CHK File Recovery - How to Recover CHK Files Easily

Amy Dennis

Jul 20, 2020 • Filed to: Free Data Recovery Solutions • Proven solutions

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This is a fairly common occurrence when users lose some of the photos on a storage device such as a memory card, USB drive or even the computer’s hard drive. You may see these.chk files and a folder named “Found.000” immediately after losing the images. But what are CHK files and can the images be recovered?

This article seeks to provide you with the answer to both questions, providing you with numerous ways to recover the missing files.

Part 1: What is a .CHK file?

The easiest way to describe a .chk file is a fragmented file that can be produced when the process of writing files on to a new drive is interrupted. This can happen when one of the drives is removed during the process or the PC is suddenly shutdown during the transfer. This is the reason why most people see these .CHK files when transferring files from one storage device to another. When the transfer fails, the Windows built-in chkdsk (check disk) runs automatically, creating the Found.000 folder and transferring the .chk files into the folder.

It is also who noting that this folder is often hidden by default and you may need to check “Hidden folder” under “View” to see it.

Part 2: How to Recover CHK Files?

There are several ways to recover the .chk files on your computer. Some of the most effective include the following;

Way 1: Unchk

Unchk is a free third party file recovery tool that you can use to restore the .chk files. It can restore the files to about 25 different formats and to their original extension. It easily identifies the common types of files including video, audio, images, documents and even executable files although you can also add your own extensions by simply dragging and dropping files into the program.

Way 2: FileCHK

One of the best things about using FileCHK is that it is very simple to use. The tool gets to work as soon as you download it, scanning the hard drive for the .chk files, renaming and correcting the extensions quickly and easily. It supports up to 30 different file formats including documents, images, archives and even documents. It is also very fast; the whole process takes no more than a few seconds.

Way 3: CHK-Mate

If you would like a solution that has an easy to operate wizard, giving you control over the files to recover without being too complex, you should try CHK-Mate. It will locate the .chk files and rename them, but also make copies of the files, maintaining the originals. CHK-Mate also recognizes up to 20 different types of files although you can also add more if you need to. The single biggest problem with this tool is that the whole process of scanning and recovering the files can take a very long time and the program has been known to crash a few times during recovery.

Way 4: Chk-Back

Chk-Back is another very easy solution when you want to recover .chk files. It is very easy to use and has a very pleasant user interface, making it one of the simplest solutions out there. It supports up to 40 different file formats including video, audio, documents, images, executable files and even Office files like Excel and Word.

You will have to install Chk-Back before you can use it, but it is not very difficult to operate and it works very fast. It also doesn’t hurt that it works on all versions of Windows including Windows XP.

Way 5: Recoverit Data Recovery

One of the best ways to recover all types of data from any storage device including .chk files is to use Recoverit Data Recovery. It is a fully functional data recovery program that offers you a range of tools in a simple to user interface. It is designed to ensure maximum effectiveness during the recovery process while making the process easy enough for a beginner to grasp. Some of the features that make it the most ideal way to recover the .chk files include the following;

Recoverit Data Recovery - The Best File Recovery Software

• It can recover data from just about any storage device including your PC hard drive and external storage devices like USB drives and SD Cards.
• It recognizes and recovers up to 1000 different file formats including videos, images, audio, documents and many more.
• It can also recover data under different situations; it can recover data due to a crashed system, a virus attach or any other cause.
• You can also use it to recover up to 100MB of data free

Download | Win Download | Mac

To use Recoverit to recover the .chk files, download and install the program on to your computer and then follow these simple steps;

Step 1: Run Recoverit on your computer and then select the drive with the lost data. Click “Start” to allow the program to begin scanning the selected drive.

Step 2: Recoverit will begin scanning the drive immediately. Please note that the scan may take several minutes depending on the size of the files on the drive. If you see the files you are looking for you can click on the “Pause” or “Stop” button to end the scan.

Step 3: When the scan is complete, click on a file to preview it and then click on “Recover” to recover the file.

The next time you see the Found.000 folder and .chk files where your photos, videos or documents used to be, don’t panic. Just use one of the solutions above to get them back.