[3 Ways] How to Recover MP4 Files on Windows 10/8/7 PC

Are you lost MP4 files on your hard drive, SD card, USB, and so on? Then, this guide will be worth reading to know how to recover MP4 files on Windows computer.

Demi

By Demi / Updated on April 2, 2024

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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

Can you recover lost/corrupted MP4 files?

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. 

Recover MP4

What causes MP4 to corrupt/lost?
Your MP4 files may be lost due to the following reason:
• 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 had other hardware problems.
• If you save MP4 files in memory card or USB, it 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 card, USB, etc. If you need to recover videos from memory card, USB, etc., please plug it into your computer in advance.

Warm 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.

Way 1. Recover MP4 files via File History Backup

The File History Backup can help restore permanently deleted files in Windows 10/11. 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.

Restore Personal Files

Step 2. Go to the folder where yourMP4 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.

Restore Deleted Files

Way 2. 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 out 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.

Check File System

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

Microsoft Store Get

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

Windows File Recovery Run As Administrator

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

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

Recovers system files.

NTFS Segment​​​​​

/u

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

NTFS Segment

Winfr Externsion Filename

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

Way 3. Best recovery tool for MP4 to recover deleted/lost MP4 files

How can you recover MP4 files at highest success rate and cost the least labor? Here comes the most recommended method to recover MP4 files via AOMEI Dara Recovery for Windows.

You can utilize MyRecover to recover deleted/lost MP4 files from internal hard drives, external hard drives, SD cards, USB flash drives, SSDs, and other Windows storage media.

Besides, the lost MP4 files will be recovered in their original quality with no data loss.

Different from the other two tools, there is no so much prerequisites or difficulties to using MyRecover. The simple design of this software makes the recover process as easy as possible.

First of all, click the icon below to free download the best recovery tool for MP4, and recover deleted/lost MP4 files in three simple steps.

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

Step 1. Launch MyRecover on your computer > Hover the mouse over the partition/disk that is used to save MP4 files > Click Scan to continue.

Select Partition To Scan

Step 2. 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.

Scan Lost Data

Step 3. 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 recover process to finished.

Recover Deleted Videos

Conclusion

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

Demi
Demi · Editor
Demi is an editor of FoneTool group as well as a good advisor in the area of iOS-related issues. She does well in finding solutions to people's problems. She enjoys traveling, gardening, and watching movies. She spends most of her free time with her pet and family.