I Formatted My D Drive by Mistake! How to Recover Easily

Formatted My D Drive by Mistake

Can You Recover Data from Formatted D drive?

Losing important files after accidentally formatting your D drive can be terrifying, but data recovery is absolutely possible in most cases. When you format a drive, your files aren't immediately erased - the system simply removes the "address book" that tracks where files are stored. This means your photos, documents, and other data remain physically present until overwritten by new files.

Key Factors That Might Determine Data Recovery Success

1. Time Since Formatting: every second the drive is in use increases overwrite risk. Power off the system immediately if data is critical.

2. Post-Formatting Drive Activity: avoid any overwrite danger caused by installing recovery software, creating new files/folders, running disk defragmentation/optimization on the D: drive.

3. Original File System (NTFS vs FAT32 vs exFAT): NTFS employs better journaling which increases recovery chances, FAT32 is more vulnerable to directory structure damage which complicates recovery and the newer format exFAT comes with mixed recovery results.

4. Drive type matters: HDDs recover better than SSDs. HDDs preserve magnetic data traces for 80-95% recovery, while SSDs' TRIM and wear-leveling drop success to 30-50%.

5. Format type: Quick format (recoverable) vs Full format (less recoverable). Quick format keeps data intact (85-95% recovery), but full format overwrites sectors, slashing success by 40-60%.

6. Cluster size: Smaller allocation units improve recovery granularity. 4KB clusters enable precise recovery, whereas 64KB+ units increase fragmentation and data loss risks.

7. File types: Photos/DOCs recover better than fragmented databases. JPEGs/DOCX recover at 90-98%, but fragmented databases (SQL/PST) often yield just 40-60% success.

How to Recover D Drive Data After Being Formatted Accidentally?

When dealing with accidental formatting of your D drive, follow these data recovery methods in sequence for optimal results. Begin with Windows' built-in solutions before progressing to specialized third-party software.

Method 1. File History Recovery [Prior Backup Required]

This Windows feature automatically backs up versions of your files if previously configured. File History preserves multiple versions of documents, allowing recovery to specific points in time. The success of this method depends entirely on having set up File History before the formatting occurred.

1 . Press Win+S to open search box, input "Restore your files with file history" and click on "Open".

2. In the File History backup control panel, choose the files or folder which are lost due to d: drive formatting.

3. Once you confirmed, tick the data and click on "Restore" button to recover files to their original location or choose "Restore To" for a different destination.

Method 2. Windows File Recovery [Do Not Require Backup]

Windows File Recovery is Microsoft's command-line tool, aiming to recover files by scanning drive sectors directly. This method works without prior backup setup but requires technical familiarity with command prompts.

1. Download Windows File Recovery from Microsoft Store.

2. Open Command Prompt as Administrator.

3. Run the command to recover data from formatted D: drive.

winfr D: E: /extensive (recover all data from D: drive to E: drive)

4. Press Y to confirm when prompted after the recovery process, then you will be directed to the destination drive for recovered files.

Method 3. Employ Professional Data Recovery Tool-MyRecover [Do Not Require Backup]

While Windows provides basic recovery tools like File History and Windows File Recovery, these built-in solutions have significant limitations that may prevent successful data recovery in many cases. File History's effectiveness is entirely dependent on having configured backups prior to data loss - it cannot help if backups weren't set up. Even when available, it only preserves versions of files from specific points in time, potentially missing recent changes.

Windows File Recovery, while more versatile, presents other challenges. For instance, Command-line interface is intimidating for non-technical users, and the limited file preview capabilities make identifying correct files difficultand lower the accurate data recovery from formatted D: drive.

When these Windows tools prove insufficient, MyRecover offers a more robust data recovery solution. Unlike the built-in options, It doesn't require any pre-existing backups and can recover data even from freshly formatted drives. Its advanced scanning algorithms dig deeper than Microsoft's tools to locate and reconstruct files that other methods miss.

1. Install MyRecover on a non-D drive and launch the application. Select the formatted D drive and click on "Scan".

2. For recently deletion, it will start a quick scan. For formatted drive, it will perform a deep scan. You can also turn to "deep scan" mode manually.

3. Once all lost files are found and list, you can tick target files to "Preview" to verify they are what you want to recover.

4. Select those needing recovery and click on "Recover".

5. Specify a secure recovery destination on a different drive.

Summary

When it comes to the question, "I formatted my D drive by mistake, how to recover data from formatted drive", you can give these methods a try. Each method presents different advantages, with File History being simplest but requiring prior setup, Windows File Recovery offering powerful command-line functionality for technical users without needing prior backup setup, and MyRecover delivering comprehensive capabilities for complex cases.

For comprehensive recovery without backup dependencies, MyRecover provides the technological edge that Windows' native tools lack, making it the logical next step when basic methods prove inadequate.For enterprise-wide deployment or multi-device usage within an organization, we recommend utilizing the Technician Edition.