Windows Data Recovery: Recover Lost/Deleted Data on Windows Easily

Data loss is a serious issue for both businesses and individuals. The loss of important work data can cause serious financial damage to a company. Loss of precious private files can also be very frustrating. When valuable files get lost, the first thing we want to do is to get the lost data back. How to perform Windows file recovery? Let's take a look at the effective methods below!

✎Note:

After data loss, please do not store other data in the path where the data was lost. This is because the data is not completely lost after deletion or format, it is still in the original path but not visible, which is why the data can be recovered. If you save new data here, your lost data will be overwritten, then it cannot be recovered!

Common causes of Windows data loss

Before learning how to make Windows restore deleted files, you should know some possible reasons for Windows data loss.

• Accidental loss or damage. This includes data loss caused by mis-formatting, mis-partitioning, mis-deletion, etc. on data storage devices.
• Hard disk, system, or software failures. Primarily, they manifest as: data cannot be found, the system does not recognize the device used, the machine makes noise, the computer or hard disk does not work, etc.
• Hacking and virus infection. Hackers can move in and out of firewalled networks, viruses can spread across the globe in a matter of hours, threatening the security of our data all the time.

Although recovering files deleted from Recycle Bin is an easy way to recover lost data from Windows, the fact is that most users cannot find lost data in the Recycle Bin. Given that, we will introduce how to apply the following 2 top-rated data recovery software for Windows to complete data recovery efficiently.

Recover Windows data using Windows File Recovery

Windows File Recovery (WINFR) is a very powerful data recovery tool launched by Microsoft. You can use it to recover permanently deleted files on Windows 10 as well as formatted data from computer hard disks, USB flash drives, and memory cards. It supports data recovery from NTFS, FAT, exFAT, and ReFS file systems.

But Windows File Recovery has no GUI and needs to be used via the command line. This may be a bit difficult for users who are not familiar with computer expertise. And it only supports running on Windows 10 version 2004 or higher.

How to use Windows File Recovery for free file recovery on Windows 10 and other software? Here is a stepwise guide:

Step 1. Search for “Windows File Recovery” in the Windows Store and click on “Get” to install it on your computer.

Step 2. Tap on the Win + E keys to open This PC, right-click on the drive that you want to enable data recovery, and click Properties > check its file system.

Step 3. Choose an appropriate recovery mode, select switches according to your needs, and determine the command line for data restoration with this best data recovery software for Windows.

Pick a data recovery modes from the chart below:

Select switches for filtering scanning range:

The command syntax of Windows File Recovery is: winfr source-drive: destination-drive: [/mode] [/switches]. For example: If you want to recover lost docx files from E: drive to D: drive in a Segment mode, your command should go like: winfr E: D: /segment /n *.docx.

Step 4. Launch Windows File Recovery from the search box and select Run as administrator. Then, input the command line and click Y to continue.

Step 5. After the recovery process is finished, there would be a new folder named Recovery_date and time on the destination drive, containing all the recovered files.

✎Note:

Windows also offers WinfrGUI, an alternative to Windows File Recovery with clickable buttons, to recover corrupted hard drives and restore accidentally deleted files. But it can only work on Windows 10 and Windows 11 currently.

Perform Windows data recovery via ADR for Windows (Recommend)

As a reliable data recovery software, MyRecover is a go-to choice for you to recover lost/deleted data on various data storage devices. It supports the recovery of images, audio, videos, emails, documents, and hundreds of other types of files from local disks, external hard drives, SD cards, memory cards, HDD, and SSD. It is widely compatible with NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, and ReFS in Windows 11/10/8/7 and Windows Server.

Whether your data is lost due to accidental deletion, virus attack, or formatting, this tool can deeply and comprehensively scan your drive, quickly retrieve the corresponding files, and safely restore data. What’s more, this software provides a preview of files before recovery.

Install this data recovery software for Windows 10 and other operating systems on PC and follow the guide below to enable file recovery on Windows 7/8/10/11 now.

Step 1. Choose a location to scan for lost/deleted files

Run MyRecover on your computer. Hover the mouse over the drive saved deleted files before, and click Scan to scan.

Step 2. Scan hard drive for lost data automatically

This utility will examine all deleted and missing files on the selected drive disk with Deep Scan and Quick Scan.

Step 3. Recover data as needed

Check the files you want to restore, select them, and click the Recover x files in the lower right corner to recover deleted files in Windows 10 without a hitch.

Tip: How to protect Windows data

In fact, the best way to protect Windows data is to back it up. We highly recommend you to use AOMEI Backupper, an all-in-one Windows backup software. It supports you to back up data to computer hard drives, cloud storage services, NAS devices, and so on. What’s more, you can set up automatic backups to protect all new versions of files in time.

Conclusion

How to execute Windows data recovery easily? Here, we have covered stepwise guides on restoring permanently/recently deleted files with 2 PC file recovery tools for Windows. Among them, our pick is MyRecover since it is much easier to operate and has a higher data recovery rate.