Windows File Recovery: Recover Lost / Deleted Files on Windows 10

We regularly download or copy new files on our computer system and we also regularly delete unnecessary files from our computer. Sometimes you might accidentally delete an important file. Now you need the file but there is no way to restore or recover the lost file. If the file is present in Recycle Bin, you can restore it but if you deleted the file from Recycle Bin, you can’t restore the file. Some people like me always use Shift+Delete keyboard shortcut to permanently delete files and folders without sending them to Recycle Bin.

There are many 3rd party data recovery software available on Internet which can be used to recover lost or deleted files from your hard disk drive. Some software are paid and some are available for free.

Today in this article, we are going to share a free software app released officially by Microsoft for Windows 10 operating system. The app name is “Windows File Recovery” and this app can be used to recover deleted files on Windows 10 operating system.

This new app can be used to recover your personal data if you accidentally deleted important files, wiped clean your hard disk or you have some corrupted data.

Windows File Recovery app supports lots of file types such as photos (images), videos, documents, etc. The app can not only recover data from your internal or local hard disk drive but also recovers data from external drives such as camera, memory cards (SD card), SSD, USB flash drives, etc.

You can search and recover deleted files using their names, keywords, file paths or extensions. It supports all popular file formats such as JPEG, PNG, PDF, MP3, MP4, MPEG, ZIP, Office documents, etc.

The app supports following file systems: NTFS, FAT, exFAT and ReFS. NTFS file system is used for Computers (HDD, SSD), external hard drives, flash or USB drives (> 4GB). FAT and exFAT file systems are used for SD cards, Flash or USB drives (< 4GB). ReFS file system is used for Windows Server and Windows Pro for Workstations.

Windows File Recovery app can be downloaded and installed from Microsoft Store. It supports Windows 10 version 2004 (build 19041) or higher.

The app doesn’t provide any GUI (Graphical User Interface). It’s a command-line app so you need to execute commands in Command Prompt to use this app to recover lost files.

The basic command format to use the tool is as following:

Remember the source drive and destination drive must be different.

The tool will automatically create a new folder with the name Recovery_date_time on the destination drive to save recovered files.

The tool comes with three modes to recover files: Default, Segment and Signature. If you deleted a file recently, you can go with Default mode. If you deleted the file a while ago or if you formatted the disk or you have a corrupted disk, then you should try Segment mode. If the file system is FAT, exFAT or ReFS, then you should try Signature mode. Segment mode can be activated using /r switch or parameter. Signature mode can be activated using /x switch or parameter.

You can stop the recovery process at any time by pressing Ctrl+C hotkey.

You can use /? or /! switches or parameters to get help about all syntax and switches available to use.

You can download the tool from following link:

Also Check:

Recuva: Download One of the Best Free Data Recovery Software for Windows