Accidentally deleting important files from an external drive is a common practice, especially in the hustle and bustle of work. Fortunately, in some cases, data can still be recovered. In this article, we will tell you how to do this.
How to Recover Data from a Flash Drive Using Windows Tools
Software manufacturers, like Microsoft itself, offer several ways to deal with deleted files.
- Press the key combination “Win+4”.
- In the menu that appears, enter “CMD”.
- In the new window, enter “ATTRIB-HRS /S /DG:*.*”
The G parameter corresponds to the letter used for the USB flash drive on the computer. There is another way, which is to restore previous versions of folders.
If you’ve recently erased documents from your drive, you can use another built-in Windows tool:
- Right-click on the folder with deleted data and select the “Properties” category.
- Find the section “Previous versions”.
- If everything is OK, the system will show a list of previous versions.
- Select the desired one and click “Restore” in the drop-down menu.
The possibility of recovering lost data from a flash drive increases if you do not overwrite the data on it.
Using EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard
The software is notable for the fact that it helps to recover data not only from a flash drive, but also from hard drives. Moreover, the software allows you to recover files even after formatting.
- Open EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard and select the partition for which you want to recover files
- In the menu that opens, click “Scan”. The program will start searching the system for lost data.
- After some time, the software will provide a list of found files. Select the necessary ones and press the “Restore” button.
Recovery via Disk Dril
In addition to classic search algorithms, Disk Drill also allows you to recover files deleted via the Recycle Bin.
- Run the program and open access to disks on Windows.
- Please select the volume that corresponds to your flash drive.
- Select the required disk and wait until the program finishes scanning the volume.
Recovery via Recover My Files
The peculiarity of the program is that it allows you to restore not only individual files, but also the entire partition.
- Open Recover My Files
- Select the recovery mode. The software offers options with a fixed (recover files) or faulty (revover drive) partition. Use the desired one.
- Select the storage device from which you need to recover information.
- The software will offer full (Automatic drive recover) or partial (Drive recovery using selected file types) recovery.
- We restore the necessary files using the Recovered FAT partition option.
- Click Save.
Recovery via O&O Disk Recovery
The software also allows you to return data after formatting not only on a flash drive, but also on HDD/SSD and memory cards.
- Let’s launch the program.
- Select “Load data from lost files”.
- Specify the required storage device
- Select the required scanning type.
- Click “Scan” and wait for the process to complete.
- We mark the files we need to restore and click “Next”.
As for the scanning types, the program offers three options:
- Search for deleted files and folders : Recovers files after deletion
- Search from formatted or sctructually damaged partitions : search for files and partitions after formatting
- Deep search for files on destroyed partitions and disks : deep search for files, including damaged partitions of the drive.
If the software does not see the disk, but in Windows it is displayed as unformatted, in point 3 you need to check the box “Hide unpartitioned areas”, and then click “Refresh Drive”.
Recovery via Recuva
An easy-to-learn program that allows you to search for deleted files by name or content.
- Launch Recuva
- In the upper right corner of the interface, select the desired disk.
- Select search across the entire section (Scan) or by keyword (Scan contents).
- We put a tick next to the required files and click Recover.