A deleted file is not an erased file : its space is simply marked as free. As long as nothing has been written over it, it can be recovered.
That is what makes recovery possible - and it is also what explains the absolute rule : the more you use the machine after the deletion, the smaller your chances. Every new file, every update, every bit of browsing can take the space holding what you are looking for.
If the files genuinely matter, stop using the machine. Above all, do not install recovery software on the drive concerned : the installation itself may overwrite what you are trying to save. Switch off, and work on the drive from another machine.
Obvious, but forgotten in the panic. Open the recycle bin, find the file, right-click, Restore. It goes back where it was. A useful trick : sort by date deleted to find quickly what has just disappeared.
Windows sometimes keeps earlier versions without the user knowing. Right-click the folder that held the file, then Properties and the Previous Versions tab. If a date appears, you can open that snapshot and take the file out of it.
Many machines sync the Documents or Pictures folder with OneDrive without it being obvious to the user. Sign in to OneDrive, Google Drive or iCloud from a browser and look at that service's own recycle bin : it generally keeps deleted items for thirty days, independently of the Windows recycle bin.
Think about your email attachments too : an important document has often passed through there.
If the earlier routes gave nothing, tools can scan the drive sector by sector to rebuild deleted files. Two decisive precautions :
Results vary a great deal : file names often lost, folder structure to rebuild, files partly overwritten and therefore unreadable. It is tedious, but it works in a great many cases.
When the medium is physically damaged - a clicking drive, a USB stick that is not recognised, a dropped disk - no software can help : the hardware has to be worked on. Here too, every attempt to start it makes the damage worse. Switch off and have it diagnosed.
On an SSD, a function called TRIM genuinely erases the freed blocks, often within minutes of the deletion. The recovery window is therefore far shorter than on a mechanical drive, and sometimes non-existent. All the more reason to switch the machine off at once rather than trying things.
The three-copy rule is still the reference : your data in three places, on two different media, one of them away from home or offline. In practical terms, for a household : the machine, an external drive plugged in from time to time, and an online space. An external drive that stays plugged in protects you from neither theft, nor lightning, nor ransomware.
We handle data recovery from hard drives, SSDs, USB sticks and memory cards. The diagnosis says what is recoverable before any work is done, and you decide from there.
It is possible if the drive has been little used since, and unlikely if it has been used daily. Time matters less than how much writing has taken place since the deletion.
No, and nobody can seriously guarantee it before examining the media. The diagnosis can say what is recoverable and in what proportion, before you commit to anything.
Not necessarily. A quick format only removes the drive's table of contents, not the data. A full format, on the other hand, rewrites everything and makes recovery very unlikely.
Would you rather we took care of it ? See our data recovery service, in Lyon and across the Rhone.
Stop using the machine and call us : every hour counts.
Automatic assistant: it can make mistakes. Never share a password or a card number.
