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Stop using the pen drive, USB drive, or SD card as soon as you notice files are missing. Don’t take more photos, copy files to it, format it, or install recovery software on it: new data may overwrite deleted files, and overwritten bytes cannot be reconstructed by recovery software. Save any recovered files to a different drive.
What to do before trying recovery
- Stop writes to the affected media. Avoid taking more photos, copying files, formatting the drive, or running repair operations that write to it. Microsoft advises users to minimize or avoid computer use after file loss, and CGSecurity cautions against writing to the affected drive or card.
- Remove it safely if it is still connected and background writes may occur. For an SD card, use a built-in computer reader or an appropriate card reader when you are ready to scan it.
- Choose a separate destination for recovered files. Do not save them to the same USB drive or SD card you are scanning. If you have only one drive, Microsoft recommends using a separate USB or external hard drive as the destination. That drive provides storage for recovered output; it does not recover files or restore overwritten data.
- Do not keep experimenting if the media may be physically failing. If it intermittently disconnects or contains exceptionally valuable files, stop rather than repeatedly scanning it. The procedures below do not establish a repair process or professional-service recommendation for those cases.
Microsoft’s guidance for Windows File Recovery puts the priority plainly: “If you want to increase your chances of recovering a file, minimize or avoid using your computer.” Microsoft Support’s Windows File Recovery guidance also requires different source and destination drives.
Try Windows File Recovery on Windows 10 or 11
Windows File Recovery is a Microsoft Store command-line application for Windows 10 and Windows 11. It attempts to recover deleted local files, including files on external drives and USB devices; it does not support cloud storage or network file shares. Install and run it from the computer’s system drive, not from the affected media. Before running a command, identify the correct source and destination drive letters.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteChoose the mode for the file system and situation
| Situation in Microsoft’s guide | Starting mode |
|---|---|
| NTFS, recently deleted files | Regular |
| NTFS, files deleted a while ago, or a drive that was formatted or corrupted | Extensive |
| FAT or exFAT, common on SD cards and flash or USB drives | Extensive |
Microsoft says recovery from file systems other than NTFS is supported only in Extensive mode. For a particular drive, check its file system in Windows before choosing a mode; do not assume the media uses FAT or exFAT just because it is removable.
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Run a recovery command
Microsoft’s general syntax is:
winfr source-drive: destination-drive: [/mode] [/switches]Replace the source and destination with the actual drive letters. The destination must be a different drive from the source. For example, if the affected media is E: and the separate destination is D:, an Extensive-mode scan filtered to a particular folder could look like this:
winfr E: D: /extensive /n UsersYourNameDocumentsThis is an example, not a universal path: adjust the drive letters and filter to match your case. Microsoft’s /n filter can target a filename, path, file type, or wildcard. Use the exact options and syntax in the current Windows File Recovery instructions, and confirm that the destination is separate before starting.
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Use PhotoRec if Windows File Recovery does not find the files
PhotoRec is a free, open-source, multi-platform recovery tool from CGSecurity. The project lists USB memory drives and Secure Digital (SD) cards as supported media. It searches for known file signatures, so it can be useful when the filesystem is damaged or formatted. Read the PhotoRec project page and its step-by-step instructions for the supported platform and workflow.
PhotoRec’s signature-based recovery has a trade-off: its usual carved output does not preserve original filenames or folder structure. You may need to sort results by extension or inspect files manually. Do not store recovered files on the source filesystem; choose a different drive as the output destination.
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What recovery can and cannot do
Deleted data may remain on the media until new writes reuse its space. If new files have overwritten the deleted data, recovery software cannot reconstruct those overwritten bytes. Formatting or filesystem damage may make recovery more difficult, but neither tool can guarantee a successful result.
Windows File Recovery and PhotoRec use different approaches and may organize results differently. The documented guidance describes their behaviors, not comparative recovery success rates, so there is no supported percentage or guarantee to rely on.
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