How to use PhotoRec to recover deleted photos and files

Do you need to recover deleted photos and files? One of the most effective programs for doing so is PhotoRec. powerful recovery softwareIf you don't know how it works, but you urgently need to save your lost photos and other digital files, this post will tell you how to use PhotoRec to bring them back.

Use PhotoRec to recover deleted photos and files

If you have Lost important digital filesYou know how frustrating and worrying it can be. Sometimes it's due to simple human error: deleting the wrong file. Other times, it's the storage device (microSD, SD card, USB drive, external hard drive) that suddenly stops being recognized. Is all lost? No; it's time to use PhotoRec.

You might not know it, but PhotoRec is legendary when it comes to data recovery. It's like the Swiss Army knife of digital rescue, an open-source utility that has been around for ages. More than two decades bringing back files we thought were lostHowever, it doesn't boast an attractive interface; instead, it runs on a front-end Basic (on Windows) or from the command line (Linux). But boy, is it powerful!

What is PhotoRec and what are its advantages?

Before discussing how to use PhotoRec to recover deleted photos and files, let's understand how it works. This tool is developed by CGSecurity, the same team behind... TestDisk. Its main function is to recover lost files from hard drives, USB flash drives, SD cards and other storage devices.

What types of files can be recovered with PhotoRec? Although its name suggests it's geared towards photos, it can actually recover a wide variety of formats. In fact, It supports over 400 extensions., between them:

• Images: JPG, PNG, GIF, RAW, BMP, TIFF.
• Documents: DOC, DOCX, PDF, TXT, ODT.
• Videos: MP4, AVI, MOV, MKV.
• Audio: MP3, WAV, FLAC.
• Compressed files: ZIP, RAR, TAR.

What makes PhotoRec special is that it works directly on the data, regardless of the file system type (FAT, ntfs, exFAT, ext2, etc.). This means you can recover files even if the partition table is damaged or the file system has been formattedIn summary, using PhotoRec offers many advantages. advantage, such as:

• Es Free and open source.
• It works on computers Windows, macOS y Linux.
• Recovers over 400 different file types.
• It is effective and reliable, widely used in computer forensics and professional recovery.
• Since it's a TestDisk add-on, you can use both programs together to recover complex partitions.

Step by step: How to use PhotoRec to recover your deleted files

You probably want to recover the deleted files as soon as possible, but you should make sure to do two things first. First, Do not use the affected deviceThe more you use it (saving and deleting files), the greater the risk of overwriting deleted data. And if this happens, it will be much harder to recover it completely.

Secondly, have a storage device handy to save the files you recover. Never use the same device you are recovering from to save the saved files.A working external memory, hard drive, or USB drive will be sufficient to store the recovered files. That said, let's see how to use PhotoRec to bring back your deleted files.

Download and install PhotoRec

To use PhotoRec you have to download it from the CGSecurity official websiteVisit the page and click on your operating system version to download the compatible TestDisk package. A compressed file will be downloaded, which you must extract to obtain the executable file.

run the program

Inside the extracted files folder, locate the executable and double-click it. On Windows, it will be named qphotorec_win. The advantage is that PhotoRec does not require conventional installationSimply run it as Administrator and grant it the necessary permissions.

In Windows, using PhotoRec is very simple because it is displayed with a minimalist and easy-to-understand graphical interfaceThe first thing you see at the top is the program logo and version. Below that, there's a drop-down menu to choose the drive from which you'll recover, some recovery options, and four action buttons.

Select the disk and partition

The next step is to choose the disk or device where the deleted files were located. PhotoRec will display a list of all detected disksTo make sure you choose the right one, look at details such as the model and size.

If the disk has multiple partitionsYou'll need to select the partition where the deleted data was located. If, on the other hand, it's a USB drive without partitions, simply select the single partition and you're done.

Using PhotoRec: Choose the search mode

In section File system typeChoose the one that matches the file type of the drive you want to recover. You can select from two categories: ext2/ext3/ext4 file systems and FAT/NTFS/HFS+ and related file systems.

On the right side you can choose between making a free search (only in the unused space) or happens (Extract the files from the entire partition). This last option is slower, but more recommended if you want to recover everything you had on the damaged drive.

Select the destination folder

Next, you need to choose a directory to save the recovered files. Click the Explore button and choose your desired location.As a suggestion, create a folder called Recovery and mark it as a directory. This will make it easier to browse the recovered files and find what you're looking for.

Filter by file type (Optional but Recommended)

Below you'll see the File Format button. There you can Choose the type of file you want to search for and recoverBy default, PhotoRec searches for over 480 file types. But if you're only interested in photos (JPG, PNG, CR2, NEF), you can deselect the other file types to speed up the search even further.

Search and wait

Lastly, Click on the Search button and wait for the recovery process to finish. Using PhotoRec to restore deleted files may take more or less time, depending on the number of files and the type of search chosen. When the process is complete, simply go to the destination folder and find your precious recovered photos and files.