Accidentally deleted a file? It can probably be recovered
We’ve all, at some point in our lives, deleted a file that
we really wanted to keep. The process of recovering it is often as simple as
heading to the Recycle Bin/Trash folder and clicking a few buttons but, like
they say, even the best laid plans can go awry and we’ve recovered data for clients
that’ve accidentally deleted files permanently more times than we can
count! Provided you act quickly, though, it’s very, very unlikely that the file
in question won’t be recoverable.
When a user tells their device to delete a file, the actual
data itself is not removed. Instead, the device is basically told that the user
no longer wishes to keep this data and an internal file noting the locations to
which data can be written is updated.
In other words, the information that actually comes together
to create the document, image or anything else remains and will be recoverable
until it has been written over by new data – hence why it is so important to
act quickly.
Even if you’ve emptied your Recycle Bin/Trash folder, you
may still be able to recover the file without the need to instruct data recovery experts. If you’re using a Mac, for example, you
can use Time Machine – an app that allows you to restore your machine to its
exact state at a prior point in time. More recent versions of Windows offer a similar
feature but the problem – irrespective of the operating system your machine
uses – is that this can lead to you losing further files you might want to
keep. This can be resolved by backing them up onto a removable piece of storage
media which, whilst both laborious and cumbersome as you'll need to work out exactly which files you'll need to backup beforehand, will ensure that you can
simply transfer them back to your device when you’re done.
Another thing to consider if whether you’ve ever sent the
file to anyone by, say, email, text message etc. If you’ve not deleted the
communication in question, you can simply locate it and take the steps required to restore the relevant file to your
device.
In the event that you’re unable to recover your file without
assistance, though, we have some good news: often, when we are tasked with
recovering data that was accidentally deleted, it can usually be recovered with
specialist software and the drive neither needs to be physically opened or have
any physical alterations made to it, meaning that the recovery should be a
relatively straightforward process.
If you’ve accidentallydeleted files and need them recovered get in touch with Fields Data Recovery
today.