4 Fixes | How to Recover Deleted Files from External Hard Drive FREE

It’s a disaster to delete files from external hard drives while organizing folders. However, WorkinTool Data Recovery can solve all your problems related to external hard drive recovery. It can recover 500+ deleted file types on external hard drives with minimal effort. Just download it and recover your deleted external hard drive files instantly!
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Last updated on May 04, 2023 by Eleanor Written by Betty

4 Fixes | How to Recover Deleted Files from External Hard Drive FREE

Technology has greatly facilitated our life. For example, we can back up and transfer important files through portable USBs, SSDs, HDDs, or other external hard drives. However, efficiency and convenience allow us to make mistakes more easily. Hence, sometimes we might accidentally delete or format files from external hard drives. It’s desperate to face data loss cases. Luckily, this post will explain four workable fixes to recover deleted files from external hard drive FREE on Windows/Mac. Let’s reveal the mystery together!

Part 1. Recover Deleted Files on External Hard Drive with Software

🔎 Fix 1. How to Recover Deleted Data from Memory/SD Cards Windows 10/11

📝 “Whoops, I had deleted my files while organizing folders on an external hard drive. They are crucial to me. Who can help me? Does any recovery software work on Windows? Thanks a lot.”

This situation frequently occurs in our daily life, which renders us anxious. Don’t worry. Professional data recovery will help us a lot. Among various restoration programs, WorkinTool Data Recovery leads an overwhelming success for its cost-effective price and easy-to-use steps. It is a comprehensive and reliable external hard drive recovery software for all Windows users. Moreover, all users can get a 500 MB free trial to experience all its functions and see the recovery capabilities before purchasing. File preview is supported as well.

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📚 Easy Guide to Make Deleted External Hard Drive Data Recovery with WorkinTool

Step 1. First, connect your external hard drive, like USB, or SD card, to your PC. Then free download and open WorkinTool Data Recovery. Secondly, click the Scene Mode at the bottom and then select USB/Memory Card Recovery.

recover deleted files from external hard drive with workintool

Step 2. Tap on the storage location of your deleted files. Then click on Scan Now to start the scan process.

select location of external hard drive files

Step 3. Use the Filter tool to target your wanted files more precisely. And you can check the detailed info of files. Then select the files you wish to restore. Lastly, click on Recover and choose a storage location.

complete deleted external hard drive recovery

⛔ Note: If you still cannot find the deleted files after a quick scan, you can use deep scan to continue digging out more buried files from external hard disks.

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🔎 Fix 2. How to Recover Deleted Files from External Hard Drive Mac

If you plan to restore erased files from external hard drives on Mac, Disk Drill is your best choice. It can offer all-in-one solutions for external hard drive data recovery on Mac OS X 10.8.5 or later versions. With Disk Drill, you can recover missing files from any external hard drive device, like HHDs, SD/memory cards, USB flash drives, Pen Drives, CF cards, etc. Moreover, it can recover data from internal/external hard drives in any data loss situations, such as deletion, formatting, OS crashes, virus attacks, etc.

📚 Three Steps to Recover External Hard Drive Files with Disk Drill

Step 1. Download Disk Drill. Then find and double-click on the “diskdrill.dmg” file in the download folder. Next, drag the Disk Drill icon to Applications to install it. Lastly, launch the software.

recover deleted files from external hard drive mac

Step 2. Insert your external hard drive into your Mac. And find your drive name in the Storage devices. Then click the drop-down arrow of All recovery methods and choose the wanted retrieval modes. Secondly, tap on the search for lost data to begin the process.

select scan mode and external drive

Step 3. After scanning, all files will be neatly listed in front of you. Then you can click the wished files to preview them before recovery. If you decide to recover them, just tap on Recover to bring them to their original place immediately.

recover files from external hard drive lastly

Part 2. Recover Deleted Files from External Hard Drive without Software

🔎 Fix 1. How to Perform Deleted External Hard Drive Recovery Using CMD

CMD is Command’s abbreviation and can also be called Command Prompt. Moreover, it is a Windows system interpreter that can translate users’ commands into machine language. Hence, we can input the particular command lines to find and restore deleted external hard drive files. However, it is a text-based interface which is tough for novices to understand.

Let’s check how to recover deleted data on an external drive with CMD:

Step 1. Insert your SD card or memory card into your PC. Then enter CMD in your search box next to the Win icon button. Next, open the Command Prompt.
Step 2. Type CHKDSK xxx: /r /f and press Enter on your keyboard. (xxx refers to the drive letter of your external hard drive where you store the deleted files.)
Step 3. Enter DISKPART and press Enter again. Then input rescan keyword and retap on Enter.
Step 4. Quit DiskPart and enter CHKDSK /f xxx: and press Enter key. (xxx indicates the drive letter of your hard drive.) Lastly, what you need to do is wait for the recovery results.

fix 3 recover deleted files from external hard drive

⛔ Note: This method only supports Windows 10 and later versions. Furthermore, when using CMD to recover lost data, you must be extremely careful because any tiny error will cause system crashes.

🔎 Fix 3. How to Recover Deleted Files from External Hard Drive with File History

File History is a free Windows built-in tool to back up and restore Windows data in the case of emergencies. And File History can not only backup the files from internal partitions but also copy the external hard drive data. Hence, if you have previously copied with File History, you can easily retrieve lost data from USB drives, SD cards, SDDs, and other external hard drives.

Here are steps to perform deleted external hard drive file recovery with File History

Step 1. Enter “control panel” in the Windows search box. And launch Control Panel and select the
Step 2. Click Save backup copies of your files with File History option under System and Security. Then select Restore personal files on the left toolbar.
Step 3. You can see all the copied files here and browse the different versions by clicking the left/right arrow. Then select the wanted files and tap on the green Restore to original location icon.

fix 4 recover deleted files from external hard drive

FAQs – Recover Deleted Files from External Hard Drive

1️⃣ Can we recover data from an external hard drive that isn’t detected?

Luckily, in most cases, you have a great chance to restore files from an undetectable external hard drive. And you can use WorkTool Data Recovery to make recovery easier because it can automatically detect the inaccessible hard disk and then make a smooth data recovery.

2️⃣ Where does deleted data from external hard drives go?

Like deletion in computers, the removed files will temporarily be stored in the recycle bin folder of external hard drives. Hence, you can find the deleted files in the hidden recycle bin folder.

3️⃣ How to access the hidden recycle bin folder on external hard drives?

The $recycle.bin folder is in the root directory of an external hard drive. And let’s see how to open the recycle bin folder together.

Step 1. Insert your device into your PC. Then choose the external hard drive in File Explorer.
Step 2. Go to … > Options > View in the top toolbox. Then click Show hidden files, folders, and drives while deselecting Hide protected operating system files.
Step 3. Tap on Apply to Folders option, and then you are able to find the hidden recycle bin folder.

Summing up

Don’t give up on recovering files when you accidentally delete files on external hard drives. Luckily, this post explains four fixes to recover deleted files from external hard drive on Mac/Windows with/without software. In contrast, WorkinTool Data Recovery is the most workable way to retrieve lost data from USB flash drives, SD memory cards, MP3 players, or other external hard disks. Just download it and get a free trial instantly.