How to Recover MP4 Files on Windows 10/11 [3 Ways]

What can you do if you deleted MP4 files by accident? Recover MP4 files using the free mp4 file recovery software - MyRecover and other methods. The following 3 methods can recover deleted video files with ease, including MP4, MOV, and AVI.

By @Demi Last Updated November 12, 2024

Help! How to recover MP4 files after lost?

 

Lost video files - any way to get them back?

I put about 200 files on my computer, and all perfect. The next day, I looked there and found that about 30 .MP4 video files completely disappeared, simply not there. I never made any erasing. Would there be any way, how to get them back?

- Question from forums

MP4 is one of the most widely used video file formats for downloading and streaming videos from the Internet. It is frequently used to save audio, subtitles, and still images. And it is widely supported by almost all video players.

However, data loss issues are always unexpected. It could be tragic if such videos disappear accidentally or are unintentionally erased without a backup. 

What causes MP4 to corrupt/lose?

Your MP4 files may be lost due to the following reasons:

The partition/disk is formatted, and all data is erased.

Virus infection or malware attack causes loss of MP4 files.

The partition/disk is damaged or has other hardware problems.

If you save MP4 files on the memory card or USB, they may be removed from the digital devices or computer before the MP4 files were saved.

No matter how your MP4 files are lost, you can try the three effective files in this guide to recover MP4 files on your computer. The three methods below can all be workable to recover MP4 files on kinds of storage devices, like SD cards, USBs, etc. If you need to recover videos from a memory card, USB, etc., please plug them into your computer in advance.

🌟Tip:

If the data loss has happened, please stop using the partition/disk you used to save MP4 files, or once new data overwrites the lost MP4 files, you have no chance to recover them.

[Step-by-step] How to recover MP4 from Windows

To recover lost MP4 files, you can try the following 3 methods, including using free MP4 recovery software, Windows backup, or a command line tool.

▶ Way 1. Best recovery tool for MP4 to recover deleted/lost MP4 files

How can you recover MP4 files at the highest success rate and cost the least labor? Here comes the most recommended method to recover MP4 files with MyRecover.

You can recover deleted/lost MP4 files from internal hard drives, external hard drives, SD cards, USB flash drives, SSDs, and other Windows storage devices as easily as possible. Besides, the lost MP4 files will be recovered in their original quality.

First of all, free download the MP4 file recovery software, and recover deleted/lost MP4 files in three simple steps.

Download SoftwareWin 11/10/8/7/Server
Secure Download

Step 1. Click Scan to start scanning.

Launch MyRecover on your computer > Click the partition that is used to save MP4 files > Click Scan to continue.

Step 2. Find the MP4 files from the scanning results.

Wait for the scan process to finish. During the process, you can click the scanned folder to have a preview. You can also search the name of files and folders to locate them in the search bar from the upper-right corner.

Step 3. Recover MP4 files.

Select the MP4 files and other files you’d like to recover > Click Recover files > Finally, choose a destination to save the files and wait for the recovery process to finish.

▶ Way 2. Recover MP4 files from File History

The File History Backup can help restore permanently deleted files in Windows 10. While you need to confirm whether the MP4 files have been backed up using the File History feature.

If you haven’t, you’ll merely get a message saying there’s no backup to restore. As a result, it is suggested to backup data in Windows in advance to simply protect your data. Then, you may skip to the other two methods to recover MP4 files.

If you have enabled File History before, follow the steps below to recover MP4 files via File History.

Step 1. Go to System and Security on your Windows computer > Choose File History > Tap Restore personal files from the left pane.

Step 2. Go to the folder where your files were stored before to see if there are available backup files.

Step 3. Choose the MP4 files you want to restore and click the green Restore button.

▶ Way 3. Recover MP4 files with Windows File Recovery

If you are using Windows 10 version 200 and later, you can rely on Microsoft’s official data recovery tool - Windows File Recovery to recover MP4 files. It can be kind of difficult for newbies to utilize this command line tool. You may learn how to recover deleted/lost MP4 files step by step by following our introduction.

First of all, you need to check the file system of the storage device that you used to save MP4 files. Click on This PC > Right-click on the partition/disk > Select Properties to view it in the File System section.

Step 1. Search for Windows File Recovery in the Microsoft Store and click Get to install it on your PC.

Step 2. Search for the program in the Windows search box, and click it > Click Run as administrator.

Step 3. Choose a suitable mode to recover your MP4 files based on the File System you just checked.

File system

Circumstances

Recommended mode

NTFS

Deleted recently

Default

NTFS

Deleted a while ago

Segment, followed by Signature

NTFS

After formatting a disk

Segment, followed by Signature

NTFS

A corrupted disk

Segment, followed by Signature

FAT and exFAT

Any

Extensive

Step 4. Follow the prompts to enter the correct command line, such as winfr D: E: extensive /n *paper* > Click Y to continue.

Switches

Definition

Supported mode(s)

/n 

Filter the scan range: scans for a specific file with its file name/path/type, etc.

All

/y:

Recover specific extension groups.

Signature

/k

Recover system files.

NTFS Segment​​​​​

/u

Recovers undeleted files, for example, from the Recycle Bin.

NTFS Segment

Note: The destination drive of the recovered files should be different from the drive where the files were lost.

Conclusion

That’s all for the three effective ways to recover MP4 files on a Windows PC. You can either rely on the inbuilt Windows features or use the free MP4 file recovery software- MyRecover to get precious MP4 files back. If this guide helps you, please share it with others.