on the condition of the deleted photos. If they were overwritten by new data, recovery is difficult. So attempt recovery as soon as possible after deletion.
Most data recovery apps have free trial versions to test out the functions before paying for the full version. Overall, they provide an effective solution when cloud backups are unavailable.
Preventing Photo Loss on the Galaxy S6 Edge
Prevention is always better than recovery. Let’s look at some ways to avoid photo deletion in the first place on your Galaxy S6 Edge:
- Enable Cloud Backup: As discussed earlier, ensure Samsung Cloud and/or Google Photos backup is enabled to protect photos from accidental deletion.
- Use a SD Card: Store photos on an external SD card rather than internal phone storage. Eject card before factory reset.
- Beware of Viruses: Install a trustworthy anti-virus app and avoid downloading suspicious files to keep your phone from getting infected.
- Handle with Care: Use phone cases and screen protectors to minimize risk of physical damage leading to data loss.
- Update Carefully: Be cautious when updating apps or OS to avoid potential bugs that corrupt your photo storage.
- Turn on Recycle Bin: Use the Recycle Bin option in your device’s Gallery app to retain deleted photos for some time before permanent deletion.
Tips for Backing Up Photos
In addition to the cloud backup options mentioned previously, here are some other ways to stay protected:
- Local Storage: Copy important photo folders and albums to your computer or an external hard drive for local backup.
- Photo Storage Apps: Use dedicated apps like Google Photos or Dropbox that can automatically sync photos across devices and retain deleted files for recovery.
- Sync to iTunes: If you use iTunes to manage your device, enable photo sync to regularly back up camera roll photos to your computer.
- Remote Backup: Maintain an automatic remote backup via services like iDrive or Acronis to store copies of your phone’s photo library.
- Burn to DVD: For long term archival, burn important photo collections to DVDs and store safely. This protects against storage failures or device loss.
- Printing: Print special photos to preserve them forever as physical photo prints. Useful for sentimental or nostalgic moments.
- Storage Devices: Manually transfer photos to external storage devices like USB drives or external hard disks as a backup measure.
Common Questions about Photo Recovery on Galaxy S6 Edge
Here are some frequently asked questions about recovering deleted photos on the Galaxy S6 Edge and Edge+:
Q1: How can I recover permanently deleted photos from the Recycle Bin?
A1: If you have emptied the Recycle Bin in the Gallery app, data recovery apps offer the best chance for retrieving the deleted photos before they get overwritten.
Q2: Are deleted photos still recoverable if I reset my Galaxy S6 Edge to factory settings?
A2: Performing a factory reset makes recovery difficult but still possible if you use a data recovery app immediately before new data overwrites the storage space.
Q3: Can I recover photos without root access on my Galaxy S6 Edge?
A3: Yes, most data recovery apps don’t require root access. However, root access allows them to recover more file types.
Q4: What should I do if my phone was damaged or broken?
A4: In case of physical damage like water contact or broken screen, professional phone repair services are your best option. They can fix the phone and rescue the data.
Q5: How do I recover photos after a failed firmware update?
A5: Firmware issues can sometimes be fixed by rebooting the device and attempting the update again. If data loss already occurred, use a recovery app.
Q6: What photo formats can be recovered on the Galaxy S6 Edge?
A6: Common formats like JPG, PNG, BMP, GIF can be recovered. Raw formats like DNG or proprietary formats may be harder to rescue if not supported by the recovery app.
Q7: Should I avoid using my phone after deletion to increase chances of recovery?
A7: Yes, ideally you should avoid saving any new data like apps, photos or files to the device until recovery is completed. This minimizes overwritten data.
Key Takeaways
- Accidental deletion, storage corruption, viruses and factory resets are common reasons for photo loss on Galaxy S6 Edge devices.
- Enabling Samsung Cloud and Google Photos backup provides protection against deletion by retaining copies of all photos.
- Data recovery apps can retrieve deleted photos from internal storage even without backups, as long as the files are not overwritten.
- Avoiding viruses, handling devices carefully, and updating software cautiously helps prevent photo loss due to system damage or bugs.
- Always maintain local and cloud-based backups of important photos for easy disaster recovery.
Losing your precious photos can be disheartening. But armed with the right knowledge, you can recover deleted photos even under dire circumstances. So don’t abandon all hope even if photos are accidentally deleted or your Galaxy S6 Edge malfunctions. With persistence and the right tools, photo recovery is usually possible.
