Methods to Recover Lost Data from External Hard Drive [Quick Methods]

External hard drives generally allow us to transfer files, save big data, or create backups of important data items. Many users prefer to use an External hard drive because of its cost, high speed, and compact size. But sometimes, you may encounter issues like accidental deletion of data from your External hard drive.

No matter how carefully you use your hard drive, issues like data loss on it can occur to anyone at any time. If you ever encounter such data loss issues, don’t worry as there are several ways by which you can recover your files. You can apply some manual methods or use any professional data recovery software to recover files from an external hard disk.

Here, in this article, we will discuss some common causes and best methods to recover lost data from an External hard drive. Just go with these methods one by one to get your lost data (mistakenly deleted files) back!

What Causes Deletion of Files on External Hard Drive?

Before you proceed with the methods to recover lost data from an External hard drive, it is important to identify the exact causes for such data loss. There are various reasons that lead to the deletion of data from your External hard drive. Some of these include:

• There may be accidental deletion of files from the External hard disk.
• Data may get deleted if you have formatted your external hard drive.
• Sometimes, the storage devices including External hard drives get corrupted and this makes the files stored on them inaccessible.
• Issues like data deletion may occur while transferring data from an external hard drive.
• Sudden shutdown or inadequate power supply leads to such issues without any warning.

Click here – Onboarding for Enterprise Learning and Training Programs

Is it Possible to Recover Deleted Files from External Hard Drives?

When data loss occurs on your internal or external storage drive, it is important to find the exact reason for such an issue. Now that you are familiar with the reasons, it’s time to know if it is possible to get the deleted files back.

The simple answer to this question that many of you must have is – YES! You can recover deleted files from any storage drive, including your external hard drive. When you delete any file from the storage drive, the space it was occupying will be made available for new files until it is overwritten.

You can recover your files easily until that space is occupied by any new file. So, when you encounter that data has been lost, immediately stop using your hard drive. If you keep using that storage device, it will be difficult or even impossible to recover deleted files.

Keep reading this article to know various methods to recover lost data from an External hard drive.

How do I Recover Lost Files from External Hard Drives? 

If you have lost your data due to any reason, no worries, go with the methods given below to know how to recover files from your External hard drive. Along with the manual methods, we have also provided how you can recover lost data using a professional data recovery software, like Stellar Data Recovery Professional. Go with any recovery method, there’s a good chance that you will get your deleted files back!

Method 01: Recover Files from Backups

You can create an extra backup of the data stored on your External hard drive to any location, for example, Cloud Drive. These backups allow you to restore file if any data loss occur. It makes an image file of the content on your storage device and then recover it whenever required. 

Method 02: Use Windows System File Checker

You can use the System File Checker utility to recover files from the external hard drive. This built-in Windows tool is very helpful especially when you have lost files due to malware attacks or corrupted file systems. Go through the following steps to know how this method actually works:

• Type CMD in the search box and then open Command Prompt with Administrative privileges.
• Now, type the command: sfc /scannow in the Command prompt window.
• Wait till the scanning process gets completed. This command scans all the protected files, and then the corrupted files will get replaced with cached copies, if available.
• Once the scanning process gets completed, you will get a message indicating “Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations”.

However, if the “Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them” message appears, rerun the command by restarting your device in Safe Mode.

Click here – What You Need to Know About Fire Control Systems in Buildings

Method 03: Use Data Recovery Software to Recover Deleted Files 

If the above methods somehow fail to recover your lost data from an External hard drive, it’s time to use a professional data recovery software. Stellar Data Recovery Professional is a user-friendly tool to recover your lost data in a few simple clicks. This recovery tool can easily recover your data deleted due to formatting, hard drive corruption, or any other reason.

This data recovery software allows you to recover your deleted photos, videos, documents, and other types of files. Not only the external hard drives, the software also allows you to restore files deleted from other storage devices, such as Flash Drives, Hard Drives, Memory Cards, Digital Cameras, etc.

Now, check the following steps to know how to recover lost data from an External Hard drive using the Stellar Data Recovery Professional tool:

• First, you need to connect your External hard drive to any working computer. Then, download and install the Stellar Data Recovery Professional software on your PC.
• Launch the tool and on the “Select What To Recover” window, choose the type of data that you need to recover, then click the Next button.
• Now, on the “Recover From” window, select your hard drive and toggle the Deep Scan feature and click the Scan button.
• Once the scanning process gets completed, preview the scanned files and tap the Recover button to save the files on your device.

That’s it! The above steps will help you to recover the selected files from an external hard drive.

Tips to Prevent Data Loss from External Hard Drive

You can keep the following points in your mind in order to protect your External hard drive data:

• Avoid connecting your hard drive to any virus-infected devices.
• Make a habit to take regular backups of your important data.
• It is important to verify the files whenever you download them from any online source.
• Also, ensure that your device has an adequate power supply as this will prevent sudden system shutdown.

Wrapping Up

There are several methods to recover lost data from an External hard drive. But it is important to know the exact reason for such data loss issues. We hope these recovery methods will help you to recover data from an external hard drive.

If all the manual methods fail to work, you can use the Stellar Data Recovery Professional tool to retrieve data from your PC or external hard drive. This DIY tool is the all-in-one solution for your data recovery.