FAQ

Straight answers

One question per page, answered with the facts first and the sources on the page. Each answer links to the guide for the situation it describes, so you can act on it rather than just read about it.

What is possible

The questions people ask before deciding whether recovery is worth trying at all.

Can you recover overwritten files?
Usually no. Once new data has been written over the space a file occupied, the original bytes are gone and nothing can bring them back. A partly overwritten fil…
Can corrupted files be recovered?
Often, yes. Corruption damages data that is still there. Deletion is different: the file disappears, but its contents usually remain until overwritten. How much…
Can a corrupted SD card be fixed?
Usually yes. A corrupted card can normally be made usable again by reformatting, which gives it a fresh file system, but reformatting erases every file on the c…
Can ransomware encrypted files be recovered?
Sometimes. Ransomware encrypts your files in place, so the readable contents are gone from those files until something decrypts them. Free decryptors exist for …
Can data be recovered from a dead hard drive?
Often yes. A drive that seems dead is usually one specific part that failed, and the platters that hold your data are only one of several things that can break.…
Can a hard drive be repaired?
Yes, hard drives can often be repaired: labs replace circuit boards, free jammed heads, repair firmware, and replace motor parts. But repair (the drive works ag…
Can data be recovered from a RAID or NAS?
Usually yes, and the outcome depends on which failure you had. One dead drive in a redundant array leaves the data on the surviving drives, and vendor manuals d…
Can files be recovered after a factory reset?
On a modern phone, effectively no. Apple and Google describe a reset as erasing the phone's data completely, and the encryption built into these devices is what…
Photos disappeared after an update: where they usually went
After a phone or computer update, whole albums can look deleted when they are really hidden, mis-filed, or signed in somewhere else. Check the places Apple and …
Can a magnet erase a hard drive?
For a spinning hard drive, the fridge-magnet scare is mostly myth: a magnet retailer's own experiment left a running drive's data unchanged even under large neo…
Can data be recovered from a PS4?
Often, yes. Saved data has a safety net when PlayStation Plus cloud storage or a USB backup already holds a copy. What usually loses data is not the drive: init…

Damaged devices

Water, power, repairs, and phones and laptops that will not wake up.

Everyday use

The small habits around drives: unplugging, disconnecting, backing up, and what works with what.

Using a recovery service

What professional recovery costs, how long it takes, and whether it is worth it, before you commit to posting a drive away.