Read this article to learn how to recover deleted files with built-in Windows tools or data recovery software.
With the progress of computer devices, almost all information has come to be used and stored in a digital format, and the importance of ensuring its safekeeping has grown thousand-fold. Deleting by mistake, an unpredictable system failure, malware attacks, accidental formatting and so on – this list of possible reasons that bring on the loss of important information can be very long. That’s why the question of possible methods for recovering files deleted from users’ computers is extremely important. Yet before we continue, we’d like to point out that recovering deleted files from a hard disk, memory card, a USB drive or any other storage device is possible and can be successful.
Of course, we cannot guarantee that accidentally deleted files can be recovered 100%. However, there are high chances that you can have your files back especially if they were deleted only recently. Before we go on, it’s good to stop and explain how files are stored and deleted.
How Storing Data Works
To understand the process of deleting a file better, you should first get to know how a file is stored on a data storage device. All data on a computer’s hard disk is stored in files and folders in a rigidly structured form. A hard disk of a personal computer is initially divided into tracks which are in their turn subdivided into sectors (numbered areas of the hard disk designed for storing data). Every sector has its size that can be modified within certain limits when formatting the hard disk and choosing the file system. The minimal sector size is 512 bytes.
Every file you write to the computer’s hard disk also has a certain size that exceeds the size of the sector greatly and therefore occupies a certain number of sectors on the track. Such sectors are not always located next to each other but can be scattered over various disk tracks. At the moment of writing a file, the operating system creates file marks where it keeps information on the file location, size and other important data. When the user addressed the file, the operating system collects the information from the file sectors and provides the user with the necessary file, basing on the file mark data.
How Deleting Data Works
When the user deletes a file in any way they like (in an ordinary way or permanently), the operating system only removes the file mark and then marks it as free disk space suitable for writing new data there. In fact, all user information contained in a file is still intact and on the hard disk.
When the operating system needs to write a new file, it checks the disk space for availability of free cells. Now the cells which still keep the information from the deleted file are also regarded as free. Following its logic, the operating system overwrites the free cells with new data. Naturally, cells still containing data from the deleted file can also be used in overwriting the data from a new file. Until the cell is overwritten, all the data inside it (even if it’s marked as deleted) is still available for full recovery with specialized data recovery software.
Now that you know some specific aspects, the recovery process will be easier to understand. Follow the directions below to improve your chances for recovering files deleted from your storage device.
How to Recover Deleted Files
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The process of recovering deleted files suggests taking a certain sequence of actions until the files are recovered. We will focus on the main stages you have to accomplish to achieve the desired result. After each step, it makes sense to check if the files are recovered yet. Otherwise, proceed to the next step.
Expected recovery time: Depending on how much time passed since the file was deleted, how often you empty the Recycle Bin, the location of deleted files, the memory size of the storage device and some other factors, file recovery can take from a few minutes to several hours or even longer.
Stop Using Your Computer!
In addition to the specific action we are going to describe a bit later, the first thing you should do is to stop using the disk containing the deleted file to prevent it from being overwritten.
- As we have mentioned before, deleted file are in fact only hidden from the user’s eyes but still available for recovery. The only way to disappear for the file you want to restore is overwriting of the physical area it occupies on the disk. That’s why try to avoid or reduce to a minimum the number of writing operations that can have such consequences.
- Cancel intensive tasks such as installing software, downloading or streaming music or video etc. These activities don’t necessarily overwrite your file but the chances of losing it forever will increase greatly.
- If possible, reduce the time (the number of instances to address the storage device and perform certain operations) from the moment when the file was deleted till the beginning of the recovery process. For example, after deleting a file you didn’t use the storage device for a long time but after it as connected, you start the recovery process. The chances to recover such file are almost 100% as the system didn’t use the device and couldn’t erase it by overwriting. This condition is especially relevant for big files. While storing them, the operating system could place fragments of the file into various sectors all over the physical disk which increases the chance for them being overwritten during further use. ## Restore Deleted Files from the Recycle Bin
This is the first directory you should pay attention to. In standard setting of the Windows operating system the default option is to delete files to the Recycle Bin. If you didn’t change file deletion settings, there are high chances you can find your deleted file in an ideal condition in the Recycle Bin. However, if you enabled the option Don’t move files to the Recycle Bin. Remove files immediately when deleted, or you emptied the Recycle Bin earlier, move on to the next item of this guide at once.
Open the Recycle Bin with any method you like and find your deleted file. Right-click on it and select Restore from the menu. The file will be moved from the Recycle Bin to the last directory where it was stored before being deleted. If you found your deleted file and managed to restore it, that is all, happy end. If you don’t see your file among the files in the Recycle Bin, follow further directions of this guide.
Reminder: Files you delete from memory cards, USB drives, external hard disks of any type or network resources are never kept in the Recycle Bin and are always deleted permanently. This condition applies entirely to such devices as smartphones and PDAs. By the way, very large files are often removed immediately without using the Recycle Bin, regardless of their original location.
Use Free File Recovery Software
At this stage, you will need to use third-party software. Using Internet search engines, you can find some free file recovery software. Almost all free apps have similar functionality so you can choose any to your liking.
Download the free program you like and use it to find and recover deleted files. If the files you are looking for are already deleted from the Recycle Bin, such file recovery tool can help you.
If you didn’t find the necessary file among other deleted files, don’t panic – just try using another free app. However, don’t forget that anything you do to your hard disk will reduce your chances for successful recovery of the files you are looking for. Such actions may include, for example, installing several free file recovery apps.
Important advice: We strongly recommend that you download a portable version of a file recovery tool which you have chosen directly onto the USB drive or another disk, but make sure such disk is different from the one where deleted files still exist. A regular version of such application installs itself on your hard disk placing its files everywhere on the computer – just as most other programs you have ever installed. Unlike the regular version, a portable version installs files autonomously into the folder where you have downloaded it. So you can install such app to another disk, like a USB drive, or another hard disk, and you can launch it from there. Such method lets you avoid possible overwriting of your deleted files and improve your chances for their recovery.
A serious disadvantage of freeware is the low percentage of recovered files – and these few files may or may not include the file you are looking for. Additionally, such programs often have a limit for the total amount of data you can recover with their help. Such tool can be enough for one small file, but if the file is quite large, or you want to recover a group of files, free tools are no good choice for you.
If you failed to find your deleted file, or its size won’t let you use a free application, then move on to the next part of this guide.
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