Linux Data Recovery: Get your EXT1/2/3/4 Data Back [2022]

Get Ready And Start the Recovery

Linux is a great OS for professionals, but Linux computers are also prone to accidental data loss like all others. Once in need of a Linux file recovery software, Disk Drill effectively handles Linux hard drive recovery.

Disk Drill is available for Macs and Windows computers, meaning it will run on Mac OS X (or macOS) or Windows, starting with Windows XP. There's no Disk Drill compiled to be running on Linux yet, but we are considering this an option in the future. Meanwhile, to recover deleted Linux data, all you have to do is connect the hard drive or any other data storage device, where the Linux data was lost, to another computer with Disk Drill installed (either Mac or Windows). Once done, make sure the disk is recognized by the system. Run Disk Drill, and get ready to see your deleted data recovered.

1
Connect the device with lost data
2
Run Disk Drill
3
Scan and recover

Know Where to Store the Recovered Data

Best of all, Disk Drill Basic Edition for Linux file recovery is free. You can find deleted data and preview your files to ensure they can be restored, within minutes.

A simple recovery case of a 1TB hard drive may take from 5 to 20 minutes, rarely longer. Scanning may locate from 50% to 100% of deleted Linux data, with the recovery chances around 95%, based on multiple factors. Disk Drill ensures the highest recovery rates thanks to its in-depth data recovery methods, including Lost Partition Search and Deep Scan. However, there's only one way to verify your data recoverability – live file preview. You can read more about this on our website and in the knowledge base.

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Once the scanning is over, you are ready for your Linux file recovery. Make sure you are not recovering your deleted Linux data to the same drive you were scanning, this may not only result in poor recovery quality, but may also invalidate the remaining data, as it will be overwritten. It is generally super-important to stop using your hard drive the very moment you realize there was data erased that needs to be retrieved back.

Run a Unified Recovery

Disk Drill's user interface is all about simplicity and clarity. Once you see your source disk in the list, go ahead and click the "Recover" button. This is the unified option that will run all data recovery algorithms available for your disk one-by-one. In most cases, it's exactly what you would want to ensure the highest recovery rate. We also recommend scanning the whole drive, not just the partition you lost your data at, if you haven't lost the whole Linux partition before recovery, of course.

Or Choose a Specific Recovery Method

There's also an alternative Linux hard drive recovery approach. Disk Drill is also a great tool for expert-level computer specialists, and even offers an Enterprise edition for premium-level users. That said, if you are aware of the different approaches of our recovery methods, you may get deeper into more granular controls of the recovery process. Go ahead and click the "gear" icon - ⚙️ - by the unified "Recover" button (this one will look like an arrow if you are using Disk Drill for Windows). This will show you the menu in which you can now pinpoint the exact recovery method you would like to run: Quick or Deep Scan, Partition Search and others. Quick Scan is also able to recover recently lost Linux files from EXT4 partitions.

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Note: Allocate Existing Data is only available from this menu, and is not included in the unified scan. This method will involve Disk Drill's internal algorithms to attempt reading of existing data bypassing system's disk access features and works pretty well on occasionally damaged partitions. Now you can proceed with the chosen method.

Consider Disk Drill's Data Protection

Disk Drill's Recover Vault and Guaranteed Recovery technologies are not yet available for Linux hard drives. However, if you are installing Disk Drill on a Mac or Windows PC, we recommend enabling its data protection features and S.M.A.R.T. disk health monitoring. These features help minimize the risks of accidental data loss and have great chances of really improving your drive's longevity.

Preview Found Data and Recover

Any data recovery starts with a scan. Should you do Linux RAID recovery or a regular file recovery, the first step is to see if your data is still there and can be recovered without taking your device to a lab. Once you can see your data after running Disk Drill's unified recovery or choosing a specific undelete algorithm, you will usually verify that the data is still recoverable by running a preview of the files listed by Disk Drill. If you already own Disk Drill PRO, you will have a simpler option to directly mount all scanning results as a separate disk. This will give you a bit more freedom of running your verifications in a familiar Finder window, and managing your recoverable items as if they were just regular files on your hard drive. Once you select the files you need to be recovered, hit the final Recover button, confirm the destination, and give it a few minutes to complete the recovery and reconstruction of your Linux data.

Deep Scan to Reconstruct from Pieces

Even though there's no Disk Drill for Linux now, the existing recovery options are more than enough for the successful outcome. When Deep Scan is analyzing a Linux drive, it's treated as a single binary entity, and unless it's encrypted, it doesn't matter for Disk Drill which file system is it partitioned in. When Disk Drill identifies a file signature from its database, various file formats are recovered fast and easy: photos, documents, archives, movies and more.

View the full list of supported file types

Frequently Asked Questions

Updated on Mar 09, 2022 by Disk Drill Team

Which Linux is best for data recovery?

The best data recovery software applications for Linux include:

PhotoRec (free and open source)
R-Studio (from $49.99)
GNU ddrescue (free and open source)

How to recover data from a hard drive in Linux?

To recover data from a Linux hard drive, your best course of action is to use a data recovery tool with a graphical user interface, like R-Studio. If you consider yourself to be a more advanced user, you can also use PhotoRec, which runs in a terminal and has a wizard-style command-line user interface.

How do I recover lost files in Linux?

Here’s how to recover lost files in Linux using PhotoRec, an open-source data recovery software:

Install PhotoRec, and launch the application in a terminal.
Select the disk you want to recover and specify the source partition.
Keep following the recovery wizard to select the file formats to recover and specify the file system.
Select where recovered files should be written.
Wait for the recovery process to finish.

What is recovery mode in Linux?

Some Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu, can boot into so-called recovery mode to start with only basic services. Recovery mode is typically used for troubleshooting and repair purposes, and it can also be used to recover lost data.

How do I repair a corrupted hard drive in Linux?

Most Linux hard drives can be repaired using a utility called fsck:

Launch a terminal.
Unmount the hard drive you want to repair:
sudo umount /dev/sdb1
Run fsck to repair the hard drive:
sudo fsck -p /dev/sdb1
Mount the repaired hard drive:
sudo mount /dev/sdb1

Where are deleted files stored in Linux?

That depends on which Linux distribution you use. Most desktop Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu, have a familiar Trash folder that can be opened either by clicking on its icon or by navigating to its actual location, like .local/share/Trash/ .