1. If you ever logged in, even once, on your phone, you almost certainly have a Google account. I would look further into that option, unless you're 100% sure you've never linked anything to that phone.
2. This still seems like a viable option. No prompt to "handle connections" is actually a good thing, because it means you don't have any shitty software interfering with the direct-connection. Your issue might, instead, lie within Windows.
2b. Make sure you've forced Windows to show all file-extensions, and hidden files, and protected files, and whatever else.
2c. I can't speak for Windows 11, but on 10 you do this through File Explorer. Once you have it open, click the "View" tab, then you can access the proper settings through the "Options" button. Once you've opened "Options," there will be another "View" tab which will give you access to enabling/disabling all of the proper things.
2d. Once you've done that, try connecting the phone again, and see what you can see.
3. Barring all of that, a program called
Recuva has been popular for quite a while, at this point. There are plenty of other options, but I doubt you'll need them.
3b. This
tutorial seems pretty solid, though Recuva is pretty user-friendly, even on its own. This guide even suggests some other - more advanced - options, if Recuva doesn't do the trick.
3c. Mind you, this process isn't exactly a walk in the park. Your files are probably called random stuff like "adbgjd845.png" and whatnot, so you'll have to go through the tedious process of checking a zillion files before you find what you want. Your chances of recovery are pretty good, though.
