How to Recover Unformatted Partition & Recover All Your Lost Files

How to Recover An Unallocated Partition?

If you are stuck in the unallocated partition, and try to recover files from that partition. Don’t worry, you will learn the reasons and solutions to fix it quickly.

What is An Unformatted Partition?

An unformatted partition is a partition labeled as "RAW" or "Unallocated" in Disk Management, and you can’t access these files on that partition. Because the computer has lost or can't read the table of contents. The operating system has no idea how to find anything. It gets confused and suggests you start formatting. Therefore, you might encounter the error messages:

• You need to format the disk in drive X: before you can use it.
• The disk in drive E is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?
• E:\ is not accessible. The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable.
• F is not accessible. The volume does not contain a recognized file system.

In fact, when your computer can't read a partition, it doesn't necessarily mean your data has vanished into thin air. You still have ways to fix it.

Because the Windows operating system cannot read these files for some reason, what should you do? Can I recover files from the unformatted partition? Check the following culprits and solutions, then fix the problem easily.

Causes for Unformatted Partition

This problem doesn’t just happen out of the blue. Several culprits can corrupt this crucial "table of contents":

After reading here, it’s time to recover files from an unformatted partition.

Important Steps Before Recovery

This is the most important section you’ll read. Heed this advice!

• DO NOT FORMAT THE DRIVE: When Windows prompts you to format, just say no. Formatting would write new data to that partition and erase the original data, making it much harder for recovery.
• Stop Using the Drive Immediately: Do not save new files, install programs, or even download anything to the affected drive or the partition.

Fast Recover Unformatted Partition with MyRecover

Fortunately, here comes the powerful Windows data recovery software, MyRecover, to help. You can benefit from the following with MyRecover:

Recover files easily. You can recover files from a formatted hard drive, an emptied trash bin, a corrupted SD card, a RAW partition/hard drive, etc.

99% recovery rate. MyRecover offers the highest recovery rate in the market, maximizing recovery success.

AI file scan. It uses automatic AI technologies and algorithms to scan your missing files, which is very smart to find your files, and easily recover them.

Deep and fast scan. You can use MyRecover to scan your unformatted partition in deep or fast mode. It will cost much more time if you use a deep scan and find all your files.

Preview files before recovery. You can preview files before recovery to ensure they’re intact.

So, how to recover files from an unformatted partition with MyRecover, check the guide:

1. Please download and install MyRecover on your computer, then launch it.

Free Trial
Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7 & Sever

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2. Tap Partition Lost Recovery on the left side, and hit Scan when pointing at the unformatted partition.

3. It will start scanning deeply, and hit OK when completed.

4. Find the missing files using file size, file type, and file path. Select the missing files and folders, and hit Recover.

5. Choose a destination instead of the original partition, and hit Select Folder to recover data from the unformatted partition easily.

Tips:✎...

If you can’t boot up your computer for some reason, and can’t fix it. You can use MyRecover to create a bootable media to boot up into MyRecover (PC Crashed Recovery), then recover files to an external hard drive, which gets all your personal files. It’s an advanced feature; please upgrade to enjoy.

With MyRecover Pro, you can also recover unlimited data in the future.

MyRecover     

• Recover Deleted Files Easily with Simple Clicks     
• 1000+ File Formats Supported     
• Support HDD, SSD, External Hard Drive, USB Drive, SD Card, etc.     
• Quickly Find Files Using File Types, Name, Size, etc.
• Preview Files Before Recovering
• Recover Unlimited Data   

Try it Free
Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7 & Sever

100% Secure

How to Fix Unformatted Partition? 2 Ways

Now, it’s time to fix the unformatted partition. Check the solutions one by one.

Way 1. Use Chkdsk to Fix RAW Partition

Chkdsk is a utility in Windows that checks and repairs errors on your hard drive. So, it's a way to try.

1. Please select the Start button and type CMD. From the right side, select Run as Administrator.

2. In the CMD screen, type: CHKDSK g: /f /r

• /f: fix errors on the disk.
• /r: find bad sectors and recover readable information.
• Replace the G with the drive letter

3. Press Enter. Wait until the scan is ended.

Your unformatted partition should be back to normal.

Way 2. Format Unformatted Partition

After recovering files from a RAW partition, you can format it directly. Here is how to recover RAW partition to NTFS:

1. Right-click on the unformatted partition in Disk Management and choose "New Simple Volume".

2. Then follow the guide to format it to "NTFS" as the file system, or other proper file system, give it a name, and a drive letter, etc.

Once done, you can move your recovered files back onto the now-healthy drive.

FAQs on Unformatted Partition Recovery

Can data be recovered from a RAW partition?

Yes. The data usually still exists, but can't be accessed because the file system is broken. Special recovery software can often read the data directly and get it back, as long as you haven't formatted the drive or added new files.

Is it possible to convert a RAW drive back to NTFS without data loss?

Not directly. The process risks your data. The safe method is to first recover your files to a different drive using reliable software. Then, you can format the RAW drive to NTFS to make it usable again, and finally, copy your recovered files back onto it.

Why does my hard drive keep becoming RAW?

This is a serious warning of a hardware problem. The most common cause is bad sectors or other physical damage, like a failing part. You should immediately back up your data (if possible), stop using the drive, and be prepared to replace it.

Can CHKDSK fix a RAW partition?

Sometimes, but it's a risk. CHKDSK might fix minor file system errors and restore access. However, it is not a data recovery tool and can sometimes cause more data loss on a badly corrupted drive. It is safer to recover your data first before trying CHKDSK.

How long does unformatted partition recovery take?

The time needed varies a lot. It depends on the drive's size and type (a large hard drive is slower than a small SSD). A quick scan may take minutes, but a full, deep scan of a large, damaged drive could take many hours. Good software will show a progress indicator.

The End

Until now, you might have mastered how to recover unformatted partition easily. After recovering your files from the RAW partition, please format the partition to NTFS, then use it as a normal partition.

Besides, it’s very important to back up files in advance in case of data loss. If files get lost, you can recover files with MyRecover easily. With MyRecover, recovering files from a corrupted SD card or a virus-attacked hard drive is very easy. So, why not give it a try now?