How to Recover Deleted Data for Free?

Sometimes, you may mistakenly press Del (Windows) or Command + Del key (Mac), and end up losing an iSometimes, you may mistakenly press Del (Windows) or Command + Del key (Mac), and end up losing an important file. Recovering deleted data in such a scenario is quite easy as data can be located and restored from Recycle Bin or Trash.

The situation becomes complicated when you press Shift + Del or Option + Command + Delete keys to delete your data, which leads to permanent deletion.

But the good news is you can recover even permanently deleted data for free. How? Continue reading to learn more!

What happens after deleting data permanently?

When some data is permanently deleted, only the data pointers, which dictate the starting and the ending points of the data’s existence to a particular location, are removed. The hard drive makes that ‘allocated space’ available for more data. But here’s the catch. The deleted data remains available in that allocated space but is inaccessible to the users. So, even the permanently deleted data is recoverable unless overwritten by new data or wiped with a third-party software.

Methods to Recover Deleted Data

Before you start recovering data, make sure you stop adding new data to your device to prevent data overwriting. Then, follow the methods given below to recover deleted data.

1 Check Recycle Bin

The first thing to do when you experience file deletion is to check your Recycle Bin. Open the Recycle Bin and then locate whether the deleted files deleted are there. If you find your files there, right-click on them one by one and click Restore. Doing so will help restore your accidentally deleted files to their original location.

#2 Use Backup

Don’t worry if the files are permanently deleted or lost from the Recycle Bin. You can use backup to restore data.

Windows offers backup utilities such as Backup and Restore, File History, and Previous Versions. All these utilities allow the creation of system data backup and storing them on external hard drives. So, if you have backed up your system data using any of these utilities, you can quickly restore them. For example, if you kept File History enabled before data loss, follow the steps to restore your files with File History.

Go to Search, type File History, and click Open when you see it in the result.

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Now, select Restore personal files.

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Select a file/folder from the backup drive. Click Restore to complete data recovery.

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3 Recover Data with Microsoft’s File Recovery Tool

If the backup is incomplete, corrupt, or unavailable, you may use Microsoft’s Windows File Recovery tool. It is a command-line tool that recovers files lost or deleted files from systems and external storage drives. The tool offers three different modes of operation – (1) Default, (2) Segment, and (3) Signature.

Each mode works in different scenarios. For example, there is Default mode to recover recently deleted files from an NTFS formatted drive. To recover data in case of accidental deletion, drive corruption, or formatting, first run Segment and then Signature mode for NTFS drives. Signature mode will be used to recover data from FAT, exFAT, ReFS formatted drives in all mentioned data loss scenarios.

Even though the software may help you recover deleted data, it has some limitations, which doesn’t make it an ideal choice for users:

It doesn’t come with a graphical user interface.
Switching operational modes and recovering different data types requires running different commands and syntaxes.
It runs only on Windows 10 build 19041 or later. No support for previous builds and versions is available.

4 Use the Best Alternative- Stellar Data Recovery Free for Windows

Stellar Data Recovery is the best alternative to the Windows File Recovery software with its multiple data recovery features, simple UI, and options to upgrade to advanced versions. Windows File Recovery is only for Windows users, but this free data recovery software is compatible with Windows and Mac users. It is highly recommended by many tech experts and publications.

The software supports recovery from Windows systems, and external media storage drives, such as HDDs, SSDs, USB devices, and more. It restores data in case of data deletion, drive formatting, corruption, BitLocker encryption, etc. You have to follow a few simple steps to recover data:

Download and launch Stellar Data Recovery on your system.
Select ‘All Data’ on the ‘Select What to Recover’ screen and click Next.
Select the location or drive from which you lost the data and click Scan.
After that, select the files you want to recover and click Recover.
Further, browse the location to store the recoverable files and Start-Saving them.
Your files will be saved at the chosen location.

Note: The free edition of the software allows data recovery up to 1 GB.

Conclusion:

Data deletion can occur at any moment. Therefore, it’s always recommended to keep a data recovery plan ready. The best method is to back up your crucial data following a 3-2-1 backup policy. Keep reliable data recovery software handy to strengthen your recovery plan. Free Data recovery software, such as Stellar Data Recovery helps you securely and quickly recover all file types and formats from all storage media.

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Dan Dunn

Executive Managing editor

Editor and Admin at MarkMeets since Nov 2012. Columnist, reviewer and entertainment writer and oversees all of the section's news, features and interviews. During his career, he has written for numerous magazines.

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