Troubleshooting Scan Results

The following are some frequently asked questions about scan results and tips for solving them.

Why Didn’t the File I Need Show up After a Scan?

There are a number of reasons that you might not see the files you need — or any files at all — after a scan. As we’ve said before, file recovery requires luck. There are never any guarantees. It’s possible that the files were overwritten and are no longer available for recovery. Read our article on Variables that Impact Recovery Chances to get a better understanding of why files might not be found.

However, it’s equally possible that you haven’t used Disk Drill to its fullest potential yet. Try the following trouble-shooting tips:

1. When using Signature Deep Scan, recovered files will not retain their original filenames. The file you’re looking for might be listed under a generic name such as “file123.doc” or “file_180x600.jpg.” To find your file more easily, filter the results by file type, date, or size. Then, preview each file by clicking the “eye” icon next to the filename to identify the correct one. Avoid using keyword searches, as they don’t work effectively with Signature Deep Scan results, which rely on file signatures instead of filenames.
2. If you need recovered files with their original folder structure and filenames, you’ll have to let Disk Drill finish its scan completely. Disk Drill performs a File System Deep Scan by thoroughly scanning every byte of your drive without interruption. This method only provides results at the end of the scanning process, so it’s essential to let Disk Drill complete its job for the best recovery results.
3. Starting with Disk Drill 6, we’ve introduced a powerful new feature — Advanced Camera Recovery — designed specifically for recovering video files from a wide range of cameras. This specialized module helps handle complex cases, such as fragmented or incomplete video files, making it easier to recover footage even in difficult situations.
4. Always check the TRIM status of your SSD-based drive. TRIM rapidly erases deleted data, making recovery difficult or impossible. Learn more about TRIM and how it affects data recovery here.
5. You might encounter situations where your drive’s health is compromised, resulting in unreadable data from bad blocks. In such cases, we strongly recommend creating a byte-to-byte backup of your drive and scanning the backup instead of the original. Disk Drill’s advanced backup mechanism can sometimes successfully retrieve data even from damaged areas, improving your chances of recovery.
6. If you are trying to recover a specific file type, check What File Types Can Disk Drill Recover? to ensure that Signature Deep Scan supports that particular type. If the file type isn’t supported, contact us to request it.
7. Check that you have followed all the steps recommended in our tutorial How To Recover Lost Files with Disk Drill Basic.
8. 💡 Learn More: Dive deeper into Disk Drill’s scan results in our detailed guide—How to Find a Specific Lost Item in Disk Drill After the Scan Completes. This article walks you through filtering, previewing, and locating exact files so you can quickly recover what you need.
9. If you selected a specific recovery method, (such as Quick Scan or etc), go back and click the “Search for lost data” button. This will allow Disk Drill to scan with all available methods.
10. If you selected a specific partition for scanning, select the entire disk instead and click “Search for lost data“. This will allow Disk Drill to scan the entire disk instead of just one partition.

Why Can’t I Preview ZIP, RAR, DMG, or Some Other File Types?

Some file types require additional preview plugins to be installed on your system. Disk Drill uses your Mac’s built-in Quick Look feature or Windows Preview Handlers to generate file previews.

To check if a plugin is needed, try previewing a healthy (non-lost) file of the same type directly on your Mac or Windows system. If the preview only shows a generic file icon—just like in Disk Drill—then you likely need to install a plugin for that file type.

Always preview your files before purchasing Disk Drill. File preview is completely free and doesn’t require any payment. The trial version of Disk Drill includes nearly all the tools you need to verify your files before committing to a full recovery. This ensures that the files you want to recover are actually recoverable—before you buy.

There are a few file types that do not have plugins to enable their preview. If you cannot find a plugin, then you will have to decide if you want to gamble and upgrade to Disk Drill PRO to find out if it’s recoverable, as we are unable to warrant the files that cannot be previewed before the actual recovery.

Why can’t I open some recovered files?

The sad fact of the matter is that some recovered files are corrupt. Disk Drill does its best to the collect the pieces of a file and reassemble it, but sometimes it just doesn’t work. A piece of the file may have been overwritten or resided in a section of the disk with bad sectors. When a file is missing a part, it is called “corrupt” and often it will not open in its native application.

The possibility of corruption is why we instruct users to use the Preview function before recovering files in our tutorial How to Recover Lost Files with Disk Drill Basic. Previewing the whole file — in its entirety — is the only way to be sure that a file has all its pieces.

If you have a corrupt file, it may be repairable, or you might be able to open it with another program. Do a Google search for “repair corrupt file” plus the application name or file type, such as “repair corrupt Microsoft Word file”. You may find something that works. Also, if some of your recovered files have a CFB file extension, you can try renaming them.