USB flash drives are a super convenient way to carry around your photos, presentations, movies, or whatever kind of essential data you need, and to transfer them between devices. It’s great when it works!

But have you ever been in a situation where you were unable to recover deleted files from a USB flash drive? That can be pretty upsetting. The data on your USB drive could be lost or compromised for a number of reasons, including accidental formatting, a virus attack, or even just removing the stick from your computer incorrectly.

The good news is that Tenorshare has developed 4DDiG Data Recovery, easy-to-use software that can recover files from USB drives and other sources with a few simple clicks.

Recover deleted files from USB drives using 4DDiG Data Recovery

Tenorshare 4DDiG Windows Data Recovery allows you to restore data from USB drives for all major device brands.

Just follow these three simple steps recover any lost files.

Step 1: Connect and select your USB drive

First up, you’ll need to install Tenorshare 4DDiG Data Recovery. Then, start the application, connect your external USB drive to your PC or laptop where you lost the data, select the external hard disk, and begin scanning.

Step 2: Scan the external drive

4DDiG automatically scans the USB drive for missing data. After scanning, you can preview the recoverable files such as videos, documents, and photos by path, file type, or the created time.

Step 3: Preview and recover from the USB flash drive

Now you can select the data you want to recover and click Recover. Then, choose a location to save the recovered files properly. Make sure you don't save them back to your USB stick so the data doesn't get overwritten.

If you find it easier to watch rather than read, here is an easy-to-follow video tutorial that takes you through this process.

How to recover deleted files from USB without software

It is sometimes possible to recover lost or deleted files without using the 4DDiG Data Recovery software. If you follow these different methods, we’ll show you how to recover deleted files from a USB for free, without downloading anything.

Method 1: Recover files from a USB drive using CMD

  1. Click the Start button of your Windows PC, usually in the bottom left of your screen, and type ‘CMD’ into the dialogue box. Press Enter.
  2. Once the command prompt is up, type in the following, 'chkdsk C: /f'.
  3. Here, C represents the drive you are trying to scan. Press enter and let the CHKDSK scanning complete.
  4. Once the CHKDSK scan is done, do the ATTRIB scan by entering the following command, 'ATTRIB -H -R -S /S /D C:*.*
  5. Open File Explorer and open your USB flash drive. All lost files should be right there, and you should be able to access them as normal.

Method 2: Recover deleted files from USB using previous versions

Windows also provides a facility called Restore a previous version that allows users to recover deleted files from a USB drive without needing software.

  1. Connect your corrupted USB device to your PC or laptop.
  2. Go to the folder where you saved your files before they were deleted.
  3. Right-click on that specific folder and a dropdown menu will appear. Select Restore a previous version.
  4. You’ll see another dropdown menu. Select the previous version that you need and then click Restore.
  5. Click OK to proceed with the restoration process. After a short period, you will get a notification telling you that your deleted files have been successfully restored.

Method 3: Recover deleted files from USB using Windows backup

To restore a file from a backup, make sure the USB drive that your backup is saved on is available, and then follow these steps:

  1. Open Backup and Restore by selecting Start > Control Panel > System and Maintenance > Backup and Restore.
  2. Select Restore my files, and then follow the steps in the wizard.

Method 4: Recover deleted files from USB using Windows file recovery

Another option to restore deleted files on Windows 10/11 is the Windows File Recovery tool.

  1. Open the Windows terminal by pressing Win + X and then selecting Windows Terminal.
  2. Paste this command at the prompt: winfr C: E: /regular /n \Users\username\Documents\
  3. Here, C and E represent your first and last drives.

Recover deleted files easily

There are plenty of options to help you to recover any files that have been lost or deleted from your USB drive. If you’re lucky, you may be able to use the methods that require no software download.

However, for a comprehensive file recovery system that can restore all files every time, then Tenorshare 4DDiG is the way to go. It’s a great all-in-one, time-saving solution that performs data recovery and repair in all scenarios.

We thank Tenorshare for sponsoring this post. Our sponsors help us pay for the many costs associated with running XDA. While you might see sponsored articles alongside standard XDA content, they will always be labeled as such, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial team. XDA will never compromise its journalistic integrity by accepting money to write favorably about a company or alter our opinions or views in any way.