How to Recover Files from Formatted Hard Drives? A Comprehensive Guide

A hard drive, also known as a hard disk, is one of the most popular storage devices being used across the world.

It is equally useful for students, job holders, and entrepreneurs, as it helps them store and access their data at any time they want.

Apart from this facility, the data files on the hard drives do not remain safe all the time. You may lose them due to a number of reasons, as discussed below.

But you don’t need to worry, as you can now perform hard drive recovery. Read more to get familiar with the effective ways to recover data from formatted hard drives.

Part 1. Why Is It Important to Format the Hard Drive Sometimes?

Sometimes, your hard drives or their file systems can get corrupted or damaged. In such cases, formatting the drives becomes necessary. Below are some potential reasons why you need to format your hard disks.

1. Virus Attacks

Virus or malware infections are extremely dangerous to your drives. In fact, malware does more damage to your storage devices compared to computer viruses. For example, Ransomware encrypts the drive’s data and requires you to format it if you want to use it again.

2. Problems When Accessing Files

The support for “complex file access” is available in the latest file systems. It makes sure that only authorized individuals have access to specific data. If you are facing issues when accessing files, try formatting your hard drive.

3. Corruption

Data files are corrupted or damaged due to a variety of reasons. In worst cases, data corruption leads to damaging file systems, making it necessary for you to format the hard disk.

4. Performance Issues

You are likely to experience performance degradation with the use of old and outdated hard drives. If this is the case, ensure to format your hard disk.

5. File System Change

Every hard drive or operating system may have support for different file systems. Therefore, you may have to format your hard disk if you want a switch from Mac to Windows, Windows to Linux, or so.

Part 2. Can I Recover Data from Formatted Hard Drives?

Yes, it is possible nowadays. The developing technologies have made it pretty much possible for you to restore files if your hard drive is accidentally or purposely formatted. So, this should not be a matter of concern these days.

When a hard disk is formatted, the data does not get deleted completely from this device; instead, it waits for the other data files to overwrite it. It means if the deleted data is not overwritten, the chances for you to recover it stay alive.

Therefore, if your drive is formatted, don’t store more data on it until you perform a hard drive recovery using different methods, as discussed below.

Part 4. How to Recover Formatted Drive without Software?

This section presents two different methods to recover data from formatted hard drives without downloading any 3rd party solution.

1. Restore Your Data from Backup

Creating frequent and periodic backups of your hard drives is very important and keeps you away from the worries of data loss.

If your hard disk is formatted accidentally, there is nothing better than restoring your previous backup to get your deleted data back instantly.

The recovery time is proportional to the amount of data you wish to get back. Both Windows and Mac operating systems come with free backup creation and restoration utilities to assist you in protecting your important stuff.

2. Use PhotoRec/TestDisk

They both are freeware recovery solutions that help you to recover formatted hard drives or partitions. These solutions offer great support for a wide range of file systems and operating systems.

If you want to recover data from formatted hard drives for free, try using TestDisk or PhotoRec.

Part 5. How to Format Your Hard Drive Safely in Windows?

If your drive is experiencing any sort of issue, create a complete backup and follow the tips listed below.

• If you want to use a new hard disk, don’t forget to format it before you store any data.
• Installing anti-virus software is good, but it may not make your system completely free from viruses. Therefore, it is better to format the virus-infected partition.
• If your hard disk is inaccessible, format it immediately.
• If you want to change the size or file system on your drive, don’t proceed until you format it.

Quick Links:

• Wondershare Data Recovery Review (Recoverit)
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Ending Note On How to Recover Files from Formatted Hard Drives?

Though you can store and access your data from hard drives very easily, you may experience data loss at times. But, this is not a big problem these days, as a couple of data hard drive recovery methods are available in the market.

Do you want to recover files from formatted hard drives securely and quickly? Try none other than Wondershare Recoverit Data Recovery.

The highest recovery rate and hundreds of data recovery scenarios make Recoverit a top choice for millions of global users.