{"id":58244,"date":"2026-05-27T10:59:01","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T10:59:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/?p=58244"},"modified":"2026-05-27T10:59:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T10:59:01","slug":"chkdsk-deleted-files-learn-how-to-recover-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cleverfiles.com\/howto\/recover-files-deleted-by-chkdsk.html","title":{"rendered":"CHKDSK Deleted Files? Learn How to Recover Them"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your computer ran CHKDSK on boot, or you ran it yourself to fix some disk errors. Either way, the result is the same: files are missing or maybe even entire folders are nowhere to be found. The good news is that the situation is probably a lot less desperate than it seems right now.<\/p>\r\n

When CHKDSK “repairs” file system errors, it sometimes removes file references or moves data into cryptic .CHK files. But the actual content is usually still sitting on your drive. This means you can often recover files deleted by CHKDSK if you act quickly and stop using the affected drive immediately. Then, follow the steps below to get your data back. The methods in this guide come from our in-house recovery team’s hands-on testing across real drives with different types of corruption, so they’re guaranteed to help instead of making the problem worse.<\/p>\r\n

💡 Note<\/b>: In this guide, we use the word “drive” universally, but the methods below apply just the same whether you’re dealing with an internal partition, an external hard drive, a USB thumb drive, an SD card, or any other media that can be scanned using CHKDSK.<\/div>\r\n
✅ In a hurry? If you already know CHKDSK deleted your files and just want them back, skip straight to the recovery steps<\/a>.<\/div>\r\n

<\/span>Does CHKDSK Really Delete Your Files?<\/span><\/h2>\r\n

No, CHKDSK doesn’t target your actual files. It repairs file system metadata, which is basically the index that tells Windows where everything is stored.<\/p>\r\n

Regardless of if launched manually or triggered by Windows, CHKDSK scans your drive’s structure and “fixes” whatever looks broken. This includes removing corrupted directory entries and relocating readable data away from bad sectors. The problem is that CHKDSK prioritizes a consistent file system over preserving your file names and folder paths.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As a result, CHKDSK sometimes moves orphaned data fragments into a hidden system folder called FOUND.000 (which appears at the root of the affected volume). Inside, you’ll find files with names like FILE0001.CHK, FILE0002.CHK, and so on, which are raw pieces of your original data saved as generic fragments. Some will open if you rename them with the correct extension (like .jpg or .docx), but many are incomplete pieces that won’t work on their own.<\/p>\r\n

To figure out what a .CHK file originally was, you need to check its file signature. Every file format has specific bytes at the beginning that identify it. For example, JPG files start with FF D8, PNGs with 89 50 4E 47 (see the screenshot below), while PDFs begin with 25 50 44 46. You can inspect these bytes using a free hex editor like HxD<\/a>, then look up the signature in a reference table like GCK’s File Signatures Table<\/a>. Once you know the original format, rename the file with the correct extension and see if it opens. Just keep in mind that fragmented or incomplete files won’t be recoverable this way.<\/p>\r\n

\"PNG<\/p>\r\n

Even if you can’t find your files in the FOUND.000 folder (or if there’s no FOUND.000 folder to begin with), your data may still be sitting exactly where it was before. CHKDSK might have removed the path to your files without touching the actual content (like tearing a page out of a book’s table of contents). In such cases, you can use data recovery software<\/a> to get back your files, but it’s important that you complete several key steps first:<\/p>\r\n