3 Steps to Help You Undelete Files from a Formatted Hard Drive
Have you just formatted your hard drive and realized that there were files you need on it? When you format your HDD, you might think that it’s the end of all the data on it. But that’s not so - you can undelete files from a formatted hard drive with a bit of effort and the right software.
In this article, we’re going to show you how to undelete data from a formatted drive with the help of UndeletePlus. But first, let’s talk about disk formatting and what it does to your files.
What Does HDD Formatting Do to Your Files?
Most people think that when they format their hard drive, they delete all data from it. However, they confuse formatting with wiping data using a special program.
When you quick-format a drive, the operating system’s index for the drive is erased and Windows can’t reference the files on the drive. The only thing that formatting does is remove the pointers that tell your operating system the physical location of the files. If you can restore these pointers, you can access your data again.
As you can see, the files are still there until they’re actually overwritten by new data and can be easily recovered. Just follow these steps!
Step 1: Prepare the Drive for File Recovery
When you realize that you need to recover data from a formatted hard drive, you should stop using the hard drive immediately to avoid overwriting the files you want to recover. The quicker you stop using the drive, the better your chances to recover files from your formatted HDD.
The next thing you should do is download reliable file recovery software that you can use as a portable app. This means that you won’t have to install it on your computer and jeopardize your file recovery chances. UndeletePlus can be run from a USB thumb drive, which makes it perfect for performing file recovery. Click here to download it.
Step 2: Scan the Formatted Hard Drive with UndeletePlus
Make sure the formatted hard drive is properly connected and is assigned a drive letter. Then, connect the USB stick and run UndeletePlus’ .exe file. Select the formatted hard drive and use the DeepScan mode to identify recoverable data. The scan may take a while if the hard drive had a lot of data on it.
Step 3: Restore Files
When the scan has finished, browse through the list of recoverable files. You can successfully recover files that have the green circle next to the file name, and most likely recover files with an orange circle next to them. However, if you see a file with the red circle next to it, you won’t be able to recover it because the file has been overwritten or damaged.
Use filters and the search feature to restore the files you need from the formatted hard drive. Select all the files you want to restore, then choose where you want to save the recovered files (we recommend saving them to a USB thumb drive). Once you’ve selected the files you want to recover, press on the “Recover File” button and the files will be back!
As you can see, formatting your hard drive by accident isn’t the end of the world - you can easily restore data from a formatted drive. All you need is the right tools and a little bit of patience!