How to Recover Files from USB - Page Content
- 1. Recover deleted files from USB Using EaseUS data recovery software(Recommended)
- 2. Recover files from USB flash drive using CMD (Only recover hidden files)
- 3. Retrieve files from USB from previous versions (File backups required)
- 4. Restore USB files from Windows Backups (File backups required)
Several reasons can cause file loss on a USB flash drive or a pen drive, such as unintentional file deletion, hard drive formatting, storage device failure, and virus attack. Among them, accidental deletion is the most likely reason for data loss from USB.
Where do deleted files from USB go?
Jul 12, 2021 To recover files from a USB flash drive on Mac: Step 1: Download, install, and launch Disk Drill for Mac. Step 2: Click the Recover button next to the USB flash drive you want to recover. Step 3: Wait until Disk Drill finishes analyzing it. Step 4: Look inside the recovery folders and locate the deleted files using the preview feature. Recover Deleted Files From Flash Drive free download - Recover Deleted Files, File Recover, Recover - Drive and Data Recovery, and many more programs. Steps to Recover Deleted Files from USB Drive: Step 1. Launch Recoverit USB Flash Drive Recovery on your computer, select the USB drive detected on the program, and next. The recovery software will start scanning the device to searching your lost files, the scanning will take a minute. After the scanning, you can check all. Another Two Ways to Recover Deleted Files from Flash Drive Mac Free. Instead of using UltFone Mac Data Recovery, you can also try the other two free ways on how to make recovery flash drive for Mac. Flash Drive Recovery Mac Free with TestDisk. TestDisk is another great flash drive recovery Mac free program. Select the drive from the list of available drives. Click the 'Recover' button. Preview the files by clicking on the “eye” icon next to their filenames. Select & save your files. Connect a USB drive to your PC. Download & Install Disk Drill. Select the drive from the list of available drives. Click the 'Recover' button.
Since the USB flash drive or pen drive is an external device, files deleted on the USB flash drive are deleted permanently instead of going to the recycle bin, so you cannot perform recycle bin recovery to recover files from USB. But you still have a chance to recover deleted files from USB by using the 4 ways in this tutorial.
Note: When you realize that you have deleted files on USB by mistake, stop using your USB flash drive immediately to avoid data overwriting.
How to Recover Files from USB Using Data Recovery Software
The most effective and possible way to recover deleted files from USB is to use professional data recovery software. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, a top-rank data recovery tool, can completely recover deleted files from UBS flash drive, pen drive, SD card, HDD, SSD, camcorder, digital camera, and so on.
Effective Data Recovery Software
- Perform a deleted and formatted USB data recovery from different data loss situations.
- Recover all types of lost files: photos, documents, videos, audio, emails, compressed files, etc.
- Boot with a downloadable WinPE when your system fails to start or crashes.
Follow the steps below to recover deleted files from the pen drive/USB drive with a few clicks.
Step 1. Connect USB flash drive to your computer. Open EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard and hover on USB device. Click 'Scan' button to start looking for lost files on PC.
Step 2. When the scan completes, you can apply the 'Filter' feature or the click the search box to quickly find the lost files from USB.
Step 3. Preview the files you want to recover. Click the 'Recover' button to restore files. Check video tutorial here.
How to Recover Deleted Files from USB Flash Drive Without Software
For some users who don't like to recover USB files with third-party software, you can try the three methods in this part to retrieve files from USB with CMD, Windows Backup, and previous versions.
However, these solutions have limitations and requirements. If you haven't backed up your USB in advance, you can only use data recovery software to retrieve USB files.
Recover Files from USB Using CMD (Only Recover Hidden Files)
Command Prompt is a Windows application available in all Windows Operating Systems. If your files are not deleted but missing from your USB flash drive or a pen drive, then you can follow this method to recover hidden files on USB with CMD.
Steps recover deleted files from a USB flash drive using CMD:
Step 1. Connect the USB flash drive to your computer.
Step 2. Click the Search button, type cmd. Right-click Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator.
Step 3. Run the following command lines in order.
Type chkdsk X: /fin the Command Prompt window and hit Enter. Just make sure to replace 'X' with the letter assigned to your USB flash drive.
Type attrib -h -r -s G:*.* /s /d and hit Enter. (e is the USB drive letter. You should replace g depending on your own USB drive letter shown on the computer)
Then, wait for the process to complete and close the window. Then you can check if your files are back.
Restore Deleted Files from USB from Previous Versions
In addition to recovering permanently deleted files from USB using software or CMD, you can try another option to restore an older version of files in Windows 10/8.1/8/7. Before you try this method, make sure that you have set up File History to automatically back up files. If you haven't turned on this feature, give up this method, and use USB drive recovery software to make it.
Step 1. Right-click on the folder that contains your deleted files on USB and select 'Properties'.
Step 2. Click on the tab 'Previous Versions'. You'll be told there that previous versions come from File History or from restore points.
Step 3. A list of older versions of the file will be displayed. Choose the file edition you're looking for, and click the 'Restore' button to retrieve USB files.
Restore Deleted Files from USB with Windows Backups
If you have backed up data before, you can check the backups. Also, check the online or cloud storage service you use. It is possible you've synced your files to a cloud storage service such as Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox, or Google Drive. If you have turned on the Windows backup, you can retrieve USB data with it:
Step 1. Open 'Control Panel', go to 'System and Maintenance', select 'Backup and Restore (Windows 7)'.
Step 2. Click 'Restore my files'.
Step 3. Click 'Browse for files' or 'Browse for folders' to select the previously created backup.
Step 4. Choose a location to save the backup - 'In the original location' or 'In the following location'. If there's a conflict, choose 'Copy and Replace', 'Don't copy' or 'Copy, but keep both files' according to your needs.
Step 5. Wait for the restoring process to complete. Then all of your files or folder that were permanently removed will show up on your PC at the original or the new location.
Conclusion
Deleting files on USB doesn't mean permanent data loss. In this article, we've explained four methods to recover deleted files on pen drive with or without software. EaseUS data recovery software offers the greatest chance to recover files from USB. It supports deleted file recovery, formatted recovery, raw drive recovery, and more data recovery features.
How to Avoid USB Flash Drive/Pen Drive Data Loss
It is also of vital importance to protect your USB data in effective ways. If you don't want to suffer from USB data loss, you can follow these tips to help:
Regularly Back Up Files
It's a nice choice to back up files automatically with the help of file backup software. Here my suggestion is using EaseUS Todo Backup. With this software, even you don't have the technical knowledge; you can still create an image. Follow the details below to back up data with the help of EaseUS backup and recovery software.
Step 1. Launch EaseUS Todo Backup software and then choose 'File', 'Disk/partition' or 'OS' for different backup purpose.
Step 2. Choose the system, disk partition, files or apps that you want to back up. Then click 'Browse' to select a destination where you want to store the backup file.
- Product News
- EaseUS Todo Backup now supports users to back up files to the cloud. All you need to do is sign up with an EaseUS account, then you could enjoy a large cloud storage space. More advantages of backing up to the cloud include accessing backup files anytime and anywhere, saving file copies offsite, so you don't need to worry about virus attacks or computer failures, and easier and faster backup and recovery operations.
Step 3. Click 'Save' to start the data backup process.
Plug and Unplug the USB Flash Drive Correctly
When you plugin or disconnect a USB to your computer or laptop, use it properly. When you disconnect it, use the 'eject USB' option by right-clicking it.
Scan and Remove Virus on USB
Use anti-virus software to protect your computer against malicious computer viruses, trojan, and other malicious ware. Be sure to update your Anti-virus software with the latest patch and signature files for maximum security.
By Vernon Roderick, Last updated: May 15, 2020
There are lots of things that can happen with your flash drive that may lead to the need to format it. After all, it’s not as if you wanted to format your USB flash drive and lose all your data.
An example of such a scenario is when your flash drive can no longer operate normally that formatting it would be the only choice you have. If that’s the case, you might want to recover the lost files.
This article will show you how to recover formatted USB flash drivewithout requiring you to spend a single penny. But first, let’s answer one of the most commonly asked questions by users.
Is It Possible to Learn How to Recover Formatted USB Flash Drive?
While there may be some doubts as to the possibility of recovering files from a formatted drive, it is actually quite possible with the right tools and know-how. As such, it is very much possible to learn how to recover formatted USB flash drive, as long as you don’t get careless.
The reason behind this is that when you format a USB drive, you’re actually not deleting all the files contained within it. Those files are merely invisible, but that doesn’t mean you can make them visible again very easily.
To begin with, you have to make sure to not touch the USB flash drive after formatting. This is because there is a chance that the files may be overwritten if you do, so you have to avoid using it as much as possible.
That is why there are only three proven methods to how to recover formatted USB flash drive, or in other words, make them visible again. Let’s start with the first one.
#1 Recover USB Flash Drive Using a 3rd party Tool
Out of the three methods to how to recover formatted USB flash drive, the most practical would be to use data recovery software.
Not only is it easy, but it is also effective, but that depends on the software that you are using. As such, you can’t choose a tool half-heartedly. With that being said, I recommend FoneDog Data Recovery.
Data RecoveryRecover deleted image, document, audio and more files.Get deleted data back from computer (including Recycle Bin) and hard drives.Recover loss data caused by disk accident, operation system crushes and other reasons.
FoneDog Data Recovery is a tool that has the ability to recover files from different storage drives such as hard drives, memory cards, and most importantly, USB flash drives. Those files can range from enormous-sized videos to small bits of data like contacts.
Since it is available on both Mac and Windows, this is the tool that is closest to perfection, when it comes to achieving your goal. With that said, here are the steps you need to follow:
Step 1: Choose File Type & Storage Drive
Download, install and launch FoneDog Data Recovery on your computer. On the main interface, there will be a list of file types and at the bottom would be the storage drives. For the file type, simply select the ones you want to include. You may also click on Check all file types to leave no files behind. As for the storage drive, select the one that corresponds to your flash drive.
Step 2: Scan for Files
Once you are done configuring on the main interface, it is time to click on Scan. This will start Quick Scan by default. However, you may also try to select Deep Scan once the option presents itself to get more accurate results, but it would take longer.
Step 3: Recover Files
Once the scanning process is complete, you will get a list of items on the next page. These are files that can be recovered. Simply select the file by clicking on their corresponding boxes. Once you are done with selections, click on the Recover button.
This is how to recover formatted USB flash drive. As long as it can be scanned, it can also be recovered. However, the fact that it is a third-party tool may be unappealing to others. As such, the next section does not involve any third-party tools.
#2 Recover Formatted USB Flash Drive via CHKDSK
How do I recover files from my flash drive? While some may prefer using a third-party tool for convenience’s sake, you also have the option to use a built-in tool. In our case, you will be using Command Prompt on how to recover formatted USB flash drive.
Command Prompt is the command line of Windows PC. It allows users to enter codes as commands to make the system do various tasks.
As luck would have it, there are commands for recovering files from USB flash drive. Follow these steps if you are ready to do just that:
- Press Win key + R on your keyboard to launch the Run dialog box.
- Now type in “cmd” and press Enter.
Note: You may also press the Windows key, search for “cmd”, right-click on the first option then select Run as administrator. There are a number of ways to open Command Prompt.
- On the Command Prompt, type in “Chkdsk D: /f” replacing D with the drive letter that corresponds to your USB flash drive. Press Enter once you’ve typed this command.
- Now type the drive letter without any commands and then press Enter.
- Next, type in attrib -h -r -s /s /d *.*and then press Enter.
Once you’ve done this, you just have to open the drive and you’ll see the lost files appear again. With this, you can restore files from any drive. It’s not limited to formatted USB flash drives.
Nevertheless, you have to practice cautiousness when using these commands, since Command Prompt is very powerful yet dangerous at the same time.
#3 Recover Formatted USB Flash Drive from a Backup
How To Recover Deleted Files From Flash Drive Free
The last method on how to recover formatted USB flash driveis restoring from a backup. This is what experts use most of the time, but many users can’t possibly use this method.
Recover Deleted Files From Flash Drive Mac Free Pdf
This is because, in order to restore from a backup, you have to have the backup in the first place. Without it, there’s no point in learning this method.
Since there are different ways to create a backup, I won’t get in detail regarding the procedure. All you have to know is it is possible to learn how to recover formatted USB flash driveif you have a backup prepared before the UB flash drive was formatted.
Conclusion
There are only a few methods on how to recover formatted USB flash drive. That’s why it is important to be careful when handling your files since it is not guaranteed that you will be able to recover them once they are lost.
With that said, the most reliable way to prevent losing your data permanently is to take care of your USB flash drive. That way, you won’t be forced to format it and lose your files.