How to Recover Deleted Files with Original Folder Structure

Please help!!! Recover Folder Structure from Formatted Drive

“Earlier this week, I tried to fix my Win10 installation, but it instead started formatting my C drive! Despite being stopped immediately it was already too late and the drive is now empty. The important things on this drive were mostly projects that rely heavily on the folder structure instead of singular files. So is there any way to get the original folder structure back somehow? Thanks in advanced.”

Can You Recover Deleted Files With Folder Structure?

In short, yes, it is possible to recover deleted files with original folder structure. Every disk or partition has a file system, which is basically a way to organize your data. It will keep information about every file and directory in the master file tab. That’s to say, to keep data recovery with folder structure, you need to make sure the directory in the file system is rebuildable.

Powerful data recovery software can scan your disk completely and rebuild the partition table as well as a file system in different data loss scenarios, such as accidental deletion, formatted disk, etc. However, the chance varies on file system types, damage severity, and data overwriting amount.

How to Perform Data Recovery with Original Folder Structure

Before starting data recovery with original folder structure, please be sure the following items.

• Your storage device is not physically damaged.
• The file table is not damaged severely and still includes information about folder structure.
• The TRIM feature is disabled on the SSD disk. It will erase data completely if it’s enabled and make data recovery impossible.
• Your storage device contains a data recovery-friendly file system (eg: NTFS). File systems like HFS+, in contrast, will wipe informaton about deleted files quickly.

Now you can start to recover deleted files with folder structure. The most effective method is to use powerful data recovery software, such as MyRecover. The freeware Recuva is also worth a try.

Way 1: Recover Files with Folder Structure via MyRecover

MyRecover, one powerful data recovery software, is able to scan the entire disk or specific partition quickly and deeply and display all the deleted files with its original folder structure. You can then recover them completely in any scenario, such as a formatted disk.

It supports a wide range of file types, surpassing 200+ file formats. So you can use it to recover deleted X3F/HEIF/JPG images, WMV/MXF/MP4 videos, DOC/DOCX/TXT/XLS documents, and any common file types. No technical expertise required and novice friendly. 

Now please download and install this professional Windows data recovery software. Compatible with all versions of Windows systems (32bit and 64bit), including Windows 7, 8, 10, 11, etc, and Windows Server.

Step 1. Launch this powerful data recovery software - MyRecover. Hover the mouse over the drive saved deleted files before, and click Scan.

Step 2. It will run Quick Scan and Deep Scan automatically to search and display all the deleted files with folder structure. To locate them quickly, use the Filter feature or go to the original location in the left panel.

Step 3. Then, select your desired files and click Recover x files to recover folder structure from formatted drive. You will then be asked to select a location. Please select a new location instead of the original location to prevent potential data overwriting.

Notes:  

• The restore button will display the number of selected files and their full size. You can use it to determine the integrity of the recovered files.
• You can recover deleted files with folder structure for free, up to 500MB in total. To recover all files, please upgrade to the advanced editions.
• In addition, you still can use this software to recover data from RAW drive, damaged disk, and more.

Way 2: Recover Files with Folder Structure via Recuva

Recuva is a free Windows data recovery software, which claims to recover pictures, music, documents, video files, compressed files, etc. It supports quick scan and deep scan methods to search for deleted files, but it does not locate and retrieve as many as a professional data recovery software. To recover files with folder structure, it requires you to run this software in the advanced mode.

Step 1. Download Recuva data recovery software and launch it on your Windows PC. It supports Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP. Click Cancel when asked which type of files to recover.

Step 2. Select the file types from the filename or path of the drop-down box. Or leave the drop-down box empty. It will search all the supported file types.

Step 3. Select the storage device from the drive drop-down box and click Scan. It can be a hard drive, USB drive, memory card, etc.

Step 4. Click Options. In the Actions tab, scroll down to Recovering, check the Restore folder structure, and click OK.

Step 5. Recuva will now show you the scanning result. The green dot indicates the file is in excellent condition, orange for acceptable, and red for unlikely. 

Step 6. Select the desired files and click Recover to store them in a safe location. Or right-click the selected files and select Recover Checked.

With our detailed instructions and a little luck, you'll achieve the desired results swiftly. 

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is there something better than Recuva?

Of course, there are many software with high performance. MyRecover is one of these software. It supports two advanced scanning methods, wide range of file types and formats, file filtering, different data loss scenarios, etc.

2. Does Disk Drill recover folder structure?

Disk Drill can recover folder structure if the disk's file system is still usable. This software can read the file table containing information about the folder structure.

3. How to recover files with original name

Yes, but not always. The deleted files and metadata, such as names, size, type, date, location, etc. will remain for a while. So you are able to recover files with original name if it’s not overwritten. The easiest way is to use reliable data recovery software like MyRecover.

Conclusion

In conclusion, data recovery with folder structure can be challenge, but not impossible, as long as you employ professional data recovery software like MyRecover. It’s able to read the file table containing information about the folder structure.

In addition, to be sure your data is always safe, it’s essential to take a frequent backup of your files. Complete Windows backup software - AOMEI Backupper Standard will be a great choice. It allows you to backup files in daily, weekly, monthly, etc. Just have a try!