How to recover Lost Data From formatted USB Flash drive?

Formatting any storage device including a USB Flash drive erases the existing data by discarding the old file system and replacing it with a new one. When you format aka erase the USB flash drive, you end up permanently losing your valuable data and other important files which were saved in it.
Keep reading this article to find out how to recover files from a formatted USB flash drive.

Table of Contents:

• When Should You Format Your USB Flash Drive?
• Can A Formatted USB Drive be Recovered?
• How to Recover Data From any Formatted USB Flash Drive?

1. A sure-shot solution to Recover Data from any Formatted USB Drive using data recovery software.
2. A DIY method to recover formatted data from USB Flash Drive

When Should you Format Your USB Flash Drive?

At times, in many situations formatting a USB drive becomes not just an option but also a necessity. Situations such as:

• When your flash drive has gotten attacked by viruses or other malware.
• When you are planning to sell or hand over your Pendrive to someone else.
• When you start receiving pop up messages like “You need to format the disk drive before you can use it” or “Access is denied”
• When your disk has gotten corrupt.

Irrespective of the reasons, why you have formatted your USB flash drive, it completely erases the data that was saved on it. If you have not taken a backup of your important files prior to formatting your flash drive. Then, you might lose your data permanently.

There’s no need for you to worry, here's a complete guide on how to recover formatted data from a thumb drive.

Can a Formatted USB Drive Be Recovered?

Before we answer that question, let’s quickly understand what formatting does to your drive. Formatting the USB drive always results in the discarding of the old file system. When your old file system gets discarded then the operating system can’t access the files which were earlier saved in the drive.

To answer the above question yes, it is possible to recover a formatted USB flash drive. As long as you have not saved any new data on the formatted drive. However, in case your drive gets overwritten by any new data. It becomes really difficult at times impossible to get back your files.

2 Effective Methods To Recover lost Files From Flash Drive After Format

Here are proven methods that are tested to recover formatted data from any drive.

Method 1: How to Recover Missing Files from Flash Drive after Format?

Remo Recover is an effective data recovery utility that can effortlessly recover contents that were accidentally deleted or formatted from any USB drive. The tool is built with revolutionary scanning algorithms that can easily scan the drive to find, identify and locate various types of files lost after formatting a USB flash drive. The tool works in the read-only mode, making sure no harm is done to the original files. Download and try the tool for free now!!!

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The tool is compatible with all the major brands of USB drives including Kingston, Transcend, HP, Dell, Sony, Samsung, and many more.

Remo Recover can also recover files from unreadable SD card

Step 1: Download and install Remo Recover software on your Windows or Mac and connect the formatted USB drive to your system to restore data from it.

Step 2: Click the Recover Partitions option and select the formatted USB drive to recover files from it.

Step 3: Now, click the Scan option to start recovering files from a formatted USB flash drive.

Step 4: After the scanning process completes, the software will display all the recovered files from the formatted USB drive. Now, you can double-click on recovered photos or videos from the formatted USB drive to preview them for free.

Step 5: Select the files that you want to recover from a formatted USB drive and click the Save option to restore them at any location of your choice.

Note: The tool supports data recovery from various USB drive file systems like APFS, exFAT, NTFS, FAT, and many more. Moreover, the tool is compatible with all the newest as well as the older versions of Windows and Mac operating systems including Windows 11 and Monterey.

Method 2: Recover Data From Formatted Flash Drive Using CMD

One of the most common questions that most users usually have in their mind is “How to Recover Formatted Files From USB using CMD”

Step 1: Connect your pen drive to computer and type cmd on your windows search box.

Step 2: Right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as administrator option.

Step 3: Now type chkdsk F: /f in Command Prompt window and press Enter.

Note: Replace F with your formatted USB drive letter.

Step 4: Type the drive letter again of your formatted USB drive from which you want to recover data. (Note: Here it is F) and hit Enter.

Step 5: Type F: \ >attrib –h –r –s /s /d *.* and click Enter button to restore data from formatted pen drive.

After the CMD process completes, the Command Prompt will recover formatted pen drive data which can be used after adding the extension. In some cases, the CMD function might not help you perform pen drive recovery after deletion or USB formatting. In such cases, you can try the first method.

Additional reading: click here to find out how to recover deleted files from external hard drive.

Tips to Avoid data loss or deletion from USB flash drive Formatting

• The best way to avoid data loss from USB drive after formatting is to take a backup of all your important files.
• It is always suggested to connect your USB flash drive only to safe computers that are virus-free. This will avoid the malfunction of your USB drive, which might lead to formatting.
• Be cautious while deleting some unwanted folders or files from your pen drive to ensure no accidental formatting or deletion of important files is proceeding.
• Avoid improper ejection of your flash drive to safeguard it from forceful USB formatting errors.
• You can easily fix formatted USB flash drive errors manually without losing data.
• Keep Remo Recover tool install on your computer to recover formatted pen drives, SSD, memory cards, external hard disk, and many more.
• Moreover, if you are worried about how to recover files after quick format of flash drive, then just click on the given link to know more about it.

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