Recover Formatted Partition and Data in Windows 10 (3 Ways)
Have you formatted a partition by mistake and lost all files on it? This article offers 3 professional software to recover formatted partition and data in Windows 10 easily.
Help! Accidentally formatted partition in Windows 10
“I accidentally formatted a partition on my external hard drive and all files, including my valuable family photos, are disappearing. This formatted partition hasn’t been overwritten yet and how can I undo the format and recover all the files?”
When you format a partition in Windows 11/10/8/7, Windows only removes the file entries on the root directory & file allocation table; the files and folders are not permanently wiped but still exist on the partition and you just can’t access these data.
✅ It’s very possible to recover the lost data from the formatted partition, as long as you follow these prompts.
- Don’t make any write operation on the formatted partition.
- Don’t reformat the formatted partition.
- Don’t rebuild the partition table of the formatted drive.
- Don’t run CHKDSK.exe on the formatted drive.
How to recover data from formatted partition in Windows 10 for free
Here introduce 3 free data recovery software and guide you on how to recover formatted partition or drive in Windows 10 step by step.
| Software | Why choose it? |
| MyRecover | It has a straightforward interface, strong technologies and comprehensive data loss scenarios, support 200+ file types and file filer features, making data recovery easy and quick. |
| TestDisk | It's open source, completely free, and easier for many users to implement, at least without having to manually type the commands themselves. |
| winfr | It's the official command line utility for Windows 10 2004 editions and later. Take great care if you are going to choose it because Windows will not update this software anymore! |
Option 1. An advanced GUI tool - MyRecover
MyRecover is free data recovery software, specially designed for Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7 and Windows Server. With a concise and intuitive graphic user interface, it is easy to operate even for a green hand.
It can access and scan the formatted partition to find as much data as possible and recover deleted files from it at a high speed and success rate.
- Core technologies - Quick Scan & Deep Scan. Both of them help thoroughly scan your disk for deleted or lost data and makes data recovery easy and quick.
- Recover 200+ file types including documents (e.g. recover Word documents), photos, audio, videos, emails, compressed files, etc.
- Search or filter deleted files quickly, preview, and recover them while scanning if necessary.
- Recover deleted or lost data easily on the internal or external disk (HDD or SSD), USB, SD card, etc.
- Recover data from formatted partition over 500MB for free.
100% Secure
Download the free partition data recovery software and see how it works.
Step 1. Install and launch the tool. On the main interface. Hover the mouse over the drive and click Scan to scan.
Step 2. Then the tool will run Quick Scan & Deep Scan to scan the formatted partition automatically.
Step 3. Select the data that you want to get back and click "Recover xx files". Then, choose a new path to save the recovered files and folders.
Option 2. Multi-platform recovery software - TestDisk
TestDisk, a powerful open-source recovery software, can be used to recover lost data from formatted partitions and retrieve deleted data. It can be used in Windows, Mac, and Linux, with a command-line interface and predefined commands.
Step 1. Download and run TestDisk on your Windows computer, and hit Enter key.
Step 2. Choose the Create option and press the Enter key. All connected hard drives will be scanned by TestDisk.
Step 3. Then all hard drives will be listed and you can use the arrow keys to choose the disk that holds the formatted partition that you want to recover and press Enter.
Step 4. Choose the partition table type [Intel] and press Enter.
Step 5. Select "Analyze" and hit "Enter" to analyze the hard drive that holds the formatted partition.
Step 6. Once the analysis is complete, you can use the “Quick Search” option to scan the drive.
Step 7. Now you can see the lost files on the drive. Then go to the files/folders that you need to retrieve and press the C button to copy them.
Step 8. Once locate deleted files or folders, choose the destination folder and press Y to start the copying process. When TestDisk has copied all the selected files, you can see the “Copy Done” message.
Option 3: The official command line utility - Windows File Recovery
If your computer is running Windows 10 19041 build or a later version, you can use Windows File Recovery, a command-line tool released by Microsoft, to restore formatted partition data.
If you are not familiar with this software, please learn how to use Windows File Recovery first including the syntax, recovery mode, switches, and file system.
Step 1. Download Windows File Recovery from Microsoft Store and install it on your laptop or desktop.
Step 2. Type “windows file recovery” in the search box, and run it as administrator.
Step 3. To recover the “photos” folder from the formatted partition D: to partition E:, input the command:
winfr D: E: /extensive /n \photos\
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"photos" should be replaced with the name of the folder that you want to restore from D drive.
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D: is the source drive from which you want to retrieve data; E:is the drive to which you restore data.
Bonus tip: Recover data from deleted/ lost partition on Windows 10
Sometimes, you may lose data due to lost or deleted partitions, which cannot be easily recovered using data recovery software. In this case, you need to turn to a partition recovery software - AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional and try to recover lost/deleted partition and its data effortlessly.
Note: It's available to download the demo version of AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional to have a try!
Step 1. Install and run AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. Click Recover > Partition Recovery. Then, choose the disk that contains the lost/deleted partition, and click Next.
Step 2. Choose the Fast Search mode and click Next.
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Fast search (recommended): Scan the first sector of each partition on the selected disk to find out the deleted or lost partition quickly.
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Full search: More in-depth search of every sector of each partition on the selected disk, requiring more time. Choose it if the first one fails.
Step 3. Now, the deleted or lost partitions will be listed below. Choose the partition that you want to recover and click Proceed.
When you see the message – Congratulations! The partitions have been recovered..., click Finish. You can then check if the partition is restored.
Wrap things up
You can easily recover data from formatted partition in Windows 10 with the help of 3 useful software. Of these, MyRecover is the easiest one to use, and it is fast with a high success rate. In addition, it supports up to 200+ file types. You are allowed to search, filter, and recover while scanning.
Easy to use and fast data recovery software
For deleted or lost partition, using a powerful partition recovery software like AOMEI Partition Assistant will be a better choice. In addition, if you have already backed up the formatted/deleted partition using backup software, you can restore partition from backup without software.