Deleted important files from your flash drive by mistake? Don’t freak out! This guide explain how can you recover deleted files from a jump drive via Command Prompt recovery commands for free. Besides, professional flash drive recovery freeware will be shared as well.
“Is it possible to retrieve a whole folder full of files that was accidentally deleted whilst I was deleting one file from my Lexar flash drive? Somehow the entire folder deleted! No warning before doing this…There is no visible deleted or recycle file but I imagine they must be somewhere on the USB. Anyone can tell how to recover deleted files from Lexar flash drive? Thank you!”
When files are deleted from a flash drive, they do not move to the Recycle Bin, unlike files deleted from an internal hard drive. In one word, deleting files from a flash drive bypasses the Recycle Bin entirely, so you cannot recover deleted files from Recyble Bin as usual.
After files are deleted from flash drive, the storage space they occupied is simply marked as "available" for new data. This means the original files remain on the drive until overwritten by new data, but their recovery becomes more urgent as continued use of the flash drive increases the risk of permanent data loss.This makes it crucial to act quickly and use the right methods to recover lost files.
In this guide, we’ll explore two reliable methods: using Command Prompt for advanced users and leveraging freeware tools for a more user-friendly approach. By acting quickly and following the right steps, you can successfully retrieve your deleted files from Lexar, SanDisk or other flash drives and minimize data loss.
If you’ve accidentally deleted files from your jump drive (USB flash drive), using Command Prompt can be a powerful way to recover them. Command Prompt offers built-in tools like “chkdsk”, “attrib”, and “winfr”(Windows File Recovery) that can help you restore lost data without third-party software. These methods are particularly useful for advanced users who prefer manual control over the recovery process. Below, we’ll walk you through each method step by step, ensuring you can recover your files from flash drive efficiently.
The “chkdsk”(Check Disk) command is designed to scan and repair file system errors on your flash drive, which can sometimes restore access to deleted files.
(Replace “g”with the drive letter assigned to your flash drive.)
The “attrib”command can reveal hidden or lost files on your flash drive by resetting their file attributes. Just in the Command Prompt window, type and execute the following command:
attrib -h -r -s /s /d E:\*.*
(Replace “E”with the drive letter assigned to your flash drive.)
This command removes the hidden (-h), read-only (-r), and system (-s) attributes from all files on the drive, making them visible again.
"winfr" is a command-line tool developed by Microsoft designed to recover deleted files from storage devices, including flash drives. It supports various file types and recovery modes.
To recover specific files or folders from flash drive using Windows File Recovery, you need to add more parameters to filter, such as extensive mode.
If the methods of recovering deleted files from flash drives using Command Prompt are quite complex for you, you can turn to a more user-friendly approach like applying GUI data recovery software. For an easy recovery process and satisfactory recovery result, we highly recommend you using MyRecover, a free Windows data recovery program, compatible with Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7 and Windows Server operating system.
Advantages of Using MyRecover Over Command Prompt
Just several clicks can help you recover deleted files from flash drive, basic steps include:
Step 1. Download and install MyRecover on your Windows computer.
Step 2. Click your flash drive in the right disk list and click on "Scan."
Step 3. It will quickly scan all lost files on your flash drive and list all recoverable files. Tick the target files and click “Recover."
Step 4. Choose a location to save the files. Avoid choosing the source flash drive, which will overwrite the flash drive data.
Step 5. Wait for the process to be completed.
How can you recover deleted files from flash drive? No matter you are a beginner or an expert, you can find the way to get back your deleted data from your jump drive. To save much time and effort, the MyRecover is a nice option since recovering deleted files from flash drive using Command Prompt comes with some limitations. For example, “chkdsk”is primarily designed to repair file system errors and may not recover all deleted files. “attrib”only works for hidden or system files and cannot recover permanently deleted data.
In comparison, MyRecover is superior.It allows you to recover files from system crash, disk formatting, drive damage, emptied Recycle Bin, virus attach and so on. To experience more advanced features like creating a bootable rescue media and recovering data from dead computer, you can try the Professional and Technician edition.
