When you accidentally delete a file on your hard drive in Windows, it's automatically sent to the Recycle Bin. However, if you delete a file from a USB drive attached to your computer, it is not sent to the Recycle Bin. There is no "Recycle Bin" for USB devices.
So, what the heck do you do now? Is it time to panic? No, not yet.
First, do not save or edit any additional documents on your USB drive. Doing so runs the risk that any changes you make will overwrite some or all of the file you are trying to recover.
There are some good free file recovery software applications available to help you retrieve your deleted document. I believe the most user friendly of those applications is Recuva.
Note: I should mention up front that Recuva is a very user-friendly application, but it is not the greatest recovery software in the world. Don't be completely discouraged if you don't recover your files. Just because Recuva didn't find it, doesn't mean another recovery application won't find it. There are some applications (free ones) that may be better, but are not as user-friendly because they are "command-line" applications. I'll be covering some of these in the coming weeks.
You'll need to download and install Recuva. You can find it here or in the Resources section below.
When you start "Recuva" for the first time, you are met with the Recuva Wizard. If you don't want to use the wizard, click "Cancel" and it will take you to the Advanced Features screen.
Click "Next" to use the wizard.
Choose the file type you want to recover, or choose "Other" to show all files. Note: If you are working with a very large drive with lots of previously deleted files, try to use one of the specific categories like Pictures, or Documents, before using "Other." If you search the "Other" option, you may find an overwhelming amount of different files and it may take you a while to sift through them and find the right one.
On the file location window, choose "In a specific location," and select the drive letter assigned to your USB device. Click "Next."
If you have failed on previous scans to find your document, check the "Enable Deep Scan" option. Be aware it may take a long time. Click "Start" when ready.
When the scan is done it will display the found files. If the initial scan finds your file, take note of the status under the "State" heading and the Comments. If no overwritten clusters are detected, you're probably going to be able to recovery your file without issue.
Choose your file by clicking the check box to the left of the file name and then click "Recover" at the lower left.
Select the location to restore your file. Choose a different location than where it was previously. If you choose the same drive or directory where the file was located before deletion, Recuva will warn you that it could reduce the chance of a successful recovery. Click "OK."
That's it. Browse to the location, open your recovered file and verify it.
Note: I created a simple text file and deleted it. Recuva didn't find it when I searched for "Documents." I had to search for all files ("Other"). Also, it should be noted that Recuva is perhaps the most user friendly, but not necessarily the best at recovering data. I'll be cover some other data recovery applications in the coming weeks.
Resources:
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