# How do I open the recycle bin on Android? — Adinand Auto File Sorter Last reviewed: September 27, 2026. HTML version: https://adinandsorter.com/answers/access-recycle-bin-on-android **Open the bin inside the app you deleted with.** On a Galaxy phone that is usually **My Files › Recycle bin**; with Files by Google it is **Menu › Trash**; for photos backed up to Google it is **Collections › Trash** in Google Photos. Each app keeps and restores its own deleted items, so the question to answer first is which app removed the file. This page is about getting things back; clearing the bins out is covered on our page about [emptying the trash](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/empty-the-trash-on-android). ## On a Samsung Galaxy phone: My Files

Samsung pulled its bins together in One UI 6: "Users can now delete and restore files from My Files, Gallery and Voice Recordings directly from the Trash folder in My Files." The steps are "Go to My Files > Recycle bin", "Tap Edit", choose the files, then "Tap Restore or Delete and follow any remaining on-screen instructions." There is a second door from Settings as well: "Settings > Device care > Storage management > Recycle bin > My Files", where deleted files are listed by the app they came from ([*How to delete or restore files in the recycle bin in My Files*](https://www.samsung.com/uk/support/apps-services/the-updated-recycle-bin-feature-in-my-files-on-galaxy-devices-with-one-ui-6/), Samsung UK, read 27 September 2026).

Two limits from Samsung's US guide. A deleted file "will stay in the Trash for 30 days before being permanently deleted", and a Galaxy tablet has no such net at all: "Tablets do not have the Trash feature in My Files, so files can't be restored once they are deleted" ([*Manage files on your Galaxy phone or tablet*](https://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS00076845/), read 27 September 2026).

## Gallery and Voice Recorder still have their own entrances

For pictures you can stay in Gallery. Samsung's route is "Go to the Gallery > Menu (the three horizontal lines)", "Select Recycle bin", "Select Edit", then pick the items and "Tap Restore (or Restore All)". The same page gives Gallery's window: "Deleted items will remain in the Bin for 30 days." Voice Recorder's bin sits behind its **More** menu, with **Restore** or **Restore All** at the end (Samsung UK page above).

## Files by Google: Menu, then Trash

Google's restore steps: open Files by Google, "At the top left, tap Menu", then Trash, "Find the files you want to move out of Trash", "At the bottom, tap Restore", and confirm with Restore again ([*Move files to Trash & restore files from Trash*](https://support.google.com/files/answer/10607740?hl=en), read 27 September 2026).

If the Trash screen opens blank, read Google's troubleshooting section to the end before following it. It starts gently — "If you’ve an SD card in your device, remove the SD card and check if files in Trash are loaded" — but the later steps have you turn on hidden files, find the ".FilesByGoogleTrash" folder under Internal storage and tap "Delete permanently". That clears the screen by removing the trash itself, so anything you hoped to rescue goes with it (same page).

## Google Photos: Collections, then Trash

For a photo or video deleted in Google Photos: "At the bottom, tap Collections Trash", "Touch and hold the photo or video you want to restore", then "At the bottom, tap Restore." Google lists where it reappears — the albums it was in, the Google Photos library, and the "Phone’s gallery app" ([*Restore recently deleted photos & videos*](https://support.google.com/photos/answer/9343482?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid), Android, read 27 September 2026).

Google is plain about the edge of that net: "If the photo or video isn’t in your trash, it may be permanently deleted." Restoring is possible only if you moved the item to Trash less than 30 days ago and have not emptied it or deleted it from there since (same page).

## If it is in none of them

Check each bin that could plausibly hold it before concluding it is gone — on a Galaxy phone with Google Photos installed, that is at least two, because Samsung's Gallery and Google Photos each document a bin of their own (both pages above). What decides whether a delete lands in a bin at all, and how long each one waits, is on our page about [where deleted files go](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/where-do-deleted-files-go-on-android).

Related: [How do I empty the trash on Android?](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/empty-the-trash-on-android) · [Where do deleted files go on Android?](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/where-do-deleted-files-go-on-android) · [How does Samsung My Files work?](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/how-does-samsung-my-files-work) · [Using the Google Files app](https://adinandsorter.com/answers/how-to-use-the-google-files-app)