Step-by-step recovery
- Stop using the USB drive immediately — don't copy new files to it
- Plug it into your PC and open RecuvaDownload
- Choose the USB drive from the location list, not a specific folder
- Run a quick scan first — most recent deletions turn up within a minute
- If nothing appears, switch to deep scan to read raw file signatures
- Preview results, tick the files you need, and restore them to your PC's hard drive — never back onto the same USB stick
Why deep scan finds more than quick scan
Quick scan reads the drive's file table — a directory of what's supposed to be where. Deep scan ignores that table and reads the raw contents of the drive instead, identifying files by their internal structure. That's slower, but it can recover files even after the file table entry itself is gone.
Downloading & running RecuvaDownload
1. Install or extract it
Use the Windows or macOS button on this page. For the installer, run it with administrator rights; for the portable ZIP, extract it to a drive you're not scanning.
2. Scan, preview, restore
Pick the drive or device, run quick scan first, switch to deep scan if needed, then restore selected files to a different drive than the one you scanned.
FAQs
Often yes, especially with a quick format — run the deep scan, which doesn't rely on the file table a format clears.
No — the scan engine reads all three, and file-signature recovery in deep scan works independently of the file system.