Lost files on your external hard drive? Learn practical recovery methods for Windows to restore deleted photos, videos, documents, and more.
If you accidentally deleted files from an external hard drive, you may still be able to recover them. However, your chances of success depend on how the files were deleted, the condition of the drive, and whether new data has overwritten the deleted files. Before trying any recovery method, take these precautions:
Once you have taken these precautions, try the following four methods, starting with the simplest options.
If you previously enabled OneDrive backup for your external hard drive files, you may be able to restore deleted files from the cloud.
💡 Note: Simply connecting an external hard drive to a computer does not automatically back up its contents to OneDrive; the files must have been included in a synced or backed-up location.
Step 1. Open the OneDrive website and sign in with the Microsoft account used to store or synchronize the files.
Step 2. Open My files to browse your OneDrive folders or use the search bar to locate the missing files.
Step 3. Select the files or folders you want to restore and click Download to save them to your computer.
💡 Note: If the files were deleted from OneDrive, select Recycle bin in the left pane. Then select the files you want to recover and click Restore to bring it back to the My files section.
Windows File Recovery is a free command-line utility from Microsoft that can attempt to recover deleted files from local storage devices, including external hard drives and USB drives. Below are the requirements for using Windows File Recovery:
Learn how to recover deleted files from external hard drive step by step below:
Step 1. Connect your external hard drive to your Windows computer. Open File Explorer and note the drive letter assigned to it, such as F:.
Step 2. Open the Microsoft Store, search for Windows File Recovery, and install the utility.
Step 3. Search for Windows File Recovery in the Start menu and open it. Then prepare a command using this format:
winfr source-drive: destination-drive: /mode /n filter
For example, to recover JPG files from the external F: drive to the local D: drive, you can try:
winfr F: D: /extensive /n *.jpg
💡 Notes:
Step 4. Follow the prompts, including entering Y if requested, and wait for the recovery attempt to finish. Recovered files will be saved to the destination location specified by the utility.
If you do not have a suitable backup or Windows File Recovery fails, external hard drive recovery software may help. AOMEI FastRecovery can scan supported storage devices for recoverable deleted or lost files, including documents, photos, videos, and other file types.
Before you start, please install the recovery software on your computer's internal drive or another storage device, not on the affected external hard drive. There are two common cases to consider.
If you only want to recover files from external hard drive, follow these instructions:
Step 1. Connect the external hard drive and launch AOMEI FastRecovery. Then select Disk Data Recovery > Start File Recovery.
Step 2. Locate the external drive and click Scan. AOMEI FastRecovery will perform a deep scan to look for recoverable files, which takes a relatively long time.
Step 3. Browse the results by Type or Path. Use the search, filter, or sorting options to locate files by name, extension, or other available criteria.
Step 4. Select the files you want to recover. Then click Recover and choose a destination on a different healthy drive.
💡 Notes:
Step 5. Once the process finishes, open the recovered files to verify that they are accessible.
Sometimes, an external hard drive may appear to have lost all its files because a partition was accidentally deleted, became unallocated, or disappeared from File Explorer. In this situation, you may need to locate the lost partition as well as recover its files. Follow these steps:
Step 1. Connect the external hard drive and launch AOMEI FastRecovery. Then select Disk Data Recovery > Start Partition Recovery.
Step 2. Select the external hard drive that contained the lost partition and click Next. Check the disk number, capacity, model, and partition layout to ensure you choose the correct disk.
Step 3. Choose Fast Search to scan for the lost partition and click Next.
Step 4. Review the detected partitions and select the one you want to recover. Click Proceed to continue.
💡 Note: If the expected partition is not listed, go back and try Full Search for a more thorough scan.
Step 5. After the recovery process completes, check whether the partition and its files are accessible. If you can’t see the recovered partition, please assign a drive letter to the partition or reboot your computer.
1. Can I recover permanently deleted files from an external hard drive?
Possibly. Files deleted with Shift + Delete or files that bypass the Recycle Bin may still be recoverable if their data has not been overwritten. Stop using the external hard drive and try recovery software or restore a copy from a backup.
2. Where do deleted files from an external hard drive go?
Deleted files do not always go to the Recycle Bin. Depending on how they were deleted and the drive's configuration, Windows may remove the file's directory entry while leaving its data on the storage device until it is overwritten. This is why avoiding new writes can improve recovery chances.
3. Why is my external hard drive showing no files?
The files may have been deleted, moved, hidden, or become inaccessible because of file system errors or a lost partition. Check the drive connection and search for the files first. You can also inspect the drive in Disk Management, but avoid formatting or creating a new volume if the data is important.
4. How can I prevent losing files from my external hard drive again?
Keep at least one additional copy of important files on another physical drive or in a trusted cloud service. Safely eject the drive, avoid disconnecting it during transfers, and maintain regular backups. For important data, do not rely on a single external hard drive as the only copy.
That’s all about how to recover deleted files from external hard drive on Windows. Cloud backups, Windows File Recovery, and professional external hard drive recovery software – AOMEI FastRecovery can all give you a hand.
For the best chance of success, stop writing new data to the affected drive and save recovered files to a separate physical drive. Recovery is not guaranteed, but acting promptly and avoiding unnecessary changes to the drive can help protect the remaining data.