Remember floppy disks and how frequent data loss situations were? Fortunately, technology has advanced so much that you can now store hundreds of gigabytes in a smaller, more secure flash drive.
Yet, our USB flash drives are not immune to data loss. USB flash drive data loss can happen at some unexpected moment in everyone’s life.
If that has happened to you, in the guide below you will find the best practices for USB data recovery in 2023.
Part I: Understanding USB Data Recovery
To understand data recovery from USB drives, you must first understand how data storage works. Particularly, that data deleted is not data removed.
Data stored on disk is referenced in what is called a ‘file system’. When you tell the OS to delete a file, the OS does not delete the file from the disk right away.
Instead, it will simply remove the reference to where the data is stored on the disk from its file system. And this is where data recovery software helps you to perform the USB data recovery process.
A USB data recovery software is able to search into the USB drive for the data that might still exist, and recover it (if possible).
NOTE: This is why it is important that you stop using the USB drive as soon as you notice the data loss. However, you should not eject it, but leave it connected and follow the steps that you will find in this guide.
Common Causes of USB Data Loss
What are the potential causes that can lead to data loss on generally reliable USB drives?
It might be that the USB drive was merely destined to fail when it did. No surprise, USB drives fail sometimes, and yours just did when it did.
There are also user errors. These are simply ‘bad practices’ and are usually one or both of the following:
1. removing the drive while data is being read or written,
2. not safely ejecting the USB flash drive.
It is advised never to remove the USB drive while data is being read or written. It is also recommended to always eject the flash drive from the OS before physically removing it from the USB port.
Importance of Data Recovery Software
Time is of critical importance when it comes to data recovery from a USB flash drive. Therefore, it is inconvenient to try multiple tools that help accomplish the task. You need a software that:
1. Can recover data from a USB flash drive under all data loss scenarios
2. Works on both Mac and PC
3. Is reliable and stable
4. Has a high recovery success rate
5. Is easy to use and understand
6. Scans for data quickly and thoroughly
7. Is tested and recommended by experts and users alike
Choosing the right USB recovery software from the start can be the difference between recovering your data or losing it forever.
Part II: Wondershare Recoverit: Your Ultimate Tool for USB Data Recovery
Wondershare Recoverit is a tool recommended both by top reviewers from reputable sites and by millions of satisfied users around the world. Below are the reasons behind it:
1. Works on both Windows and macOS with native apps for each OS
2. Scans data quickly as well as thoroughly to deliver results
3. Works under most data loss scenarios
4. Has unmatched data recovery success rate
5. Modern user interface that is easy to understand and use
6. Development team has more than 17 years of experience with 25 patents for various data recovery technologies
How to Use Wondershare Recoverit for USB Data Recovery and Flash Drive Recovery
Let’s get started with how to Use Wondershare Recoverit. All you need to do is download the tool from the Wondershare website and follow the steps below.
Step 1: After you launch Recoverit, it will open straight to the Hard Drives and Locations section. Select the USB flash drive from which you want to recover the data.
Recoverit will automatically initiate the scan quickly and thoroughly until the results are returned.
Step 2: As the results appear, you can filter them, pause the scan, check the status of the scan, and even stop the scan altogether.
After the scan is completed, you can select the data you want to recover, then click Recover at the bottom and save the data you have chosen.
That’s it! This is how easy it is to use Wondershare Recoverit to scan and recover lost and deleted data from a USB flash drive.
CONVENIENCE FEATURES
Did you know that Recoverit comes with a handy convenience feature called ‘Preview’? It lets you preview files before you recover them, supporting most file formats so you can preview nearly any file.
Part III: Tips to Maximize USB Data Recovery Success
There are certain best practices and tips you can follow that will help you maximize your chances of recovering lost or deleted data from a USB drive with a USB data recovery tool.
Tip 1: Do Not Use/ Eject the USB Drive When Data Is Lost
Stop working with the USB drive the moment you realize some data you need is lost. Do not eject the USB drive either.
This is to stop any read/ write operations on the disk that might overwrite the data that a good USB data recovery software might be able to recover for you.
Tip 2: Choose the Right USB Data Recovery Software the First Time
Picking the first available data recovery software on the internet for free is a recipe for disaster when you want to recover data from your USB flash drive.
If at all the data you want to recover is important to you, you must pick a data recovery software designed to recover it under all possible data loss scenarios, with a high recovery success rate.
Tip 3: Backup Regularly
This might seem odd. How does regular backup maximize data recovery success? Well, if you have a backup of data, then there is a high chance that you already have a backup of the data lost, or you do not need to recover as many files and folders as you would have had to if you did not have a backup.
If you lost a folder containing 5 files and had made changes to only 3 of them, then, if you have a backup of the folder, you will only need to recover 3 files that were changed. This automatically increases your chances of recovery.
Conclusion
Data recovery is not just for businesses and corporations, it is also for individuals and home-users. The tools designed for this help to be prepared for data security eventualities.
Taking regular backups only goes so far. Choosing the right USB data recovery software is an important part of the equation, as the faster you can recover lost/deleted data from your USB drive, the sooner you can get on with business.
You need to have a data recovery software that can work under all data loss scenarios for when the need arises.
Wondershare Recoverit is an alternative that is continuously developed, kept up to date, is well-supported on both Windows and macOS. It also comes with extensive documentation and resources for users.
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post, made possible in association with Wondershare. PiunikaWeb doesn’t take any responsibility for the product being advertised here as well as how these applications are used.
About the company: Wondershare was founded in 2003 and is a software company that provides easy-to-use software for creativity, productivity, and utility. The company has served customers in over 150 countries worldwide.
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