5 Ways to Recover Data from Formatted HDD

Can I recover files from formatted hard drive?

We may format HDD in some cases, such as human operation error, recovery of hard drive performance, data corruption, and so forth. All these situations will cause data loss, so whether the files in a formatted HDD can be recovered becomes a common question. Actually, recovering formatted HDD data relies on how you format it. Formatting is separated into the quick format and full format.

Quick format: It will delete files from the partition and reconstruct the file system, volume label, and cluster size. It is quicker than the full format. However, it does not erases your data on HDD, it just labels the partition as "formatted".

Full format: It will completely wipe files from the partition, which is a real format, so users cannot restore the files.

If you have the desire to retrieve data after the quick format, there are 5 methods to recover data from formatted HDD in Windows 10/11.

Retrieve data from formatted HDD without backup

If you didn’t back up your HDD files, you can use professional software to recover data from the formatted HDD.

Option 1. MyRecover: Recover formatted HDD files simply and quickly

MyRecover is a user-friendly recovery software with a graphical interface, and supports Windows 7 or later. It can recover the amount of data in a short time. I highly recommend you to use this software.

Click the button below to get this professional tool.

Step 1. Launch 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 and deep scans for the formatted HDD to find out files.

Step 3. Select a path to store the files, and then click Recover x files to retrieve your target data. 

Option 2. Utilizing Windows File Recovery to restore HDD data

Windows File Recovery is a command-line tool published by Microsoft. It’s available for Windows 10 2004 and above and can restore various types of files, including jpg/png/pdf/docx/xlsx/mov/zip, etc. To use it, users have to learn some parameters that it’s complex for people without a computer background.

Parameters:

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

Modes: You should choose a mode based on the file system of the partition and specific scenarios.

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

Switches:

Now, you can download the tool and use it to recover data from a formatted HDD.

Step 1. Download and install this tool in Microsoft Store.

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.

Example: If you want to recover .PDF and .docx document from C: drive to E: drive. The command line: winfr C: E: /r /n *.pdf /n *.docx.

Restore files from formatted hard drive without software

If you have a habit of backing up data, you can easily retrieve your file from the backup disk. There are 3 methods of recovering data from formatted HDD for free without software.

Option 1. Retrieve formatted HDD data from File History

File History is a built-in feature for Windows. If you enable this feature before losing files due to HDD format, you can retrieve the HDD files easily.

Step 1. Launch the Control Panel, and click the System and Security.

Step 2. Click File History and tap Restore your files with File History.

Step 3. Find and right-click the Restore personal files on the left list.

Step 4. The deleted file will appear on your interface and then click the Restore.

Option 2. Recover HDD files from Backup and Restore

If you created a backup by using Backup and Restore, you can easily restore your formatted HDD files as well. 

Step 1. Launch the Windows menu and choose Control Panel > Click System and Security > Backup and Restore (Windows 7).

Step 2. Click on the Restore my files button on this page.

Option 3. Restore formatted hard drive data from Previous Versions

If you enable File History, you can restore files from Previous Versions after formatting HDD. The operation process is shown below.

Step 1. Start the Windows File Explorer on your computer.

Step 2. Find the folder where you save your files, and right-click it.

Step 3. Click Properties > Previous Versions > Choose the version that you want to restore > Tap Restore.

Bonus tip: AOMEI Backupper helps you protect your HDD data

Backup plays an important role in computer usage. If you make a backup, it's easy to get back your data. There is efficient backup software, AOMEI backupper. It supports Windows 11/10/8/7/Vista/XP. You can set the time to back up your HDD regularly, and each time you back it up, only the new content will be backed up, which greatly saves your storage space. You can follow the process below to complete the backup.

Step 1. Download and install AOMEI Backupper. Then, launch it, click on Backup and select File Backup.

 Step 2. Click Add File or 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.

To sum up

You will not be perplexed by how to recover data from formatted HDD anymore after reading this post. Beyond that, convenient backup software is also displayed. Restoring data will be easier only if you do a good job of backing up your data.