(Fixed) Files Corrupted When Copied to Flash Drive

Files corrupted when copied to flash drive

In our daily life, we often use a flash drive to store our files or migrate files from one computer to another. But sometimes, we may find that our files corrupted when copied to flash drive or get corrupted on flash drive, just like the following instance.

“I had an issue a few weeks ago that files on my flash drive were corrupted. I went and bought a new flash drive, and copied my remaining files to the new flash drive. Three weeks later, the same thing happened again.”

How to recover corrupted files from flash drive

I’m going to show you three methods to fix files corrupted on flash drive.

• Method 1: Recover files from logical issues

• Method 2: Recover corrupted files from USB using CMD

• Method 3: Recover a previous version of files or folders

Method 1: Recover files from logical issues

1. Insert the USB drive into the USB port and make sure it can be detected.
2. Right-click the Removable Disk and open its Properties.
3. Click on the Tools tab.
4. Click “Check” button, the flash drive will start to be scanned. If the corrupted file is scanned, you can choose to fix it. 

5. Close the scan window once it’s completed.
6. Right-click the icon of the USB flash drive and “Eject”. Then remove the drive from the USB port.

Method 2: Recover corrupted files from USB using CMD

1. Press Windows key + R simultaneously to open the Run dialog.
2. Type CMD and select Run as administrator to enter command prompts administrator.
3. In the command prompt, type ATTRIB -H -R -S /S /D X:*.*, Then, press Enter and wait for the corrupted file recovery from USB hard drive.

✍ Note: X is the drive letter of your flash drive. You need to replace X depending on your flash drive letter.

Method 3: Recover a previous version of files or folders

1. Right-click on the folder that contains files which corrupted, select Restore Previous Versions.
2. In the pop-up window, a list of older versions of the file will be displayed. Choose the file edition you’re looking for and click the Restore button.

✍  Note: If you don’t see “Restore Previous Versions” by right-click, go to Properties and “Previous Versions”.

How to back up files in case of files corruption

Now you know how to recover corrupted files from USB in Windows 11/10/8/7, but there is no guarantee that the files will be recovered successfully every time. In order to hire double insurance for important files, you are advised to back them up regularly. If you had done a backup of the files in advance before the files corrupted, you could directly restore the files.

To do backup, you can choose safe and efficient third-party software to help you like AOMEI Backupper Standard. It is free backup software that is easy to use. With only a few steps, you can back up your important files. If you feel that it is troublesome to manually back up files frequently, you can set up Scheduled Backup and the Scheduled Backup will run in the way of Incremental Backup by default.

Now, download AOMEI Backupper Standard, install and launch it, and follow the steps to do file backup.

Step 1. Click Backup and File Backup on the interface.

Step 2. Click Add File or Add Folder according to needs.

✍ Note: After adding the folders you want to backup, you can open Filter Settings to set file inclusion/exclusion mask. This function can help you back up files with specific file extension (you can upgrade to paid version to use this feature).

Step 3. Select backup destination. It can backup to NAS like Synology, external hard drive or other locations.

Step 4. Click Start Backup to execute the operation.

★ Bonus tip: backup files to AOMEI Cloud

As cloud storage is becoming more and more popular, AOMEI offers users its own cloud - AOMEI Cloud. After you sign up for an AOMEI account, you can use 1TB storage for free within 15 days. Just click Backup > Cloud Backup to backup files to AOMEI Cloud.

Conclusion

If these methods above can help to solve your problem “files corrupted when copied to flash drive”, it is the best. But if you can't recover corrupted files successfully, these files may be lost permanently. So, it is very necessary to make a backup of the files in advance with AOMEI Backupper Standard. This free backup software also allows you to sync local folders to OneDrive. Give it a shot and start your data insurance journey now!