Recover Deleted Files from a USB Flash Drive Without Software

How to recover deleted files from a flash drive using CMD:

1. 1. Press the Windows +R keys simultaneously to run the Run dialog.
2. 2. Type CMD and click OK to launch the command prompt as administrator.
3. 3. Type ATTRIB -S -H /S /D *.* in the command prompt.
4. More items...

Several reasons can cause file loss on a USB flash drive or a pen drive, such as unintentional file deletion, hard drive formatting, storage device failure, and virus attacks. Among them, accidental deletion is the most likely reason for data loss from USB. 

Where Do Deleted USB Files Go

What happens when you delete a file from a USB flash drive? Since the USB flash drive or pen drive is an external device, files deleted on the USB flash drive are deleted permanently instead of going to the Recycle Bin, so you cannot perform Recycle Bin recovery to recover files from USB. But you still have a chance to recover deleted files from USB by using some effective solutions. 

To improve your recovery rate of USB deleted file recovery, you need to pay attention to the following points:

This page will explain four ways to help you recover deleted files from USB without software or using professional file recovery software to restore lost files from a pen drive.

Recover Deleted Files from USB Flash Drive Using File Recovery Software

The most effective and possible way to recover deleted files from USB or even restore permanently deleted files from a pen drive is to use professional data recovery software. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, a top-rank data recovery tool, can completely recover deleted lost files from UBS flash drives due to accidental deletion, device formatting, USB corruption, or virus attacks.

Follow the steps below to recover deleted files from the pen drive/USB drive with a few clicks. 

Step 1. Choose the USB drive to scan

Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard and choose your USB drive where you lost important files. Click "Scan for lost data" to start.

Step 2. Check and preview USB drive data

When the scanning is finished, you can quickly locate a specific type of file by using the Filter feature as well as the Search option.

Step 3. Restore flash drive data

After checking and finding lost USB drive files, click "Recover" to restore them. You shall save the found files to a safe location on your PC rather than to your USB drive.

💡Tip: You can restore data on the local disks, external hard drives, and also the cloud storage.

If you found the EaseUS file recovery tool helpful, share it with your friends on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram!

How to Recover Deleted Files from USB Flash Drive Without Software

For some users who don't like to recover USB files with third-party software, you can try the three methods in this part to retrieve files from USB with CMD, Windows Backup, and previous versions.

However, these solutions have limitations and requirements. If you haven't already backed up your USB, you can only use EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard to retrieve USB files. 

Undelete USB Flash Drive Using CMD (Only Recover Hidden Files)

Command Prompt is a Windows application available in all Windows Operating Systems. If your files are not deleted but are missing from your USB flash drive or a pen drive, then you can follow this method to recover hidden files on USB with CMD. 

Steps to recover deleted files from a USB flash drive using CMD:

Step 1. Connect the USB flash drive to your computer.

Step 2. Click the Search button, and type cmd. Right-click Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator. 

Step 3. Run the following command lines in order. 

Type chkdsk X: /f in the Command Prompt window and hit Enter. Just make sure to replace "X" with the letter assigned to your USB flash drive.

Type attrib -s -h /s /d *.* and hit Enter. 

Then, wait for the process to complete and close the window. Then, you can check if your files are back.

Restore Deleted Files from Previous Versions

In addition to recovering permanently deleted files from USB using software or CMD, you can try another option to restore an older version of files in Windows 10 or Windows 11. Before you try this method, make sure that you have set up File History to back up files automatically. If you haven't turned on this feature, give up this method and use EaseUS USB drive recovery software to make it. 

Restore Deleted Files from USB Flash Drive with Windows Backups

If you have backed up data before, you can check the backups. Also, check the online or cloud storage service you use. It is possible you've synced your files to a cloud storage service such as Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox, or Google Drive. If you have turned on the Windows backup, you can retrieve USB data with it:

Step 1. Open "Control Panel", go to "System and Maintenance", and select "Backup and Restore (Windows 7)". 

Step 2. Click "Restore my files".

Step 3. Click "Browse for files" or "Browse for folders" to select the previously created backup.

Step 4. Choose a location to save the backup - "In the original location" or "In the following location". If there's a conflict, choose "Copy and Replace", "Don't copy" or "Copy, but keep both files" according to your needs.

Step 5. Wait for the restoring process to complete. Then, all of your files or folders that were permanently removed will show up on your PC at the original or the new location. 

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Conclusion  

Deleting files on USB doesn't mean permanent data loss. In this article, we've explained four methods to recover deleted files on a pen drive with or without software.  EaseUS data recovery software offers the greatest chance to recover files from USB. It supports deleted file recovery, formatted recovery, raw drive recovery, and more data recovery features. 

How to Avoid USB Flash Drive/Pen Drive Data Loss

It is also of vital importance to protect your USB data in effective ways. If you don't want to suffer from USB data loss, you can follow these tips to help:

How to Recover Deleted Files from USB Without Software FAQs

After reading the above parts of this passage, you may want to learn more about recovering files from USB flash drives. Check the following questions and answers to learn more!

How do I recover deleted files from my USB?

You can easily undelete files from a USB flash drive with EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard in three steps.

1. Step 1. Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard.
2. Step 2. Choose and scan the USB drive for lost files.
3. Step 3. Preview and restore the files from the USB or pen drive.

How to recover deleted files from USB using the command prompt?

Take these steps to recover hidden files from a USB drive in CMD:

1. Step 1. Press the Win + R keys to start the Run box.
2. Step 2. Type cmd and hit Enter to open the Command Prompt window as an administrator.
3. Step 3. Type chkdsk E: /f and hit Enter. Type Y and hit Enter.
4. Step 4. Type G: and hit Enter. ( G is the drive letter of the USB drive)
5. Step 5. Type attrib -h -r -s G:\*.* /s /d and hit Enter. 

How can I recover corrupted files from USB without software?

You can recover corrupted files from a USB flash drive by fixing the file system:

Connect your USB to your computer. Right-click it and click "Properties". Click on the "Tools" tab and click the "Check" button under Error checking. Windows will scan the USB drive and fix any disk errors.

Can I recover files from a USB hard drive without the software?

There are three ways to recover corrupted files from a USB hard drive:

1. 1. Recover the hidden files using CMD.
2. 2. Restore Windows to a previous version.
3. 3. Recover files from Windows backup.