How to Recover Deleted Files from External Hard Drive for Free

External hard drives are mainly used to store personal data, such as, photos, videos, music, documents, or create a copy of your system backup. However, the more data stored on an external hard drive, the bigger possibility of losing them. Please don't worry, this article aims to show you how to recover deleted files from external hard drive.

Possible reasons for data loss from external hard drive

Actually, deleted or lost files from external hard drive are recoverable. There are some reasons why you lose data on external disk:

✦ Accidentally deleting files on external hard drives (eg: unintentionally executed a script that erased a large number of files) or formatting it.
✦ System or hardware errors. 
✦ Damaged or lost File system or partition structures.
✦ Power surges. It might destroy your hard drive which requires data recovery software to restore data on it.
✦ Extreme temperatures like hot, humid, or moist.
✦ Physical damage, such as spilling water.
✦ virus attack or malware.
✦ Abrupt removal of external hard drive.

No matter what the reason is, as long as you choose the right recovery method, you can recover files that have been deleted on the external hard drive.

How to recover accidentally deleted files from external hard drive (6 options)

The files deleted on external hard drive will be permanently deleted instead of moving to Recycle Bin. Here, I have provided 6 external hard drive data recovery ways that apply to recover deleted files from Seagate/WD/SanDisk/Samsung external hard drives.

▶ Option 1. Recover deleted files from external hard drive on Windows 10, 11

If you delete your files or format external hard drive by accident,  using the data recovery freeware called MyRecover, you can effortlessly recover files from an external hard drive on Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, and Windows Server.

• Recover deleted or lost files with a high success rate and rapid scanning speed.
• Recover files from external hard drive for free up to 500MB in total.
• Recover lost Word document, Excel file, PDF, PPT, photos, movies, etc and more than 200 file types.
• Automatically start quick and deep scanning methods to find as many of your files as possible.
• Keep the deleted files with their original file names, format and path after recovery.

Besides external hard drive recovery, you can still recover files from formatted hard drive. Now, please connect your external hard drive and be sure it’s detected. Download and launch MyRecover to see how to recover deleted files from external hard drive.

Step 1. Hover the mouse over the external hard drive and click Scan.

Step 2. Then the scanning process will start automatically. You don’t need to wait for the process to complete if you find the files you want to recover.

Tip: The scanning process are divided into quick scan and deep scan. The previous method helps to find your deleted files quickly while the latter one are to search for more lost files. It will use more time.

Step 3. Choose the files that you need to recover. Or if you want to recover all the deleted files, you can tick all the options here.

To locate specific files quickly, Word documents, for example, you could use the Filter feature to make it. It has 3 options in the following:

• Type: It will contain all the file types in the local drive, such as, images, videos, documents, mails, webpage, compressed files, etc.
• Data Modified: It supports today, yesterday, last 7 days, last 30 days, and custom.
• Size: It allows you to filter file size from less than 128KB to 128KB ~1MB to 1MB ~ 512MB and above, or custom.

Click Filter > Type and select Documents. Then, input DOCX in the Search for files or folders box. It will list all of the deleted Word documents in the following window.

Step 4. Click Recover xx files and choose a new location to save the restored files. Otherwise, the deleted data may be overwritten.

Notes:
★ Except for Word files, you could also use it to restore Excel files, PPT, PDF, videos, music,etc.
★ You can still recover deleted files in Windows Server 2016, 2019, 2022, etc.

▶ Option 2. Restore deleted files from external hard drive via Windows Backup

If you create a file backup with Backup and Restore, you can choose to restore deleted files from external hard drive. It will include all the files and changes if you enable its schedule backup feature.  

Step 1. Navigate to Control Panel > System and Security and select Backup and Restore (Windows 7). Click on Restore my files to selectively recover permanently deleted files.

Or You can also choose Restore all users’ files to get all deleted files back.

Step 2. Search for your deleted files or use the Browse for files or Browse for folders option to find it. Then, click Next.

Note: The Browse for files option will list all the deleted files while Browse for folders list folders containing deleted files.

Step 3. Choose the original or new location to save files in the backup and click Restore to recover deleted files from external hard drive.

▶ Option 3. Recover deleted files from external hard drive using CMD

You can also recover deleted files from external hard drive using the CHKDSK and Attrib command. It helps to deal with data loss due to virus attack and file attributes loss, or recover hidden files.

Step 1. Plug in your external hard drive into your computer. Open Command Prompt as an administrator.

Step 2. Input chkdsk G: /f  and pres Enter. Please replace G: with the drive letter of your external hard drive

 Step 3. Type Y if you are asked to run chkdsk at the next system restart. 

Step 4. Type attrib -h -r -s /s /d G:*.*. and press Enter. Please replace G: with the drive letter of your external hard drive

▶ Option 4. Use system file checker to fix corrupted files on external hard drive

System File Checker (SFC) is a utility in Microsoft Windows that allows users to scan the disk and repair missing or corrupted system files.

• For Windows 11/10/8.1/8, you need to run Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) beforehand.
• For Windows 7/Vista, you can run Windows System File Checker directly.

Step 1. Be sure your external hard disk is detected. Open CMD with administrator priority.

Step 2. Type DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth  and press Enter.

Step 3. Type sfc /scannow and press Enter.

Step 4. Type exit and press Enter to close this window.

▶ Option 5. Recover deleted files from external hard drive using Windows File Recovery

Microsoft’s Windows File Recovery is a command-line utility to help you recover deleted or lost files from external hard disks for free. It requires you to learn the syntax , recover mode and switches. For more details, you can check: how to use Windows File Recovery.

Besides, you still need to know file system of the partition containing deleted files.  Go to This PC > right-click on the external drive that contains the deleted files > click Properties.

Step 1. Download and install Window File Recovery from Microsoft Store and then open it.

Step 2. Open CMD and run as administrator. Enter commands based on the following format and example:

winfr source-drive: destination-drive: [/mode] [/switches]

To recover deleted pdf files from F: drive (the external hard drive) to D: drive, then the command will be like:

winfr F: D: /regular /n *.pdf

★Tips:

The source and target drives must not be the same.

The tool only works with Windows 10 versions 2004 and up.

You can try Windows File Recovery, but it may not retrieve your deleted files every time. And you may encounter errors during the file recovery process, such as, “Winfr.exe is not recognized as an internal or external command”, “WinFR requires admin privileges to run”, etc.

▶ Option 6. Recover lost partition and files from external hard drive 

If the partitions in your external hard drive are disappeared due to accident deletion or unknown reasons, the simplest method is try partition recovery to save the partitions and files together.

Step 1. Go to Recover > Partition Recovery on the main interface. When you get into the partition recovery wizard, select a disk that you want to recover. Click Next.

Step 2. Select Fast Search. It is recommended that you select this option the first time as it is faster than Full Search. If you are unable to recover the lost partition using Fast Search then I recommend you try the Full Search option.

Step 3. Select the lost partition and click Proceed.

Step 4. Click Finish to exit this window after you see the congratulations message.

How to recover files from external hard drive not detected

If your external hard drive is not recognized, the first thing is to make it available on your PC or Windows Explorer. The following are some useful methods you can try:

• Check the connection and cables. If connection is loose, reconnect it. If the cable looks worn, replace it. Also, you can try a different cable.
• Try different USB port or computer.
• Check the device drivers and update it. Input “devmgmt.msc” in the search box and press Enter to open Device Manager. Then, locate and right-click the external hard drive, select Uninstall device. After that, restart your PC and plug in the external hard drive, it will install the necessary drivers.

• Format a corrupt or RAW disk to make it recognized.

Signs of problems with external hard drive

Problems like accidentally deleted files from external hard drive can be easily noticed, but some of them are insignificant at first and slowly it can become worse or even cause a big problem. Here are some signs to recognize your disk is experiencing problems:

● Scratching or clicking sounds coming from the external drive. This may be a sign of physical components are wearing out.
● Slow response time when accessing the drive.
● System or software crashes when using external disks. This may be a sign of a failing or damaged disk.
● Unexplained errors when reading or writing to external disks. This may be a sign of physical disk damage or disk corruption.

If you are experiencing one or more signs above, it’s suggested to create a disk backup containing all the data on it.

Bonus - best practice to protect files on external hard drive

There are some common methods to prevent data loss on external hard drive, you can follow one or more of them.

● Label external hard drives to make it unique.
● Keep your external disk out of direct sunlight and not subject to extreme temperature or moisture.
● Verify the files on external disk before deleting or formatting.
● Avoid interruption while transferring files from one hard drive to another one.
● Create a copy of your files automatically.
● Run antivirus software and scan all your external disks regularly.

Among them, the best practice is to create a scheduled file backup with free backup software. Backup and Restore, File History, third-party software like AOMEI Backupper Standard are great choices.

I prefer using the third-party software, because it is flexible and has rich features. For details, learn the Windows 10 backup utility. And I’ll show you how to use it in simple steps.

Step 1. Download and install Windows backup software - AOMEI Backupper. Then, click Backup > Disk Backup to backup entire disk and data on it.

Step 2. Set the Task Name to distinguish backup task from each other. Click Add Disk to choose the external hard disk.

Step 3. Select a location to store all the data on your external disk. You can create a disk-to-disk backup, or backup to USB flash drive, network drive, NAS device, Cloud Drive, etc.

Step 4. Click Schedule Backup and enable Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Event triggers or USB plug in to backup disk automatically. Thus, you will not lose any change made on the disk.

Step 5. Click Start Backup to carry out disk backup and wait until the operation is complete. Click Finish to exit the interface.

Conclusion

This post mainly introduces how to recover deleted files from external hard drive for free on Windows 7, 8, 10, 11. And you can find a suitable solution no matter you accidentally deleted your files, formatted the disk, or the files are lost or corrupted due to other reasons.

Instead of recovering files, it’s suggested to prevent data loss beforehand. There are many methods to help you and the best way is to backup files on your external hard drive using a free backup software like AOMEI Backupper Standard.

FAQs about how to recover deleted files from external hard drive

✍ What if I accidentally deleted files from my external hard drive?

If you accidentally deleted files on external hard drive, please stop using this drive. Don’t add new data to it, format disk, rebuild partition, etc. In addition, the best time to recover files is you realize you lost files.

✍ Does an external hard drive have a Recycle Bin?

The external hard drive also has a Recycle Bin folder. To make it accessible, you need to enable “Show Hidden Files and Folders” feature in Windows Explorer. Then, check if there is a folder bamed $recycle.bin.

✍ Can permanently deleted files be recovered?

The permanently deleted files are still on the disk, you just cannot access it. The fastest method is to use data recovery software like MyRecover. If you have a file backup, you can choose to restore files from backup. In addition, you still can try CMD, previous version, Windows File Recovery, etc.

✍ What to do if your external hard drive is corrupt?

If your external hard drive is corrupt, you may lose data on it. At this time, the first thing is to recover data from external hard drive with a data recovery software, such as, MyRecover. The reason may be system or software failure, virus infection, bad sectors, power loss.

✍ How can I recover deleted files from external hard drive on Mac?

There are two ways to recover deleted files from external hard drive on Mac. First, you can just put back files from the Bin. Second, you can use the Time Machine, which generates backups on an hourly, daily, and weekly basis. How to use Time Machine is shown below.

• Click the Launchpad icon in the Dock, find Time Machine, and click Enter Time Machine.

• Use the up and down arrows to locate the deleted files.
• Click Restore to recover the selected files. Wait until the recovery process is complete, then your lost data will come back to the previous location.