USB Drive Recovery: How to Recover Files in Windows 11/10

byKona -
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Last updated: September 18, 2026

USB drive recovery in Windows 11 and Windows 10

If you need to recover a USB drive, do not format it or run repair commands immediately. Your files may still be recoverable.

A USB drive can become inaccessible due to file system corruption, accidental deletion, a missing drive letter, partition problems, RAW file system errors, or physical drive issues.

This guide explains how to recover files from a USB drive in Windows 11 and Windows 10. It includes simple solutions for beginners and advanced recovery methods for experienced users.

The most important rule is simple:

Recover the data first. Repair the USB drive later.

Quick Answer

If your USB drive contains important files, follow this order:

  1. Stop using the USB drive.
  2. Do not format or initialize it.
  3. Try another USB port and another computer.
  4. Check whether Windows detects the drive in File Explorer and Disk Management.
  5. If the files are accessible, copy them to another drive.
  6. If files were deleted, use a data recovery tool.
  7. If the USB drive is RAW, unallocated, or seriously corrupted, consider advanced recovery tools.
  8. If Windows does not detect the USB drive correctly, software recovery may not be enough.

Never save recovered files back to the same USB drive.

Table of Contents

Before You Start USB Drive Recovery

Before trying any repair or recovery method, protect the existing data.

Do Not Format the USB Drive

Windows may display a message such as:

“You need to format the disk in drive E: before you can use it.”

Do not click Format if you need the files.

Formatting can make recovery more difficult.

Do Not Copy New Files to the USB Drive

If files were deleted, new data can overwrite the space previously occupied by those files.

Once overwritten, recovery may become impossible.

Do Not Run Repair Commands Immediately

Commands such as chkdsk /f can modify the file system.

If your main goal is recovering important files, recover or image the data first.

1. Try a Different USB Port

Start with the simplest test.

  1. Remove the USB drive.
  2. Try another USB port.
  3. If you are using a desktop computer, try a rear USB port.
  4. Avoid USB hubs during testing.
  5. Wait a few seconds after connecting the drive.

If the drive appears, immediately copy important files to another storage device.

2. Try the USB Drive on Another Computer

Connect the USB drive to another Windows computer.

This helps determine whether the problem is with:

  • The USB drive
  • The USB port
  • Windows
  • The USB driver
  • The file system

If the USB drive works on another computer, copy your important files immediately.

3. Check File Explorer

Open File Explorer and select This PC.

Look for the USB drive.

If it appears with a drive letter such as E:, F:, or G:, open it and check your files.

If the Files Are Accessible

Do not perform unnecessary repairs.

Copy the important files to another drive first.

Once your files are safe, you can troubleshoot the USB drive itself.

4. Check Disk Management

USB drive shown in Windows Disk Management

If the USB drive does not appear in File Explorer, check Disk Management.

Press:

Windows + X → Disk Management

Look for the USB drive.

Pay attention to:

  • Disk number
  • Capacity
  • Partition
  • File system
  • Drive letter
  • Unallocated space
  • RAW status

The result can help identify the type of recovery problem.

5. USB Drive Is Healthy but Has No Drive Letter

Sometimes Windows detects the USB drive and its partition but does not assign a drive letter.

Disk Management may show a healthy partition but no letter such as E: or F:.

In this situation, assigning a drive letter may make the drive accessible again.

How to Assign a Drive Letter

  1. Right-click the USB partition.
  2. Select Change Drive Letter and Paths.
  3. Click Add.
  4. Select a drive letter.
  5. Click OK.

Check File Explorer again.

Do not delete the partition or format the drive.

6. USB Drive Shows as RAW

RAW USB drive detected in Windows Disk Management

A USB drive may appear as RAW in Disk Management.

This means Windows cannot recognize the file system normally.

You may also see:

“You need to format the disk before you can use it.”

If the USB contains important files, do not format it.

Instead:

  1. Stop writing to the drive.
  2. Check whether Windows detects the correct capacity.
  3. Try data recovery software.
  4. Consider Windows File Recovery, TestDisk, or PhotoRec.
  5. For valuable data, consider creating an image before repeated recovery attempts.

A RAW drive is a recovery situation, not automatically a formatting situation.

7. USB Drive Shows as Unallocated

Disk Management may show the USB drive as Unallocated.

Do not immediately create a new partition.

If the old partition disappeared but the data may still be present, creating and formatting a new partition can overwrite important partition information.

For important files, consider partition recovery or file recovery tools first.

8. Recover Deleted Files From a USB Drive

If you accidentally deleted files from the USB drive, stop using it immediately.

Do not:

  • Copy new files to it.
  • Download files to it.
  • Format it.
  • Run unnecessary repair operations.

The chances of recovery depend heavily on whether the deleted data has been overwritten.

You can try a recovery application such as Recuva, Disk Drill, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, or Stellar Data Recovery.

For advanced users, PhotoRec is another option.

Important Recovery Rule

Install recovery software on your computer or another storage device.

Do not install it on the USB drive containing the lost files.

Save recovered files to a different drive.

9. Recover Files From a Corrupted USB Drive

A corrupted USB drive may show one or more of these symptoms:

  • Files disappear.
  • Folders cannot be opened.
  • Windows reports an I/O error.
  • Files have strange names.
  • The drive becomes very slow.
  • Windows asks you to format the drive.
  • The file system appears as RAW.

Start by checking whether the drive is detected correctly in Disk Management.

If Windows detects the correct capacity but cannot access the file system, recovery software may be able to read the underlying data.

For serious corruption, avoid repeated repair attempts before recovering important files.

10. USB Drive Asks You to Format

This is one of the most important USB recovery situations.

Windows may display:

“You need to format the disk in drive E: before you can use it.”

If the USB drive contains files you need:

Click Cancel.

Do not format it just because Windows recommends it.

Instead:

  1. Check Disk Management.
  2. Check whether the capacity is correct.
  3. Determine whether the file system is RAW.
  4. Try file recovery software.
  5. Consider advanced recovery tools if necessary.

11. Show Hidden Files

Sometimes the files are not deleted. They may simply be hidden.

Open the USB drive in File Explorer.

Select:

View → Show → Hidden items

If the files appear, copy them to another drive.

Advanced Command Prompt Method

Open Command Prompt as administrator and use:

attrib -h -r -s E:\*.* /s /d

Replace E: with the actual USB drive letter.

This removes the hidden, read-only, and system attributes from files and folders on the selected drive.

Make sure the drive letter is correct before running the command.

12. Check the USB Drive in Device Manager

If Windows does not recognize the USB drive correctly, check Device Manager.

Press:

Windows + X → Device Manager

Expand:

  • Disk drives
  • Universal Serial Bus controllers

Look for:

  • Unknown device
  • USB Mass Storage Device
  • Warning symbols
  • The USB drive manufacturer's name

If Windows detects the device but reports a driver problem, restarting the computer or reconnecting the device may resolve the issue.

If the drive repeatedly disconnects, becomes extremely slow, or causes Windows to freeze, stop unnecessary testing.

These symptoms can indicate a hardware problem.

Advanced USB Drive Recovery

Advanced USB drive recovery using Windows command line tools

The following methods are intended for users who are comfortable with Windows administration and command-line tools.

If the USB contains irreplaceable photographs, business documents, or other important data, do not experiment on the original drive unnecessarily.

13. Advanced: Use DiskPart to Diagnose the USB Drive

DiskPart is a powerful Windows command-line disk management utility.

For recovery, use DiskPart only for diagnosis at this stage.

Open Command Prompt as administrator.

diskpart

Then list the disks:

list disk

Identify the USB drive by its capacity.

For example:

Disk 0    476 GB
Disk 1     29 GB

If the 29 GB device is your USB drive, select it:

select disk 1

Then:

detail disk

You can also inspect partitions:

list partition

And volumes:

list volume

When finished:

exit
DiskPart Warning
Do not use commands such as clean, format, delete, create partition, or convert during the initial recovery stage.

These commands can modify the partition structure or file system.

Always identify the correct disk by its capacity before using any DiskPart command that changes storage.

14. Advanced: Use PowerShell to Identify the USB Drive

Advanced users can use PowerShell to inspect storage devices.

Open PowerShell as administrator and run:

Get-Disk | Format-Table Number, FriendlyName, SerialNumber, HealthStatus, OperationalStatus, Size -Auto

You can also inspect volumes:

Get-Volume | Format-Table DriveLetter, FileSystem, FileSystemLabel, HealthStatus, SizeRemaining, Size -Auto

These commands can help determine whether Windows sees the USB device and whether a volume is associated with it.

Do not use destructive PowerShell storage commands while attempting data recovery.

15. Advanced: Use Windows File Recovery

Windows File Recovery command line for USB drive recovery

Windows File Recovery is Microsoft's command-line tool for recovering deleted files.

For example, if:

  • USB drive = E:
  • Recovery destination = D:

A basic recovery command can look like

winfr E: D: /regular

You can limit recovery by file type:

winfr E: D: /regular /n *.jpg /n *.png

For more difficult cases, you can try Extensive mode:

winfr E: D: /extensive

You can also use a file-name filter:

winfr E: D: /extensive /n *invoice*

The source and destination drives must be different.

If the USB drive is E:, do not recover files to E:.

Use another drive with enough free space.

16. Advanced: Use TestDisk for Partition Problems

TestDisk can be useful when the partition structure has been damaged or a partition has disappeared.

It is particularly useful for situations such as:

  • A partition disappeared.
  • The partition table is damaged.
  • The USB shows as unallocated.
  • The file system structure is damaged.

TestDisk is different from ordinary undelete software because it can work with partition structures and damaged file systems.

Some TestDisk operations can modify disk structures.

If the USB contains important data, understand each operation before writing changes to the original drive.

If possible, work from a disk image or clone instead of the original device.

17. Advanced: Use PhotoRec for Difficult File Recovery

PhotoRec is another recovery tool from the TestDisk project.

It searches for file signatures instead of depending completely on the damaged file system.

This can make it useful when:

  • The file system is badly damaged.
  • The partition structure is unusable.
  • Normal recovery software cannot find the files.
  • Files were lost after formatting.

There is an important limitation.

PhotoRec may not preserve the original file names and folder structure because it searches for file signatures.

You may therefore recover files with names such as

f1234567.jpg
f1234568.docx

instead of their original names.

Never save PhotoRec results to the USB drive being recovered.

18. Should You Run CHKDSK?

This is where advanced users need to be careful.

CHKDSK checks the file system and can repair logical errors.

For example:

chkdsk E:

For an NTFS volume, Windows also supports:

chkdsk E: /scan

Do Not Make CHKDSK Your First Recovery Step

If your priority is recovering important files from a corrupted or RAW USB drive, do not make this your first step:

chkdsk E: /f

The /f option repairs file-system errors and can change the file system.

A safer recovery sequence is

Recover or image important data.
↓
Verify recovered files.
↓
Repair the USB drive.

If the data is already backed up and your goal is simply to repair an NTFS USB drive, CHKDSK may then be appropriate.

19. Consider Disk Imaging for a Failing USB Drive

If the USB drive is physically failing, repeated recovery attempts can put additional stress on the device.

Warning signs include:

  • The USB disconnects repeatedly.
  • The drive becomes extremely slow.
  • Windows freezes when accessing it.
  • The capacity changes unexpectedly.
  • Files become unreadable during copying.
  • The computer takes a long time to detect it.

In this situation, advanced recovery should ideally begin with a sector-by-sector image or clone.

The recovery work can then be performed against the image rather than repeatedly reading the failing original.

If the data is extremely important, professional data recovery may be safer than continuing DIY recovery attempts.

20. If the USB Drive Is Not Detected at All

There is an important difference between:

Windows detects the USB device but cannot read the files.

and:

Windows does not detect the storage device properly at all.

If the USB drive does not appear correctly in File Explorer, Disk Management, Device Manager, or DiskPart, software recovery may not be able to access the storage media.

Try another USB port and another computer first.

If the problem continues, professional recovery may be necessary.

21. Copy Accessible Files With Robocopy

If the USB drive opens normally but copying some files repeatedly fails, advanced users can try a controlled file copy with Robocopy.

For example:

robocopy E:\ D:\USB-Backup\ /E /R:1 /W:1 /XJ

Here:

  • E:\ is the USB source.
  • D:\USB-Backup\ is the destination.
  • /E copies subdirectories.
  • /R:1 retries failed files once.
  • /W:1 waits one second before retrying.
  • /XJ avoids junction points.

This is a file-copy method, not deleted-file recovery.

Do not use it as a substitute for proper recovery software when the file system is badly damaged.

22. USB Recovery Software

Recovery software can be useful when:

  • Files were accidentally deleted.
  • The USB was formatted.
  • The partition is damaged.
  • The file system is corrupted.
  • Windows cannot open the USB normally.
  • Files disappeared unexpectedly.

Popular recovery applications include

  • Recuva
  • Disk Drill
  • EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard
  • Stellar Data Recovery
  • PhotoRec

The important point is not which program has the longest feature list.

The important point is how you use it.

Never install recovery software on the damaged USB drive, and never save recovered files back to it.

If Windows does not recognize the USB device properly, see our guide on what to do when a USB device is not recognized.

23. When You Should Stop DIY Recovery

Do not keep trying different recovery methods simply because the first one failed.

Stop and consider professional recovery if:

  • The USB contains irreplaceable data.
  • The device repeatedly disconnects.
  • The USB becomes extremely hot.
  • The reported capacity is incorrect.
  • The drive is not detected consistently.
  • Recovery software causes the computer to freeze.
  • The USB has physical damage.
  • The USB contains critical business or personal files.

For valuable data, professional recovery may be the safer option.

24. After Recovering Your Files

Do not immediately trust the recovered files.

Open several recovered documents, photographs, videos, and other important files.

Check that they work correctly.

  • Open recovered Word documents.
  • View recovered photographs.
  • Play recovered videos.
  • Check PDF files.
  • Compare important folders with your original data.

Once you are confident that your data is safe, you can decide whether the USB drive should be repaired, reformatted, or replaced.

25. How to Prevent Future USB Data Loss

USB drives are convenient, but they should not be your only copy of important files.

For important data, keep at least one additional backup.

USB Drive → Computer → External Backup or Cloud Backup

Before removing a USB drive, use Safely Remove Hardware when appropriate.

Avoid removing the drive while files are being copied.

If a USB drive begins behaving strangely, back up the files before continuing to use it.

Related Computerdok Guides

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I recover files from a USB drive that asks me to format it?

Yes, recovery may be possible. Do not format the drive if you need the files. Check Disk Management and consider recovery software or advanced recovery tools.

Can I recover deleted files from a USB drive?

Often, yes, provided the deleted data has not been overwritten. Stop using the USB drive as soon as you notice the deletion.

Can I recover files from a RAW USB drive?

Recovery may be possible. Do not format the RAW drive before attempting recovery. Windows File Recovery, TestDisk, PhotoRec, and other recovery applications may help depending on the condition of the drive.

Should I run CHKDSK on a corrupted USB drive?

Not necessarily. If you need to recover important files, recovery should normally come before file-system repair. CHKDSK with repair options can modify the file system.

Can Windows File Recovery recover files from a USB drive?

Yes. Microsoft's Windows File Recovery can be used in supported recovery situations. The source and destination drives must be different.

Can PhotoRec recover files from a formatted USB drive?

PhotoRec can recover files from some formatted or severely damaged storage devices because it searches for file signatures rather than relying entirely on the file system. However, original filenames and folder structures may not be preserved.

Why is my USB drive detected but not visible in File Explorer?

A missing drive letter is one possible reason. Check Disk Management. If the existing partition is healthy but has no drive letter, assigning one may make it accessible.

Why does my USB drive show as unallocated?

The partition information may be missing or damaged. Do not immediately create a new partition if you need the existing data. Consider partition recovery or file recovery first.

Can I recover files if Windows does not detect the USB drive?

It depends on the problem. If the storage device is not detected at the hardware level, normal recovery software may not be able to access the data. Try another USB port and computer first. If the problem continues, professional recovery may be necessary.

USB Drive Recovery Checklist

  • ☐ Stop using the USB drive.
  • ☐ Do not format it.
  • ☐ Do not initialize it.
  • ☐ Do not create a new partition.
  • ☐ Do not save new files to it.
  • ☐ Try another USB port.
  • ☐ Try another computer.
  • ☐ Check File Explorer.
  • ☐ Check Disk Management.
  • ☐ Check Device Manager.
  • ☐ Use DiskPart for diagnosis if necessary.
  • ☐ Consider Windows File Recovery.
  • ☐ Consider TestDisk for partition problems.
  • ☐ Consider PhotoRec for difficult file recovery.
  • ☐ Save recovered files to another drive.
  • ☐ Consider professional recovery for valuable data.

Final Thoughts

USB drive problems do not always mean that your files are gone.

A drive that appears as RAW, unallocated, inaccessible, or even formatted may still contain recoverable data.

The biggest mistake is to start changing the drive before protecting the data.

For simple problems, checking the drive letter or trying another USB port may be enough.

For deleted files, recovery software may help.

For damaged partitions, advanced users can use DiskPart for diagnosis and consider TestDisk for partition recovery.

For difficult file-system damage, PhotoRec or Windows File Recovery may provide another recovery path.

If the USB drive appears to be physically failing, stop before repeated attempts make the situation worse.

Recover your important files first. Repair or replace the USB drive after your data is safe.

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