How to Recover Data From External Hard Disk – Best Methods

What are the Causes of External Hard Drives Data Loss?

Let’s figure out some of the causes due to which data is lost on an external hard disk drive:

• The data of the external hard disk drive might be lost due to accidental deletion.
• Hardware failure can also be a reason for hard drive data loss.
• If the virus or some malicious software is attacking the system, then there are chances of hard drive data loss.
• Hard drive data loss might happen due to the corruption in the disk.
• Software malfunction can also result in external hard drive data loss.
• The data of the hard disk drive can also be lost due to a system crash.
• Disk formatting can also lead to external hard drive data loss.

How to Recover Corrupted External Hard Drive?

Using manual and professional techniques, you can recover data from an external hard disk that is corrupted or damaged. Let’s begin with the manual methods.

Method 1: Retrieve Data From External Hard Drive Using Recycle Bin

1. Firstly, connect your external hard disk drive to your PC.
2. Later, open the Recycle Bin and go to the Manage tab.
3. Next, click on Restore the selected items.
4. You can also recover all deleted files and folders by hitting the option Restore All items.

Method 2: Use Windows System File Checker To Recover Corrupted HDD

With Windows System File Checker you can effectively restore deleted files from the external hard drive. Here is how:

1. Begin with connecting your hard disk drive to your computer.
2. Now, go to the search bar and type Command Prompt.
3. Next, right-click on it and click on Run as Administrator.
4. Further, run the command DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth. It will run DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management). It is a command line for scans for corruption and it also restores missing files.
5. Once the above command is 100% successful, then run this command sfc /scannow.
6. Once the verification of the above command is done 100%, then enter Exit and then type Enter.

Method 3: Recover Data From HDD With Command Prompt

You can use the command prompt to recover data from an external hard disk:

1. To initiate, connect your external hard drive to the computer.
2. After that, click on the Start button and type the Command Prompt.
3. Now, right-click the cmd and select Run as Administrator.
4. Afterward, run the command ATTRIB -H -R -S /S /D X:*.*, instead of X enter your external hard drive’s letter.

Method 4: Retrieve Hard Drive’s Data Using Hidden Files

To retrieve files from an external hard drive you can also use the hidden files. Let’s dive into the steps to recover external hard drive data with hidden files:

1. First, click on This PC and go to the View tab.
2. Afterward, tick marks the Hidden items checkbox.
3. Finally, you will notice all your hidden files and folders on your computer.

Shortcomings of the Manual Method

While using the manual method, users face some shortcomings, let’s go through all of them:

• The manual method steps are too complicated and lengthy.
• This method takes more than usual time.
• Technical knowledge is crucial to use this method.
• There is a possibility of data or file corruption.
• Data theft is common during the process.

Method 5: Recover Data From External Hard Disk Effectively

With Removable Media Recovery Tool, you can recover your data from damaged and corrupted hard disk drives. Besides hard drives, it repairs Damaged SD Card, USB pen drives, and memory Cards, and recovers data from compact disks. This tool offers a tree structure preview to its users. You can search the file name with the name or type and get the result within a second. In addition, it offers great features that are compatible with Windows operating systems.

Steps to Recover External Hard Disk Drive Data

Let’s see the step-by-step process to recover the external hard drive completely:

• To start, install and run the Removable Media Recovery tool.
• After that, choose a desired drive or volume and hit the Next button.
• Now, volume information will be displayed on the screen, review it, and click Next.
• Next, pick a recovery mode and hit the Next option again.
• Further, the scanning process will begin.
• Finally, click on the Save button to recover the data successfully.

To Finalize

Recovering data from an external hard disk requires a reliable and proven solution. Therefore, in this blog, we have explored various manual methods and a professional approach to recover data from external hard disk. Besides the methods, we have also explored the different causes of external hard drive data loss.

Frequently Asked Questions

About The Author:

Deep Shikha

Deep Shikha Pandey is a Tech Writing Expert having deep knowledge about Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo, SQL, and other databases and email clients. She will guide you the best about email migration and SQL Database recovery using her expertise and making all the processes a cakewalk for the readers. Make your technical journey easy with simple layman’s blogs and accurate technical information.