How to Recover Pictures or Any Other Files Using Free Software

Did you empty your Recycle Bin and then realized you deleted more than you should?

Did you accidently erase your SD Card or Memory Stick from your camera before transferring all your photos and videos in it to your computer? How about that USB Drive that you formatted ? Ooops….

What should I do next?

First of all you should stop what you doing in your computer immediately. Stop using the SD card, Memory Stick or a USB Drive. Here is why...

When you delete a file, your Operating System marks that space on your hard drive that your file was occupying into free space. In other words, unless you have used a wipe software, which we will cover about it in the future, you did not destroy the file… it is still there, but you just can't see.

For a very long time I've been using free software called Recuva from Piriform. It is very easy and simple to use and within very few steps you can recover the files you deleted. To me, it is one of the best softwares for its purpose, and it is completely free.

If you are interested in more freeware, make sure you take a look at this incredible list The Most Essential Freeware For Your Laptop or PC - Part 1.

Now, let's see how the recovering process works. The steps below will guide you as if you have deleted an important file from you Hard Drive, but the recovery process is the same for all other media.

Step 1

If you don't have the software already installed in your computer, the best option would be to get the portable version in a USB drive. That way you would not mess up your hard drive by writing information on it while you are trying to recover your missing files.

Step 2

Once you have the software installed, Run it.

Step 3

Give as much information as you possible can in order to retrieve your file. Begin with the file type. [Picture 1]

Now inform the location of the file. [Picture 2]

You can enable a deep scan if you were unsuccessful the first time and now want to take a "closer" look in all the files that you have deleted.

Step 4

Look for the file you want to recover and click the Recover… button. [Picture 3]

Find the location you want to restore. [Picture 4]

Successfully restore your file [Picture 5]

Always backup everything important, the best way to recover a lost file is from a backup.

Seagate and Western Digital have great USB external drives (portable or not) that are very fast and easy to do backups automatically and in the background. They are relatively inexpensive for the value of your files (family memories, photos, videos, etc). Make sure you buy at least one and always backup your files.

Here is a list of External Hard Drives for your convenience:

I hope this helped and was useful to you in order to recover your files.

If you already use another software or method to do it, please leave a comment and share it with us.

Thanks for reading and best wishes to all...

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