3 Ways for How to Recover Deleted/Lost Files on Memory Stick

It's general knowledge that erased files can only be retrieved from traditional mechanical hard drives, not solid-state media. Internal drives are safe, but USB memory sticks and external solid-state drives are vulnerable to file-recovery attempts. So, you must be wondering how to restpre deleted files off memory stick. The good news is you can find deleted and lost data on a memory stick in 3 simple ways which are introduced below.

Quick Navigation

Part 1. Can you recover files from a memory stick?

Part 2. What shouldn't you do and what you must do to memory stick recovery

Part 3. How to restore data from memory stick in 3 ways

Part 4. Frequently asked questions for how to recover deleted files from memory stick

Part 1. Can you recover files from a memory stick?

Please remember no matter how great memory stick it is, you may face the reality of deleting files accidentally or any file system error cause data loss. In this case, you must wonder whether can you get lost data from the memory stick. The answer is Yes. All the storage devices follow the theory of data storage and data recovery. It means you can recover files from memory stick before they’re permanently deleted or erased.

Part 2. To get back deleted files from memory stick, what you should know and what you should do

The success rate of your memory stick recovery is influenced by several things. If you want to retrieve files from a memory stick successfully, you need to be aware of them and take particular steps.

• As soon as you realize your data has been lost or erased, stop using the memory stick.
• Don’t format the memory stick because it reduces your chances of recovering your data.
• Don’t store any new data on the disk because it will overwrite the deleted information in particular sectors of the memory stick.
• Repairing faulty sectors on a memory stick might be harmful to the data stored on it and potentially completely eliminate the possibility of file retrieval
• It is unquestionably beneficial to develop the practice of generating regular backups.

Part 3. How to restore Data from memory stick in 3 ways

Method 1. How to recover deleted files from memory stick for free with Command Prompt

Command Prompt is a Windows tool that runs on all versions of Windows. If your files are not deleted from a memory stick, you can connect your memory stick with your computer, and run CMD to find data from memory stick.

1. Connect the memory stick to your computer, letting it be recognized as an external hard drive on your computer.
2. Type cmd into the Search box and press Enter. When you right-click Command Prompt, select "Run as administrator" from the context menu.
3. Execute the command lines for recover deleted files using CMD below in the sequence listed.
• a. In the Command Prompt window, type chkdsk E: /f and press. (E is the drive letter of the memory stick.
• b. Wait for it finishes. After then, type in E again and press Enter.
• c. Enter attrib -h -r -s /s/d E:\*.*

Then, once the process is finished, shut the window. Then you can see if your files have been restored.

Method 2. Find files from previous versions on memory stick

You can recover lost data on a USB memory stick by restoring an older version of files. Before you try this procedure, make sure you’ve set up File History to back up your files automatically.

1. Right-click on the folder where the deleted files once saved and select "Properties" from the context menu.
2. Select "Previous Versions" from the drop-down menu. Previous versions originate from File History or restore points, and you’ll be told there.
3. A list of previous versions of the file will appear. To get back deleted files from memory stick, select the file edition you want and click the "Restore" button.

Method 3. Recover Lost/Deleted Files from Memory Stick with Professional Software

Whether you want to learn how to restore lost files on memory stick or how to recover deleted files on the USB memory stick, the best option is to make use of professional data recovery software. It can do the memory stick recovery quickly, preventing data overwritten issues. And it’s the best and most reliable way to retrieve data from memory stick. iBeesoft Data Recovery is a great option for you to scan memory sticks, showing and recovering data on the memory sticks.

Download the memory stick data recovery software and follow the steps below to find deleted and formatted files from a memory stick.

1. Connect the memory stick to your PC
2. (optional) Launch it and click "go to setting" to cancel unwanted file types.
3. Please select the memory stick and click the "Scan" button to extract data.
4. You can examine your missing files in the list after the USB memory stick recovery scanning process is completed.
5. After then, you can select files and click the "Recover" button to save them on your computer.

Part 4. Frequently asked questions for how to get deleted files back from a memory stick

1. How to recover deleted files from memory stick for free?

You can try the above-mentioned using the command line and previous version feature on Windows PC to recover deleted files from memory stick for free. As for freeware, you can try iBeesoft Free Data Recovery for help. It will restore files up to 2GB for totally free.

2. Is it possible to find files from physically damaged memory stick?

If the memory stick is serious physically damaged, then you should fix it first before recovering data from it since it can’t even be recognized by your computer.

3. Can you recover data from corrupted memory stick?

Yes, you can use iBeesoft Data Recovery to retrieve files from corrupted memory stick. If it is can be recognized by your computer, then the software is helpful.

1. Connect memory stick with your computer.
2. Download and install iBeesoft Data Recovery.
3. Launch the memory stick data recovery software and click "Start".
4. Click "Scan" to let the software finish the scanning process.
5. Select files from the memory card and click "Recover" to save them on your computer.

4. The memory stick is inaccessible, what should I do?

There are many reasons cause memory stick inaccessible, like virus attack, file system crash, it becomes raw and more. In this case, recover data with iBeesoft Data Recovery first. After then, you can format the memory stick to fix errors. It works for most errors. If there is any bad sectors, try CHKDSK on Windows PC or Disk Utility on Mac to fix it.