Stepwise Tutorial: How to Recover Deleted Partition on External Hard Drive

Can I recover lost partition on external hard drive?

“If anyone here could help me with external hard drive partition loss. My PC experienced a BSOD for no reason. So I set the computer to boot from a USB disk using DISKPART commands, but I accidentally deleted all partitions from an external hard drive. What can I do?”

-Question from Reddit

Why Does a Partition Get Lost or Deleted?

Let's identify the reasons for partition loss or deletion before moving on to how to recover deleted partition on external hard drive. Typically, one of the following four reasons could cause your partition to be lost or deleted:

Accidental erasure. The incorrect partition being deleted or formatted is one of the most frequent causes of partition loss.

Partitioning mistake. Users resize the partitions with unreliable software or the partition table is damaged.

Abrupt system shutdowns. A sudden loss of power could hinder crucial data transfer processes and compromise data integrity.

Malware or virus attack. Different types of malware and viruses target partitions and the data they contain.

How to recover deleted partition on external hard drive [3 options]

Let’s take a look at 3 options on how to recover deleted partition on external hard drive.

Option 1. Recover the entire deleted/lost partition via partition recovery software

To make things simpler, your best option is to locate a reputable partition recovery program. For Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP, the built-in utility AOMEI Partition Recovery Wizard was developed to restore lost or deleted partitions, including FAT, NTFS, Ext2, Ext3, and Ext4.

Step 1. Download, install, and run AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. You could download the demo version below.

Step 2. Select Partition Recovery Wizard on the left panel in the main interface and select the disk including the lost partition. Click Next.

Step 3. Select a search mode. There are two kinds of search modes. It is recommended to choose Fast Search the first time. And then click Next.

Step 4. The tool will show the list of all lost or deleted partitions. You could select the partition you want to restore.

Step 5. After the partition recovery process completes, click Finish to exit when a message Congratulations shows. Then you can go to File Explorer to check the lost or deleted partitions.

Option 2. Restore deleted/lost partition with Disk Management

You can check the partition's status in Disk Management if you discover that your partition has been lost. To launch Disk Management, press Win + R and type "diskmgmt.msc" into the Run window. The volume will be designated as Unallocated if a partition is deleted. The partition recovery software mentioned above may be your best option if you want to recover unallocated space. Of course, you can also use the handy tool Disk Management that is embedded.

Step 1. Start Control Panel, and click System and Security.

Step 2. Find Administrative tools, and click Create and format hard disk partitions, which lies on the lower part of this window.

Step 3. Right-click on the drive in which your deleted partition lies, and click Change Drive Letter and Paths.

Step 4. Go to Add to continue your operation.

Step 5. Check if Assign the following drive letter is successfully ticked, then assign a letter to name it, and commit your change by clicking OK. Here remember to assign a drive letter that has never been used before.

Option 3. Retrieve deleted/lost partition on external hard drive using CMD

Use CMD to give the missing partition a drive letter and make it visible if it is marked with an asterisk and hidden in Windows File Explorer. Let's look at how to recover lost partition on external hard drive using CMD.

Step 1. Open Disk Management and find the lost partition. Remember the partition size.

Step 2. Start Command Prompt by inputting cmd in the Windows search box > choose Run as administrator.

Step 3. Type the following command and press Enter after each input.

• diskpart
• list disk. All disks in the computer will be on the list.
• select disk # (Replace # with the number of the hard disk that contains the lost partition).
• list volume. All volumes on the disk will be displayed.
• select volume # (replace # with the number of the lost partition).
• assign letter=# (Replace # with an available drive letter, from C to Z).

How to recover files from deleted partition on external hard drive [bonus tip]

MyRecover may be your first choice if you need to recover data from a formatted or corrupted partition.

Step 1. Run MyRecover on your computer > hover the mouse over the drive, and click Scan.

Step 2. The deleted/lost files will be scanned and listed in the Scanned files list. You can also search for the name of the files or folder in the search bar to find them. 

Step 3. Locate and choose the lost files from the list > Click Recover x files > Choose a destination to save the files.

Closing words

This post introduces how to recover deleted partition on external hard drive. Reliable partition recovery software could be your first choice. Of course, you can also use the Disk Management or Command Prompt. If you need to recover files from a formatted or corrupted partition, you can use MyRecover.