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How to recover lost or deleted files on Android

Exhale01

Lurker
Ok, let me just post this in the event someone has some important files deleted that may cause some undesirable feelings. These instructions should be fairly simple using a program, (using a PC may make things easier.)

First things first, take your Android device and connect it to your Computer/Laptop (make sure the device is listed in Mass storage or MTP). Have Recuva downloaded and installed, and go ahead and open it up. (Recuva has a free or paid version, depending on how far you’re willing to go with file recovery.)

Before we begin any file recovery, this may or may not corrupt your system’s internal memory.

I recommend you to create a backup of your system or copy your system storage’s content and back them up somewhere in the case that something goes wrong.

Keep in mind the format of your device’s Internal Storage/External Micro SD card must be either FAT32 or NTFS. More information on File systems here. If for some reason your Internal storage or external Micro SD card isn’t being recognized by your operating system, you may have to go through a complete copy/paste of your storage’s contents, format the drive that isn’t being recognized to either NTFS or FAT32 (whichever works for you) and then dumping the copied contents back onto the storage. If this method doesn’t work for you, then skip to the next method, you may have better luck there.

recuva 1.png


When you open the program, it will ask you which type of file you want to recover. Go ahead and select which one you want, or select “Other” if your file isn’t listed in the main options. Then let the system scan run and that’s pretty much it, follow on screen instructions and you’re ready to go.

Method #2. DiskDigger app for Android

diskdigger.png


This method may be easier than traditional desktop file recovery methods. Go ahead and download “Diskdigger for Android” and open it up. Note that this app does require you to have Root access in order for the app to run. Go overhereto the Google Play Store to download Diskdigger, or manually search for it. There are other diskdigging/undeleting applications on the Google Play Store, but i find Diskdigger the easiest to use when it comes to Android file recovery.

diskdigger 2.png


Go ahead and select which section of the storage you want to scan for deleted files. Again, like Recuva, choose the type of file you want recovered, (This will make the scan significantly faster, since it only detects the chosen file type and ignores all others), and let it scan. The bigger the capacity/taken space of the selected drive, the longer the scan may take, so be patient.

Once the scan is completed, you can view all of the deleted files found, and choose to view them, restore them, or manually relocate them. It’s as simple as that. No more stressing over your word document that took you 7 hours to complete, or the rare baby pictures that you had only 1 copy of. Just follow such simple steps to recovering your deleted files, and go about your day.
 
"Keep in mind the format of your device’s Internal Storage/External Micro SD card must be either FAT32 or NTFS. More information on File systems here. If for some reason your Internal storage or external Micro SD card isn’t being recognized by your operating system, you may have to go through a complete copy/paste of your storage’s contents, format the drive that isn’t being recognized to either NTFS or FAT32"

Android cannot see NTFS formatted SD cards. In Windows, if the SD card can't be recognised, it will not be possible to access any files to copy anywhere. If it can't be recognised due to corruption, it is possible some times for windows to repair the SD card file structure.

Lastly, if you copy and paste someone else's work, as a matter of etiquette give them some acknowledgement

Original is here http://androidfact.com/how-to-recover-lost-or-deleted-files-on-android/
 
"Lastly, if you copy and paste someone else's work, as a matter of etiquette give them some acknowledgement"

First off, I'm the one who wrote the article. On both sites. I'm a freelance contributing editor, I know both of the site owners, and I know them closely. I wrote that article along with a bunch of other content with both of those sites. Since I own it, I can post it wherever I want. I am not one to shamelessly plagiarize other people's existing work without giving them credit for it.
Thank you for trying to be noble, but I assure you this is my own original content.
 
I always give credit to the original source. Under all my articles/content I always source the original information.
 
What do you mean? In terms of sponsorship/working with them? No, im just a freelance editorialist/blogger/writer. I like to write helpful, easy to follow guides from time to time and I thought it would be beneficial to the community if they learned new ways on how to save their own asses from a mistake.

Sorry if i gave off the wrong impression or anything like that.
 
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