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This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Jack Lloyd. Jack Lloyd is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. He has over two years of experience writing and editing technology-related articles. He is technology enthusiast and an English teacher.
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This article has been viewed 15,937 times.
This wikiHow teaches you how to recover deleted files from an Android phone or tablet by using your Windows or Mac computer. Keep in mind that deleted files are often difficult to recover entirely, meaning that some (if not all) of your files will most likely be corrupted or damaged when you recover them.
Steps
Method 1
Method 1 of 2:
On Windows
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Download the Recuva setup file. Recuva is a free software-recovery program that you can use to recover your Android's deleted files on your computer. To download it, do the following:
- Go to https://www.ccleaner.com/recuva/ in your browser.
- Scroll all the way down and click Free Download
- Click the CCleaner.com link on the left side of the page.
- Click Start Download
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Install Recuva. To do so:
- Double-click the rcsetup153 setup file.
- Click Yes when prompted.
- Check the "No thanks, I don't need CCleaner" box.
- Click Install
- Check the "Reboot now" box.
- Click Finish
- Wait for your computer to finish restarting.
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Plug your Android into your computer. Attach the rectangular USB end of your Android's charger cable into one of your computer's USB slots, then plug the other end into your Android's charging port. You should see a notification appear on your Android.
- If after a few seconds you don't see a notification on both your Android and your computer, try a different USB port.
-
Place your Android in MTP mode. Tap the "Connected as a media device" notification (or similar), then tap the MTP option.[1]
- On some Androids, you may first have to open the Notifications shade by swiping down from the top of the screen.
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Click This PC. It's a tab on the left side of the File Explorer window. Doing so opens the This PC folder, which contains links to all of the different pieces of hardware that are attached to your computer.
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Look for your Android's name. You should see it below the "Devices and drives" heading that's near the middle of the window.
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Right-click your Android. Doing so prompts a drop-down menu.
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Click Scan for deleted files. You should see this option next to a Recuva icon in the drop-down menu.
- If you don't see this option, you can't scan your Android directly. To recover deleted files, you'll need to remove the SD card from your Android, plug it into an SD card to USB adapter, and plug the adapter into one of your computer's USB ports; after doing so, you can right-click the SD card's name in This PC and click Scan for deleted files there.
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Click Yes when prompted. This will confirm your choice and prompt Recuva to begin scanning your Android (or its SD card) for deleted files.
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Wait for the scan to finish. This can take anywhere from a few minutes to around an hour, depending on how large your Android's storage is and how many files you have to recover.
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Click the "Filename" checkbox. It's in the top-left corner of the Recuva window. This will select all of the recovered files here.
- Keep in mind that some of the files will be in poor, corrupted condition. If the file has a red circle next to it, the recovered version of the file will be severely damaged.
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Click Recover…. This button is in the bottom-right corner of the window. A pop-up window will appear.
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Click Desktop. It's in the middle of the pop-up window. This will select your computer's Desktop as the place in which your recovery folder will be stored.
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Click Make new folder. This is in the lower-left side of the window. A recovery folder entitled "New folder" will be created on your computer's Desktop.
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Click OK. It's at the bottom of the pop-up window. Doing so will begin recovering the selected files into the "New folder" folder on your PC's desktop. Once they finish recovering, you can view them in the "New folder" folder.
- You may have to click Yes or OK when prompted before the recovery will initiate.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 2:
On Mac
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Find file recovery software. Unfortunately, reliable, free data recovery software isn't available for Mac computers. Some popular programs include the following:
- Wondershare Data Recovery for Mac
- EaseUS Photo Recovery Software
- You can search for relevant software by typing android recovery software mac into a search engine and selecting your preferred result.
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Purchase the software. Look for a Buy or Purchase option and click it, then enter your payment details. Some sites will also require you to set up an account with them before you can purchase the software.
- You can usually purchase data recovery software for under $50.
- If possible, use PayPal or a similar option to pay for the software rather than using your credit or debit card number.
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Download and install the software. Once the software is installed on your Mac, you can proceed with recovering your files from your Android.
-
Plug your Android into your computer. Attach the rectangular USB end of your Android's charger cable into one of your computer's USB slots, then plug the other end into your Android's charging port. You should see a notification appear on your Android.
- If your Mac doesn't have USB 3.0 slots, you'll need to use a USB 3.0 to USB-C adapter in order to connect your Android to your computer.
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Place your Android in MTP mode. Tap the "Connected as a media device" notification (or similar), then tap the MTP option.
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Open the file recovery software. The file recovery software should open to a file selection page.
- You may have to navigate through a tutorial or a setup section before continuing.
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Select your Android's name. You'll usually find this on the left side of the page. This will ensure that the data recovery software looks for deleted files on your Android and not on your Mac.
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Select a file type. If prompted, click the type of file that you want to recover (e.g., Photos), or click All Files if you want to look through every deleted file on your Android.
- Not all recovery software will give you this option.
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Follow any other on-screen instructions. Since data recovery software varies from program to program, you may need to select additional options before proceeding.
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Start the recovery process. Click the Recover, Start, or similarly titled button in order to begin recovering your Android's deleted files.
- Once the recovery is complete, you can usually move the recovered files onto your computer, after which point you can use Android File Transfer to move them back onto your Android.[2]
- Some data recovery programs will allow you to move the files directly back onto the Android.
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Tips
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Data recovery works best when you don't download anything between the time of deletion and the time at which you run the data recovery software.Thanks
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Warnings
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Recovering files from an Android's internal hard drive is impossible without first rooting the phone, which often overwrites deleted files anyway.Thanks
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References
About this article
Jack Lloyd
wikiHow Technology Writer
This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Jack Lloyd. Jack Lloyd is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. He has over two years of experience writing and editing technology-related articles. He is technology enthusiast and an English teacher. This article has been viewed 15,937 times.
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Co-authors: 6
Updated: June 24, 2020
Views: 15,937
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 15,937 times.
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