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Partition Recovery Software to Recover Deleted or Lost Partition

Accidentally hitting the wrong button or experiencing power outage can result in an entire partition disappearing, along with all files that were stored on it. Is there a way to undelete it and get your files back? We have good news: the solution to recover a deleted partition exists, and it’s much easier to use than you might think!
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Why Does a Partition Get Lost or Deleted?

Here are the main reasons why partitions get lost or deleted:
  • Accidental deletion

    Accidental deletion

    Let’s face it: all hard drives look more or less the same, and the non-descriptive names Windows assigns to them don’t help prevent accidental deletion.
  • Partitioning error

    Partitioning error

    Not all partitioning software is user-friendly, intuitive, and reliable. With the wrong solution, it’s easy to make an error and cause a partition to become inaccessible.
  • Power failure

    Power failure

    A sudden loss of power can interrupt important data transfer processes and compromise the integrity to such an extent that an entire partition disappears.
  • OS update

    OS update

    Every year, many users around the world lose one or more partitions after performing a major OS update, such as upgrading from Windows 8 to Windows 10.
  • Partition table corruption

    Partition table corruption

    All information about partitions and their structure is stored in a small storage area, whose corruption can lead to serious issues.
  • Hardware failure

    Hardware failure

    All storage devices have limited lifespans, which can shorten dramatically when exposed to excessive heat, humidity, or vibrations.
  • Malware

    Malware

    Certain strains of malware attack partitions and the data stored on them. What’s more, cybercriminals are always perfecting their techniques and making malware harder to detect.
  • Firmware issues

    Firmware issues

    Storage device manufacturers have released devices with faulty firmware a number of times in the past, and not all users managed to update before losing a partition.

Quick Way to Recover Your Partitions and Data

Have you deleted an important partition and lost access to all data that was stored on it? With Disk Drill, you can quickly and efficiently regain access to your files. These and many other features make Disk Drill the best partition recovery solution available:

  • Support for all commonly used Windows, Mac, and Linux file systemsSupport for all commonly used Windows, Mac, and Linux file systems.
  • Modern and intuitive graphical user interface with a clean layoutModern and intuitive graphical user interface with a clean layout.
  • The ability to preview lost files from missing partitionsThe ability to preview lost files from missing partitions.
  • One-click partition recovery process that doesn’t require any special skills.One-click partition recovery process that doesn’t require any special skills.
  • RAW partition recovery capabilities to undelete partitions with no file systemRAW partition recovery capabilities to undelete partitions with no file system.
recover deleted partition

How to Recover Your Lost Partition?

1. Download and Install Disk Drill

The Basic edition of Disk Drill lets you undelete up to 500 MB of data, and you can download it for free. We recommend you install Disk Drill on a completely different storage device (not just a different partition) than the one you’re trying to recover to minimize the wear and tear on it as much as possible.
recover lost partition

2. Scan Your Storage Device

Disk Drill is easily the best partition recovery software for Windows. It can recover deleted or lost partition on Windows 7 / 8 / 8.1 / 10 and earlier with its advanced filtering options and reliable recovery mechanisms. Launch Disk Drill, select the storage device with the lost partition, and click Search for lost data. Thanks to its support for RAW partition recovery, Disk Drill can recover data even from partitions with no file system.
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3. Recover Your Data

After a short file, Disk Drill will finish scanning through the whole disk surface and display all recoverable files. You can narrow down the list of recoverable files using the filters on the left or preview individual files to decide which are worth restoring. From there, you simply need to select files for recovery and click the Recover button.
recover partition

Recover a Deleted Partition from Any Device

All storage devices rely on partitions to create one or more storage regions, so it’s important to select partition recovery software capable of recovering a deleted partition from any device.
  • PC Mac
    PC / Mac
    Dell®, HP®, Acer®, Asus®, MacBook Pro®, MacBook Air®, Apple iMac® and more
  • HDD / SSD
    HDD / SSD
    HP®, Samsung®, Seagate®, Toshiba®, WD®, LaCie®, Intel®, Adata® and more
  • USB Drive
    USB Drive
    SanDisk®, Samsung®, Kingston®, Corsair®, Patriot®, PNY®, Verbatim®, Silicon Power® and more
  • SD / CF Card
    SD / CF Card
    SanDisk®, Transcend®, Toshiba®, Lexar®, Integral®, SP®, PNY®, Kingston® and more
  • Digital Camera
    Digital Camera
    Samsung®, HP®, Sony®, GoPro®, Canon®, Sigma®, Nikon®, Epson®, Panasonic® and more
  • iPhone / Android
    iPhone / Android *
    Samsung Galaxy®, iPhone®, Lenovo®, Huawei®, OnePlus®, Google Pixel®, LG® and more
*Note: iPhone / Android devices are only supported in Disk Drill for Mac at the moment

Recover All File Types from Lost Partitions

Disk Drill can recover hundreds of file types from lost partitions, allowing you to effortlessly get back all important documents, images, videos, and more. You can recover all supported file types at once or focus only on a single one.
  • Archives
    Archives
    ZIP (Extended Zip File), 7Z (7-Zip Compressed), CAB (Windows Cabinet File), RAR (WinRAR Compressed Archive), DMG (Mac OS X Disk Image)
  • Audio
    Audio
    AIFC, AIF, AIFF (Audio Interchange File), MP3 (MPEG Audio Stream, Layer III), WMA (Windows Media audio files)
  • Documents
    Documents
    PPTX (Microsoft PowerPoint), XLSX (Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet), DOCX (Microsoft Word), PDF (Portable Document Format)
  • Images
    Images
    BMP, GIF, TIFF, PSP, JPEG, JP2. Polaroid/Sigma: X3F. Pentax: PEF. Adobe: INDL, INX, AI, INDD, LRCAT, PSB, APM, IDML, INDB, PSD.
  • Video
    Video
    MPG (MPEG video), AVI, FLV (Flash video), MP4 (MPEG-4 video), WMV (Windows Media Video), M4V (iTunes video)
  • Other Files
    Other Files
    SQL (bundled SQL queries), ACCDB (Microsoft Database), OTF (OpenType Font), DB (Paradox), MYO (MYOB Limited Windows File)
All supported file types

Recover Any Partition Type

No partition type is fully immune to data loss, which is why Disk Drill can recover all partition types commonly used today, including:
  • PC partition types
    PC partition types
    The most common PC partition types found inside a master boot record (MBR) or a GUID Partition Table (GPT) include NTFS, FAT, FAT32, and exFAT.
  • Master boot record (MBR)
    Master boot record (MBR)
    MBR is a legacy partitioning scheme used to organized partitions, often of different types, on a storage device.
  • GUID Partition Table
    GUID Partition Table
    Also known simply as GPT, this modern standard for the layout of partition tables is supported by all operating systems, including macOS, Windows, and Linux.
  • Primary partition
    Primary partition
    Traditionally, a primary partition is the hard disk partition where the operating system is located. However, it can also contain user data, just like a non-primary partition can.
  • Logical partition
    Logical partition
    A logical partition is a separate storage area that can’t host an operating system. Logical partitions are typically used to store data away from the operating system.
  • Extended partition
    Extended partition
    This type of partition is essentially a container that can store one or more logical partitions. It’s possible for an extended partition to span the entire available storage space.
  • DOS, Windows, and OS/2
    DOS, Windows, and OS/2
    On these operating systems, there’s one primary partition with system files. By default, Windows 10 and earlier this partition is assigned the letter C.
  • Unix-like systems
    Unix-like systems
    All Unix-like file systems support multiple partition types on the same storage device. Sometimes, users give each primary directory its own partition to minimize data loss.
  • Multi-boot and mixed-boot systems
    Multi-boot and mixed-boot systems
    It’s possible to install two operating systems on the same hard drive by giving each operating system its own partition.
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Free Partition Recovery – Prevent Data Loss

The best and most cost-effective recovery method is active protection against data loss! The Recovery Vault protection and restoration mechanism guarantees the safety of your data on FAT32, NTFS, and exFAT file systems. It keeps track of all erased files and it saves the on-disk location of deleted files to enable quick and easy file recovery from partitions when needed.
how to recover deleted partition

Supported File Systems

Disk Drill supports all commonly used Windows, Mac, and Linux file systems, and it can also perform RAW partition recovery:
  • Windows File Systems
    Windows File Systems
    FAT16/FAT32/exFAT, NTFS/NTFS5
  • Mac File Systems
    Mac File Systems
    HFS & HFS+, APFS
  • Linux File Systems
    Linux File Systems
    EXT2/EXT3/EXT4

Technical Specifications

  • Operating System Supported
    Operating System Supported:
    Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP
    Windows Server 2019/2016/2012/2008
  • Hardware Requirements
    Hardware Requirements:
    Disk Space: 30MB minimum space for Disk Drill Data Recovery installation
    CPU: at least with x86
    RAM: at least 128MB
  • Stable release
    Stable release:
    Disk Drill 4
    Version: 4.0.533

Tips to Prevent Partition Loss

The availability of effective partition recovery software is not a good excuse for not doing as much as possible to prevent partition loss. The following tips can help you keep your partitions in good working order and your data safe:
  • Back up your data

    Back up your data

    You should always back up all important data because any storage device can suddenly fail, causing you to lose access to your partitions. If you want the ability to restore the entire storage device with its partition structure, complete byte-to-byte backups are the way to go.
  • Be careful during partitioning

    Be careful during partitioning

    A lot can go wrong during partitioning, so you need to be extra careful not to accidentally click the wrong button or miss an important warning message. If you have no previous experience with disk partitions, we highly recommend you start with an easy-to-use partition manager software with a graphical user interface.
  • Watch out for malware

    Watch out for malware

    Certain strains of malware can corrupt partitions and make the files stored on them unreadable. To keep them at bay, always use the most effective anti-malware solution available and make sure to keep it updated.
  • Remove drives safely

    Remove drives safely

    The integrity of certain file systems can be compromised by improperly disconnecting a storage device from the computer. That’s why you should always eject your storage device before you physically disconnect it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Updated on by Disk Drill Team

You can recover a lost partition in Windows 10 using Disk Drill:

  1. Launch Disk Drill.
  2. Select the storage device on which partition was located and click Search for lost data.
  3. Go through the list of recoverable files and select all files you want to recover.
  4. Click the Recover button.
  5. Specify the recovery destination and confirm.

The best partition recovery software according to real users is:

  1. Disk Drill Partition Recovery
  2. Recuva Data Recovery
  3. iObit Undelete
  4. Acronis Recovery Expert wizard
  5. EaseUS Partition Master
  6. Active@ Partition Recovery
  7. DiskInternals Partition Recovery

To recover a deleted partition on Mac OS, use the Disk Drill for Mac:

  1. Download and install Disk Drill for Mac.
  2. Start the app and click the Recover button next to the drive on which the deleted partition was located.
  3. Wait until Disk Drill finishes analyzing the drive.
  4. Look inside the recovery folders and locate the deleted files that were stored on the partition.
  5. Select each file you want to recover and click the Recover button.
  6. Specify where you want Disk Drill to recover the deleted files and click Choose.

To recover a deleted partition in Windows 7, you can use Disk Drill, the best data recovery software currently available for Windows:

  1. Download and install Disk Drill.
  2. Launch Disk Drill and select your storage device.
  3. Click Search for lost data to run all recovery methods in the optimal order.
  4. Wait for Disk Drill to list display all recoverable files.
  5. Select all files you want to undelete and click Recover.

Here’s how to restore a lost partition using CMD:

  1. Open CMD as administrator.
  2. Type diskpart and press Enter to launch the Diskpart utility.
  3. Type list disk and press Enter to list all storage devices connected to your computer.
  4. Type select disk x (replace x with the number of the storage device with the lost partition).
  5. Type list volume and press Enter to list all volumes on the selected storage device.
  6. Type select volume x (replace x with the number of the lost partition).
  7. Type assign letter=Z to assign the specified drive letter to the lost partition (you can choose any drive letter that’s not already assigned to a device or drive).

You can recover a deleted partition in Linux using TestDisk:

  1. Launch TestDisk.
  2. Select Create to create a new log file.
  3. Select the storage device with the deleted partition.
  4. Select the partition table type.
  5. Press Enter to analyze the current partition structure and search for lost partitions.
  6. Perform a Quick Search for the deleted partition.
  7. (Optional) Perform a Deeper Search to find deleted partitions that Quick Search wasn’t able to recover.
  8. Select the partition you want to recover and choose Write.

If you need to recover a deleted partition in Ubuntu, we recommend you use a free partition manager called GParted:

  1. Install GParted using the following terminal command: sudo apt-get install gparted.
  2. Launch GParted and select the disk device with the deleted partition.
  3. Choose Device and Attempt Data Rescue.
  4. Click OK to start the full disk scan.

In Windows Vista, you can attempt to undelete a partition the Disk Management utility:

  1. From the Start menu, type Computer Management in the Instant Search toolbar to access Disk Management.
  2. Locate the storage device with the missing partition.
  3. Right-click on the missing partition and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths.
  4. Click Add and assign any available drive letter.
  5. Click OK to confirm.

You can fix a corrupted partition and restore any files from it using Disk Drill:

  1. Launch Disk Drill.
  2. Scan the storage device with the corrupted partition.
  3. Wait for the scan to finish.
  4. Select all files you want to recover from the partition.
  5. Click Restore to retrieve your data.
Unfortunately, it’s not easily possible to restore the HP recovery partition without performing a complete factory restore of the entire hard drive, which means wiping out all data stored on it. If that’s what you wish to do, you can the correct HP Recovery Media for your machine. If you can’t find it on HP’s Software and Drivers page, contact the company’s customer support staff and ask for help.

On most newer Dell laptops and desktop computers, you can boot to the Dell recovery partition following these steps:

  1. Click the Restart button in Windows while holding down the Shift key.
  2. Click Troubleshoot.
  3. Select the Dell Backup and Recovery option.

A lost partition is one that is no longer visible or accessible from your operating system. A partition can be lost when the Master Boot Record of your hard drive is damaged or erased. You may also encounter a deleted partition which may appear as if it is lost. Data on the partition remains until the disk space is reused.

You can recover files from a delete partition with these steps:

  1. Download, install and launch Disk Drill.
  2. Choose the disk that contained the deleted partition.
  3. Click Search for lost data to initiate the scanning procedure.
  4. Review the data that can be recovered and choose the files you want restored.
  5. Click Recover all to perform the recovery from the deleted partition.

Yes, you can recover a formatted partition. When partitions are formatted, the data that resided on them is not immediately physically removed. Formatting makes space previously occupied available for use by the operating system. As long as the space has not been reused and the data was not overwritten by new information, data recovery software can restore the partition’s files.

Yes, you can restore data from a lost partition for free with Disk Drill. Download the free trial version of the tool and install it on your machine. You can now recover up to 500 MB of data without any financial investment. Once you see the power of this data recovery application, you can easily upgrade to the pro version.

To recover a deleted partition from an external hard drive follow this procedure:

  1. Connect the external hard drive to your computer.
  2. Launch Disk Drill and select the external drive from the disk list.
  3. Click Search for lost data to start scanning for files.
  4. Preview the recoverable data and select the files for restore.
  5. Click Recover to retrieve the selected data.
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Customers and software guru say

pcadvisor.co.uk
Disk Drill is a free tool for finding and recovering anything from whole partitions to accidentally deleted files. Mike Williams
ghacks.net
«Disk Drill is a handy recovery software for Windows. It is easy to use and ships with two additional features, partition recovery and protections, that set it apart from the majority of data recovery programs.» by Martin Brinkmann

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