Easily Recover Data from Formatted Hard Drive Windows 10, or 11 [2022]

Can I recover data after formatting hard drive on Windows 10/11?

Formatting will cause data loss, but sometimes we still need to format our hard drive. Many people wonder whether it is possible to recover data from formatted hard drive in Windows 10/11.

Actually, it depends on how you formatted it. Formatting is divided into quick format and full format.  If you just quick format your hard drive from File Explorer or Disk Management, go to the next part to see how to recover data after quick formatting. If you do a  full format, it's sorry to tell you that it is nearly impossible to recover data from the full formatted hard drive.

The quick format simply deletes files from the drive. Then it rebuilds the file system while still keeping the data on the drive. It just marks the partition as “formatted”. But  Full format completely wipes the data and overwrites it with zeros, so the data cannot be retrieved.

Recover data from hard drive Windows 10/11 without backup

If you formatted your hard drive, and you didn’t back up your data, the best way is to use reliable software to recover files from the formatted hard drive on Windows 10/11.

Using MyRecover to recover formatted hard drive files

If you want to recover data from formatted hard drive in Windows 10/11 simply and quickly, you should use MyRecover. It is a professional recovery software with a graphical interface, and supports Windows 7 or later. Its recovery speed is fast as well, which can recover a number of files in a short time. Other highlights are listed below.

Restore data integrity: It can restore the filename, path, and format of the original file.

 Two scanning modes (Quick Scan&Deep Scan): This tool can completely detect all the deleted and other lost files from HDD/SSD.

 Widely use: It can restore data from SSD/HDD, and supports FAT32, NTFS, exFAT, and ReFS in Windows as well.

 Various files recovery: It can restore kinds of files, like PPT, Word, Excel, Photos, Videos, Audios, Zip files and etc.

Step 1. Download and install MyRecover on your PC. Hover the mouse over the drive saved deleted files before, and click Scan.

Step 2. The software will make Quick Scan & Deep Scan for the formatted hard drive to find out files.

Step 3. Choose a storage path to save the files, and then click Recover x files. 

Recover Windows hard drive data by using Windows File Recovery

Windows File Recovery of Microsoft is a command-line tool, which is available for Windows 10 2004 and above. You can use it to recover files from formatted hard drive free on Windows 10. However, when using it, you need to figure out the command structure and then write the corresponding command line. Actually, the process is kind of complicated.

Parameters: They will be used in the command line.

The structure of command line is like this: winfr source-drive: destination-drive: [/mode] [/switches].

Mode: You should choose the mode depending on the file system.

File system: Click This PC > Right-click the source drive > Tap the Properties.

Switch: According to the mode, choose the right switch.

Operation steps:

Step 1. Download and install Windows File Recovery in Microsoft Store first.

Open Start menu > Find and click Microsoft Store > Input Windows File Recovery on the search bar > click Get button.

Step 2. Open Windows File Recovery and click Run as administrator.

Step 3. Input your command line, and click Enter.

How to efficiently protect your hard drive data in Windows 10/11

I believe you are no stranger to backup. If you back up your data regularly, it is not difficult to retrieve the data at any time. Windows has some excellent built-in backup tools, such as File History, Backup, and Restore.

In reality, here is more professional backup software, AOMEI Backupper. It supports Windows 11/10/8/XP/Visa. Each time you back up data, it only backup the newly added content, which greatly saves your storage space. Apart from that, you also can set a time(daily, weekly or monthly) to automatically backup. You can follow the steps below to complete the backup.

Step 1. Download and install AOMEI Backupper. Launch it, click Backup and select File Backup.

 Step 2. Click Add File/Add Folder to select the files/folders you want to backup.

Step 3. Choose a storage path to save the files, and click Start Backup.

Conclusion

The article showcases two recovery software to recover data from formatted hard drive on Windows 10/11, AOMEI Data Recovery and Windows File Recovery. If you have a certain amount of computer knowledge, you can use the second one. If you want to restore your data simply and quickly, I suggest you choose the first one. At the same time, in order to prevent data loss from happening again, you can use AOMEI Backupper to backup important data.