Two trash folders are your real shot. Check both within their windows. Beyond that, the honest truth is harder than the app ads admit.
Modern Android encrypts storage, so there is no deep-scan miracle and no readable local backup to comb through. Here is exactly what to do.
1. Google Photos Trash, up to 60 days
Open Google Photos, go to Library (or the menu), then Trash. Backed-up photos stay about 60 days (30 days if they were never backed up). Long-press, then Restore. This is the widest net most people have.
2. Your gallery app's Recycle Bin, about 30 days
Samsung Gallery: menu, then Trash. Google Photos is covered above. Other galleries often have their own Trash or Recently Deleted. Restore within the window.
About "Android photo recovery" apps ($40 and up): scoped storage (Android 11 and later) blocks apps from scanning your files, and file-based encryption makes deleted bytes unreadable without the discarded key. What these apps recover is thumbnail-cache leftovers, or they need root and still fail. If it is not in a trash folder or a backup, it is almost certainly gone. Save your money.
Why there's no "read my Android backup" tool
iPhone users can open a computer backup and pull deleted photos straight out, because iTunes and Finder make an unencrypted, structured local backup. Android has no equivalent: Google's device backup is encrypted and per-app, and Google Photos is a cloud service you reach through your account, not a file you can parse offline. So the iPhone-style recovery tool simply cannot exist for Android. Anyone claiming otherwise is selling the trash-folder check with extra steps.
Going forward: turn on Google Photos backup (Settings, Backup) so deleted photos always have the 60-day trash net, and consider a recycle-bin gallery app. A photo that is backed up is a photo you can't accidentally lose forever.
On an iPhone instead?
Then you're in luck. iPhone backups are readable, and deleted photos inside them come straight back with our free iPhone deleted-photo recovery tool.