Formatted Drive Data Recovery

Formatted the wrong drive, or reinstalled your operating system over your files? Whether they can come back depends on the kind of format and the kind of drive. A quick format on a hard drive is often recoverable, while a formatted SSD often isn't, and we'll tell you honestly which situation you're in. Recovery is one flat price, and you pay nothing if we can't recover your files.

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$1,200 flat · pay on success

✓Free prepaid shipping

✓Cleanroom recovery by engineers

✓No diagnostic fee

✓$0 if we can’t recover your data

Signs of formatted drive

•You formatted or erased the wrong drive, partition, or memory card
•You clicked Format when Windows said the drive needed formatting
•Windows or macOS was reinstalled and your files are gone
•A camera or phone reformatted the card
•Drive now shows as empty, with the full capacity free

What’s actually happening

A quick format writes a new, empty file system and leaves most of the old data where it was. On a hard drive, that means the files are usually still there until something new is written over them, and recovery works by finding the old file-system records or the files themselves. A full format is different: on current versions of Windows, a full format writes zeros across the volume, and data overwritten that way generally can't be recovered. Erase options with security settings in macOS Disk Utility work the same way.

SSDs are a separate story. When you format an SSD, the operating system typically tells it with TRIM that the whole volume is now free space, and the SSD erases those blocks in the background. Once that happens the data is gone, physically, and no lab can bring it back. A formatted internal SSD is often unrecoverable, and it's better to know that up front.

Memory cards and USB flash drives fall in between. Many of them don't erase data on format the way internal SSDs do, so recovery is often possible, but results vary by device. An operating system reinstall formats the drive and then writes many gigabytes of new files, so some of the old data is usually overwritten. The less that's been written since, the better.

What not to do

✕Don't save anything new to the drive — every new file can overwrite the formatted data you want back.
✕Don't reinstall the operating system again or restore a backup onto the same drive — that writes even more over the old data.
✕Don't run a full format to "start clean" — a full format overwrites the data that a quick format left behind.
✕Don't keep using a formatted SSD — if any data survived, ongoing use gives TRIM and garbage collection more chances to erase it.
✕Don't install recovery software onto the formatted drive — use a different drive for both the software and the recovered files.

How we recover it

Establish what happened

We look at the drive type, the kind of format, and what's been written since, so you get a realistic assessment.

Image the drive

The drive is copied sector by sector and all work happens on that copy.

Find the previous file system

Engineers search for surviving records of the old partitions and file system to restore folder structure and file names.

Recover files by signature

Where the old index is gone, we scan for files by their content patterns. These usually come back without original names or folders.

Verify and return

Recovered files are checked so they open, then returned on a secure return drive.

Can the data be recovered?

A quick-formatted hard drive that hasn't been written to much since is often recoverable. A full format with zeroing, or a formatted SSD where TRIM has erased the data, usually is not, and we'll say so rather than take your money. Memory cards and USB drives vary by device. After an operating system reinstall, some files may be recoverable while others were overwritten. You pay nothing unless we recover your data.

Recovery by device

Related guides

Formatted Drive — common questions

I did a quick format. Can I get my files back?+

On a hard drive, often yes, if little has been written since. A quick format replaces the file system but leaves most of the data in place. Stop using the drive and don't save anything to it.

Can you recover a formatted SSD?+

Often not. Formatting an SSD usually triggers TRIM, which tells the drive to erase the data, and once it's erased it's gone. Some cases turn out differently, such as when TRIM wasn't passed through a USB enclosure, so it can be worth an evaluation. But expect that recovery may not be possible.

What's the difference between a quick format and a full format?+

A quick format writes a new empty file system and leaves the old data in place. On current versions of Windows, a full format also writes zeros across the whole volume, which overwrites the old data.

I reinstalled Windows over my files. Is anything left?+

Sometimes. The reinstall formats the drive and then writes a lot of new data, so some files are usually overwritten. On a hard drive, others may survive. On an SSD, TRIM usually erases the old data.

How much does formatted drive recovery cost?+

One flat $1,200 for a single device, quoted before you ship — no diagnostic fee, and $0 if we can't recover your data.

Other failures we recover from

Recover from formatted drive — pay only if it works.

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