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How to Recover Deleted Files from USB
Command Prompt can help you retrieve your lost files within minutes
3 min. read
Updated onOctober 4, 2023
updated onOctober 4, 2023
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Key notes
USB flash drives are great backup tools used to store and transferdata. Sometimes, files on your USB drive may be corrupted or you accidentally deleted your files.
Today we are going to show you how to recover deleted files from a USB drive.
What could cause my USB files to get deleted?
There are several reasons for USB data loss, but a few reasons include:
Meanwhile, deleted files on the USB drive cannot be restored in the Recycle Bin unlike files deleted from the local disk/disk drive.
If youcan’t find your drive files in the Recycle Bin, take a look at our dedicated guide.
However, we have compiled applicable methods that you can use to recover deleted files from the USB drive.
How can I recover deleted files from a USB flash drive?
1. Use Command Prompt to recover hidden files from USB
1.Plug your USB drive (where the files were deleted from) into your PC.
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Press theWindowsandRkeys to launch the Run program.
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Typecmdand hitEnterkey to open Command Prompt window.
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In Command Prompt’s window, typethe following command, and replace H with the drive letter of the USB drive:chkdsk H: /f
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PressEnterto run the command.
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Now type the following command:ATTRIB -H -R -S /S /D H:.
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PressEnterto run it.
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Wait for the process to complete.
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After this procedure, you will find all deleted files on a newly created folder on yourUSB drive. You can change the file extension back to a normal format so as to make those found files functional again.
The simplest way to recover deleted files from a USB drive is to use Command Prompt. Command Prompt is a built-in Windows application. If you don’t have it, you can use Powershell instead.
You can also try out this fix on your SD, HD, or another external storage device.
If you’rehaving trouble accessing Command Prompt as an admin, we’ve got the right solution for you in our dedicated article.
2. Use a data recovery tool
You can use data recovery tools as well to recover deleted files from yourUSB drive. Recovery tools are computer programs that are used to recover permanently deleted files on your Windows PC.
There are several recovery tools in the computer world, some of which are free and others are largely premium.
However, these tools scan yourUSB driveusing an efficient algorithm and recover deleted files and folders on yourUSB drive.
We strongly recommendStellar Data Recoveryin order to perform this action. This tool will recover corrupted and deleted videos, images, documents, and music files. But this is not the only feature it has.
If you want to know more about this tool, don’t hesitate to take a look at ourawesome Stellar Data Recovery review. You’ll see whether it is worth the money or not.
For now, do keep in mind that the Deep Scan function is designed to recover data from formatted or corrupt storage.
If the software is not able to find the data in Quick Scan, it automatically switches to Deep Scan.
Here are a few of itskey features:
Stellar Data Recovery
In conclusion, any of thefile recoverytools mentioned above can help you to recover deleted files as well.
Also, we recommend that you back up your files on cloud storage services so as to increase your options for file retrieval.
Hope we have been able to help you recover deleted files from yourUSBdrive? If you have any questions, you can comment below.
More about the topics:data recovery,recovery software
Ivan Jenic
Windows Hardware Expert
Passionate about all elements related to Windows and combined with his innate curiosity, Ivan has delved deep into understanding this operating system, with a specialization in drivers and driver troubleshooting.
When he’s not tackling diverse driver-related problems, Ivan enjoys watching good movies and spending time hiking with his family and friends.
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Ivan Jenic
Windows Hardware Expert
Ivan has delved deep into understanding the Windows OS, with a specialization in drivers and driver troubleshooting.
