Recover files from external hard drive?

Losing important files from an external hard drive can be a stressful experience, especially when the drive contains precious documents, photos, videos, or backups. Fortunately, there are several ways to recover your lost data—whether it’s due to accidental deletion, formatting, corruption, or even physical failure. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you understand the recovery process and improve your chances of success.

1. Stop Using the Drive Immediately

The moment you realize that files are missing, stop using the external drive. Continuing to write new data onto the drive can overwrite deleted or lost files, making recovery much more difficult or even impossible.

2. Check Basic Issues

Before using recovery tools, rule out basic problems:

Try a different USB cable or port

Connect the drive to another computer

Use Disk Management (Windows) or Disk Utility (macOS) to see if the drive is detected but not mounted

If the drive is detected but inaccessible, don’t format it yet

Sometimes the issue is just a loose connection or software-related.

3. Use File Recovery Software

If the drive is detected by your system, recovery software can often restore deleted or lost files.

Recommended Tools:

Recuva (Free, Windows)

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard (Windows/Mac)

Disk Drill (Windows/Mac)

R-Studio (Advanced recovery)

PhotoRec/TestDisk (Open-source)

Steps:

Download and install recovery software on your main computer, not the external drive.

Run the program and select the external drive.

Perform a deep scan for maximum file detection.

Preview files (if supported), select what you want to recover, and save them to a different drive.

Many free versions of these tools allow basic file recovery, while premium versions support larger data volumes and advanced features.

4. Consider File System Repair (Optional)

If the drive shows as RAW, or the file system is unreadable, tools like chkdsk (Windows) or First Aid in Disk Utility (Mac) might repair the drive without data loss. Use with caution:

On Windows:

Replace X: with your drive letter.

5. Seek Professional Help for Physical Damage

If your drive makes clicking sounds, is not recognized at all, or appears completely dead, it may be suffering from hardware failure. In this case, avoid DIY methods and contact a professional data recovery service like Ontrack, DriveSavers, or Gillware.

Prevention Tips

Always safely eject your external drive

Use cloud backups or secondary drives for redundancy

Run disk health checks regularly

Conclusion

Recovering files from an external hard drive is very possible with the right approach. If the drive is physically intact and still detectable, data recovery software is often enough. For more serious issues, professional services may be required. Acting quickly and avoiding further writes is the key to successful recovery.