How to Retrieve Photos from a Formatted Hard Drive

Formatting your PC’s hard drive deletes all its content, including your memorable and precious photos. Losing photos can be a distressful experience, but don’t worry. Luckily, there are several photo recovery methods available online that you can try to restore photos from formatted drives.

This guide will walk you through different methods on how to recover deleted photos from formatted hard drive. Just go with these workarounds one-by-one to get your memories back!

What Happens When You Format a Hard Drive?

Formatting a hard drive resets its file system, leading to the deletion of pointers to the files stored on the drive. When you format the drive, all the stored files become inaccessible but are not immediately erased. The files remain intact until they are overwritten by new data. That is why it is important to avoid using the hard drive immediately after formatting it to have smooth and easy data recovery.

Understanding Different Types of Formatting

Before you use any photo recovery software or manual methods to recover photos from a formatted hard drive, it’s essential to understand different types of formatting. These include:

  • Quick Format: This formatting only erases the File Allocation Table (FAT) or Master File Table (MFT) and does not overwrite data. It’s easier to recover data from a drive as the file remains on the drive (only the system marks the storage space available for new data).
  • Full Format: It is comparatively a slow process. This overwrites the existing data on the drive, making it more difficult to recover files.
Feature Quick Format Full Format
File System Reset Deletes file system pointers only Deletes and overwrites data
Data Erasure No (data remains until overwritten) Yes (data overwritten with zeros)
Error Checking No Yes
Speed Fast Slow
Data Recovery Possible (unless overwritten) Difficult (data is overwritten)
Ideal Use Case Reinitializing a drive for reuse Preparing a drive for fresh, error-free use or secure erasure

How do I Recover Photos Lost After Formatting a Hard Drive?

Now that you are familiar with different types of formatting, it’s time to proceed with adequate photo recovery methods to restore your photos lost from a formatted hard drive.

Method 01: Use a Professional Photo Recovery Software

Let’s start with the simplest approach! There are several reliable photo recovery software available online that you can use to recover photos from a formatted hard drive. Stellar Photo Recovery is one of those popular recovery tools, offering a user-friendly interface to recover files of various types, including photos, videos and audio files. You can use this tool to restore multimedia files deleted due to accidental deletion, formatting, virus attacks, and many more.

  • Supports recovery of files deleted from HDD, SSD, memory cards, and other internal or external storage devices.
  • Offers both Quick Scan and Deep Scan recovery modes to perform comprehensive scanning of your storage drive or location.
  • Allows you to preview the recoverable files before saving them on your device.
  • The software is available in multiple versions, varying in features and prices. Compare these versions and select the one that best fits your requirements.

Here’s how to retrieve photos from a formatted hard drive using this professional photo recovery software:

Step 1: Firstly, download and install the Stellar Photo Recovery software on your device. Install the recovery software on a separate computer or an external drive to prevent data overwriting.

Step 2: Launch the software and from the homepage, select the storage drive where your deleted photos were earlier stored. Click Scan and wait till the scanning process completes.

Step 3: Once the scan is done, preview the recoverable files and choose the photo(s) you want to restore.

Step 4: Click Recover to save selected photos at the desired location on your PC.

Method 02: Use File History Backups (Windows)

In some cases, you might have a backup of your deleted photos. You can use these backups to recover files without much effort. Windows OS provides a built-in File History backup utility that when enabled on your device, creates an automatic backup of all the files to an external or secondary drive. To recover lost files using File History, you need to:

  • Press the Windows + I keys to launch the Settings app. Go to Update & Security and then click Backup.
  • Go to Files Backup from the left pane and check if the toggle button under the “Backup using File History” option is enabled.

If yes, follow the below steps to restore your lost pictures:

  • Type File History in the search box and click the “Restore your files with File History” option from the context menu.
  • Browse through different folders and select the photo(s) you want to restore.
  • Click the green Restore button to recover the selected items to their original location.

Method 03: Use Time Machine Backups (Mac)

If you are a Mac user, then use macOS built-in Time Machine backup utility to recover photos from a formatted hard drive. Time Machine stores snapshots of your files and allows you to restore them to their original state. All you have to do is:

  • Connect the external drive containing the Time Machine backup to your Mac.
  • Now, click the Time Machine icon from the menu bar located at the top-right corner. Alternatively, go to System Preferences > Time Machine, and click Show Time Machine from the menu bar.
  • Use the timeline on the right-hand side to browse through different backup dates and select the version of deleted photos you want to recover.
  • Press the Restore button to restore the files to their original location.

Note: Always prefer saving the recovered photos to a different folder, external drive, or desktop to avoid overwriting issues.

Additional Tips to Maximize Recovery Success

Though the above-mentioned photo recovery methods are easy to implement, consider the below tips to enjoy smooth and hassle-free recovery:

  • Act Quickly: The sooner you act, the easier it will be to recover lost files and the higher the chances of success.
  • Avoid Performing Tasks on the Drive: Do not save new files or perform any task on the formatted drive until the recovery process is complete.
  • Check Backup Options: Before recovery using third-party photo recovery software tools, check if you have backed up your photos on cloud storage or external drives.

Conclusion

Recovering photos from a formatted hard drive may seem a challenging process, but it is easily achievable with the aforementioned photo recovery methods. Acting quickly, using reliable photo recovery software, and following best practices can help you easily recover lost photos. To avoid future data loss, create regular backups, use dependable storage solutions, and exercise caution when formatting drives.