Unknown files deleted and now the photos from the gallery are gone

[myelle]

I know I messed up. This morning I was nonchalantly scrolling through my Samsung A53. So I got to device care, I optimised it and then I got to Files. I deleted some downloaded pics and the docs I wanted and then, last on the list in my documets folder (I guess!? It happened so fast), there were some files which seemed empty, I don't remeber their names but the date stuck on my mind: xx/xx/1979. So guess what I did. Yup, I deleted them.

Next I noticed that all my photos took with the camera were gone, gallery was empty. The ones received or downloaded are still there and so does anything else.  I don't have backup, I don't have a SD card, I recovered what was in the trash and also with a recovery software, I cleared cache. Photos are nowhere to be found and neither those unidentified files. The software got me back some files I suppose could be my photos but they're under 100b so can't open them to say for sure.

Is there something else I could do at this point? I've been reading for hours. I mean something that can bring back those unknown files? Or check for system corrupted/lost files? Or reinstall something (other than the whole phone). I think those can be the problem as my phone is kinda empty for not being my main phone, it was not a storage problem.

Thank you. 

[realaud]

You say you don't have backup.  Does that mean you turned off Google backup?  Your photos back up to Google, unless you specifically and deliberately turned it off.  So, check the Google photos app or go to photos.google.com and see if your photos are there.  If they are, if you want them on your phone, just redownload them to your phone. 

[myelle]

I turned it off. I wish it was this simple. There weren't so many photos on the phone but had important information on them. They just disappeared without me doing anything directly to them.

[realaud]

I hate to say this, but things like this happen when you go deleting files when you don't know what they are and what they do.  Empty files are not necessarily empty files, some data is just hidden, and sometimes there is no data, but the file is a necessary hook..  You don't say from which folder you deleted these mystery files.  I don't know why you would turn backup off if things are important to you. I don't know why you wouldn't back up important stuff on a flash drive or other cloud drive if you do not like/trust Google backup.

[myelle]

You are telling me obvious things. I just found out by myself what could happen if I delete files I dont know what they are and what they do. Before asking here. Same as I already said from which folder I deleted those files, read better next time.  I might have  said it with a bit of uncertainty, but I know where they were.

I would happily accept that there's no possible solution to my problem but I didn't come here to be scolded. I doubt my tone was other than decent. Excuse me if I wanted to do something to recover my files, important stuff of not. And sorry for wasting your time, I didn't ask anything for you personally.  As for Google backup, I have another 13166 photos on my main phone. Now you know why. But you are right, next time I will know better.

Thank you anyway and have a lovely day ahead.

[userVF5J3avAJ2]

I'm so Sorry this happened to you and also that some people like @realaud have no compassion for fokes like us that don't know everything about cellphones. Shame on you @realaud try being more compassionate in the future as Karma is a B****

[realaud]

If you don't know anything about cell phones, you don't go deleting things if you don't know what they are.  Computers and cell phones have been around for ages now, so if one ever had a computer or a phone, they should at least know that, and they should know about backing up important stuff.  I come from a time when the personal computer was just becoming popularized and everything was on delicate floppy disks and hard drives were more likely to crash than be stable.  Backup was not only a necessary habit to get into, but multiple backups were the norm.  Yes, I have absolutely no compassion for people who lose important data because they a) could not be bothered to back up their important stuff (or worse, turn off the automatic backup because they don't want Google/Samsung to have their data),  and b) go around deleting files they know absolutely nothing about.

I do have a lot of compassion for people who lose stuff through no fault of their own because their phone had a major glitch and they were between backups.

Most people were born into the computer age, so they should at least know basics.  There's even no excuse for old people, as computers and cell phones have been around for a good part of their adult lifetimes for them to have some basic knowledge of how things work.  It's not mysterious or magic.  Oh, and my karma is doing just fine, thank you.

[myelle]

@realaud  Go away. You harass everybody in every topic and you don't have anything to say. Ever. You are just farming likes and solutions from people in need. There are so many  diferent people that told you this. 

[realaud]

I was responding to the person who called *me* out - by name.  I am entitled to respond to anything I choose to, just as is anyone else here.  I was neither harassing you or them.  Perhaps a dictionary app is in order so you can look up the definition of harassment.

[myelle]

@userVF5J3avAJ2 this is how an answer should look like in a public forum, where people come to find help, available of not, not just to be harrased. If he didn't have anything better to say, he should have stayed quiet but he felt the need to behave that way. I am not the only one with this experience, just look through his history. And he doesn't even understand what the problem is.