How to Recover Lost Data from Formatted Hard Drive

Theo Lucia

May 18, 2023 • Filed to: Answer Hard Drive Problems • Proven solutions

Is it Possible to Recover Files from Formatted Hard Drive?

Accidentally formatted the hard drive and caused the data files lost. Is there any way of recovering the formatted hard drive and getting the data back? The first thing you should do is please do not save any new data on the formatted hard drive, or it will cause your file to overwrite. But don't worry, in the following, we will introduce the best formatted hard drive recovery program to help you recover files from formatted hard drives.

Video Tutorial on How to Recover Data from Formatted Hard Drive

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3 Steps to Recover Data from a Formatted Hard Drive

Wondershare Recoverit data recovery software is the most powerful formatted hard drive recovery program, it can easily unformat your hard drive and get your lost data back. It can access the drive and get your format data back securely and effectively.

To recover lost data from the formatted hard drive with Recoverit hard drive data recovery, follow the next 3-step:

Step 1 Launch the Recoverit Data Recovery program, select the formatted hard disk to get started.

Step 2 The formatted hard drive recovery software will start scanning the disk or searching the lost data and files.

Step 3 In the end, you can check all recovered files. Preview recovered photos, videos, music, and office files. Select your files and click "Recover" to save all recovered files.

Why Format Hard Drive

While the reasons for data loss in hard drives are mostly physical, sometimes data might be lost due to a mere human error. For example, formatting a hard drive without having a backup can result in the loss of precious data collected over the years. Here are some of the common reasons why a hard drive fails and needs to be formatted.

Firmware Faults: The system may sometimes get stuck in the middle of the booting process, making it impossible for you to access your files.

Hard Disk Crash: Improper ventilation in the CPU fan can result in the crashing of the hard disk. In such a scenario, you can hear clicking noises coming from your device.

Unstable Power Supply: Using unreliable power sources or too high/too low voltages to power your UPS can cause your hard drive to fail.

Internal Failure: Mechanical failures can cause the files or folders on your hard disk to become corrupt and inaccessible. Or sometimes, you could face a black screen after the booting screen.

Corrupted Files: A sudden shutdown of your computer or laptop due to power surges can cause some files to become corrupt and make your hard disk fail. Using malicious programs can also spread a virus in your system leading to more corrupt files.

Human Errors: As humans, we are prone to errors. Accidental formatting without taking a backup also calls for data recovery. Wrong installations of an operating system can cause the hard drive to fail, thereby requiring a format.

Tips to Securely Format Hard Drive in Windows

If your hard drive got some error messages and needs to format it. You should back up your data first and get a safe solution to format the hard drive.

Initialize Drive: If you want to start storing your data on a new hard drive, before anything else, you first need to format the hard drive to make it usable and manageable.

Kill Virus: Sometimes only installing anti-virus software is not good enough to get rid of all the viruses on your computer which can damage your hard drive. In such a case, it is better to format the partition infected by the virus so you can eliminate it.

Change File System/Drive Size: Once a drive is set, its file system and size are determined. Any change needed in the drives warrants a hard drive formatting.

Format Inaccessible Drive: This is the most basic failure that users experience where the drive becomes inaccessible and has to be formatted.

How to format hard disk drive in Windows Explorer

1. Click on "My Computer".
2. Select the drive you wish to format, "right-click" on it and choose "format" from the drop-down list of options.
3. Once the "format" dialogue box opens, you can choose the capacity size, though it is recommended to keep it at the default size. You can also set up a file system for the drive to be formatted. Click on "Start".
4. As you click "start" a warning window will appear before you. If you are sure you wish to format the disc, you can click on "ok" and go ahead with the formatting.

Format Hard Drive in Windows Explorer

How to format hard disk drive in Windows Disk Management

1. Following are the two ways using which you can open Disk Management:
   a) Run "diskmgmt.msc" by clicking on the Windows start icon.
   b) Go on "My Computer". Right-click and choose "Manage" from the drop-down menu. Then choose Disk Management under "Storage".
2. Now right-click on the target partition and select "format" from the drop-down list.
3. Specify the volume label, file system, and allocation unit size in the format wizard. Click "Ok".
4. Press "Ok" to confirm.

Format Hard Drive in Windows Disk Management

Tips in Case You Format Your Hard Drive by Error

• When your data gets lost, stop using your computer or laptop immediately and try to determine the cause of the data loss.
• Whether it is a hardware failure or a software failure, time is of the essence. Get Recoverit hard drive recovery software to recover your data as soon as you can.
• Avoid overwriting data into your formatted hard drive as it can make it difficult to recover all your lost data.
• Lastly, get into the habit of taking regular backups so that even in a case where you accidentally format your hard drive/USB flash drive/Memory card, you have a backup to fall back on.