Table of Content
    Windows Data Recovery- Professional

    How to Recover Files from a Corrupt or Unresponsive USB Flash Drive


    Table of Content

      Summary: A USB flash drive may corrupt due to many possible reasons and put your data at risk. However, you don’t need to stress yourself out. You can recover files and folders from a corrupt or unresponsive USB flash drive by understanding the causes and applying the right solutions. To prevent unsuccessful or partial data recovery, use data recovery software.

      Free Download Windows Free Download100% secure

      A USB flash drives stores all the data in its memory similar to a hard drive. The operating system can, later on, fetch this data when required to be accessed. There can be various issues that may turn your USB drive data inaccessible such as if the drive is unmounted improperly from the port then it can lead to data corruption. Another reason for the stored data corruption can be invalid data in the Master Boot Record (MBR) or Partition Boot Record (PBR) or directory structure on the USB drive.

      E Drive not accessible

      There can be various other reasons also that may make your USB corrupt or unresponsive. This may happen either due to logical corruption or physical corruption. Some common physical corruption issues are broken stems and connectors, dead drives (no power supply), broken circuit or NAND gate, not recognized, RAW, need to format, not accessible, and Dead Drives, etc.

      How to Recover Data from an Inaccessible USB Drive?

      To recover data from an inaccessible USB or Flash drive, first, you must be able to identify the exact reason leading to the problem while reading the USB drive.

      Reasons of USB corruption or inaccessibility can be because of:

      • Logical Issues
      • Physical Issues

      Recovering Files from Logical Issues

      If there are some logical/ software errors with the USB drive, you can easily fix it. You need to repair the file structure so that the USB flash drive can be used again.

      This is how you can scan for logical issues using Windows:

      • Insert the USB drive into the USB port of your system.
      • Go to This PC or My Computer>Removable Disk icon.
      • Right click the Removable Disk Icon and open its Properties.
      • Click on the Tools tab.
      • Click Check Now button.
      • You will be given two check disk options “Automatically fix file system errors” and “Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors”.
      • Check both checkboxes.
      • Click Start. This will initiate the scanning process.
      • Click Close after the scan process is completed.

      If you are using Windows 10 or a lower version then carry out the following steps to repair the USB Flash Drive:

      • Insert the USB drive into the USB port of your system
      • Go to This PC or My Computer>Removable Disk icon.
      • Right click the Removable Disk Icon and open its Properties.
      • Click on the Tools tab.
      • Click “Rebuild” button
      • Let the scan process get completed. Close the scan window once it’s completed.
      • Right-click the icon of the USB flash drive and “Eject”. Then remove the drive from the USB port.

      Hopefully, this would help you solve the problem else you can try recovering your USB data using a professional usb drive data recovery tool.

      Most data loss issues can be solved by using a professional USB flash drive data recovery software. You can free download such program and install it on your PC to begin scanning the device and recover data. Try Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Windows that supports scanning of large capacity USB drives and traces inaccessible or formatted files with their attributes and size intact.

      How to Recover Files From a Corrupt USB Flash Drive using Stellar Data Recovery Professional?

      You may restore your important files, documents, pictures, and more from a corrupt USB flash drive easily with the help of the professional data recovery software i.e. Stellar Data Recovery Professional. This DIY software can retrieve all types of files from a corrupt, inaccessible, or formatted USB drives.

      You just need to follow the given steps to get back your data:

      1. Download & install Stellar Data Recovery Professional on your Windows PC.

      Free Download Button

      2. From the ‘Select What to Recover’ screen, click Everything or select specified data, and click Next. [See Image 1]

      Stellar
      Image 1: Software Home screen displaying “What to Recover” options to allow selection of specific data

      3. On Recover From screen, choose the drive and click Scan. [See Image 2]

      Stellar
      Image 2: Software screen displaying the storage locations (folders & drives) to select for the scanning process

      4. The scanned results will show on the screen. You may preview the files before recovering them.

      5. Select the files you want to restore and click Recover. [See Image 3]

      Stellar
      Image 3: Select Scanned files to recover

      6. Browse and choose the desired location to store your retrieved data. [See Image 4]

      [Caution: Do not save the recovered data in the same USB drive. Always use another drive or storage media to save this data to avoid data overwriting.]

      Stellar
      Image 4: Browse location screen

      7. Click Start-saving and wait till the process is complete. [See Image 5]

      Stellar
      Image 5: Choose the desired location to save the recovered files

      Now that you have safely recovered the files from the corrupt USB flash drive, proceed further to fix USB drive corrupt due to logical reasons with the following methods:

      Recovering Files from Physical Issues.

      If you have a physical error such as a broken connector, circuit board, NAND memory chip of the drive, then the hardware needs to be replaced or repaired. Doing-it-yourself can lead to even worse situations. Better you get help from the experts in this area. You can hire any trusted data recovery company like Stellar Data Recovery which is specialized in recovering data from a physically damaged USB drive.

      Below we have mentioned solutions to some common causes of physical issues with your USB drive.

      a. Broken Stems and Connectors, & Dead Drives (no power to the USB):

      A common indication of the physical errors is some kind of error messages or troubles that you see after connecting the USB. Common error messages are “Please Insert Disk into Removable Disk” or “USB Device Not Recognized or Malfunctioned”, “you need to format the disk before using it”, RAW partition, dead or unresponsive drives, and damaged controller chips and/or circuit boards.

      If the silver USB connector is broken or the circuit board is damaged it leads to power supply cut-off to the USB.  In such case, soldering and circuit repair is required. It’s not advised to do it yourself as if anything goes wrong, you may permanently lose access to your USB and also it’ll reduce the chances of getting your data successfully recovered or sometimes impossible. To deal with above physical errors, specialized equipment and expertise are required. So better you hand over it to some professional and let them deal with the scenario.

      b. Error: “Please Insert Disk into Removable Disk”:

      This error occurs when the flash drive controller software becomes corrupt. It can also happen if there are some issues with the NAND memory. The above error can be caused by low grade or generic NAND memory chips. With a frequent number of reads and writes, the state of the drive turns worse.

      The error indicates that there is some issue with the NAND memory chips. Most probably the metadata stored in the NAND memory is corrupted or wiped and it can’t be mounted then, thus turning the drive unreadable. Whenever you try to read the drive, you will get the error message “Please insert a disk into Removable Disk”. Also, if you try to check the drive size, it usually shows its capacity as 0 MB. As the device cannot be mounted on windows, if you check Device Manager under Disk drives, a different name for the USB drive will be listed. Also, the Disk Management shows a drive letter with No Media.

      In such case, you need to search for manufacturers that perform USB data recovery or flash drive data recovery.

      c. Undetectable USB Flash Drive:

      You may not be able to use your USB drive because of some problems with the USB port, not with the USB drive. So, before performing any repair of the USB drive also make sure that the USB port is working fine.

      To test the USB Port remove the USB drive, reboot your computer, and test the USB drive again. See if it works. It is possible that one port may not be working but all others are working fine. So try each port of your computer. If this doesn’t help, try the USB drive on some other computer.

      Sometimes, the Installed copy of Windows OS may not be able to recognize your USB drive due to some USB version limitations.

      You can fix an undetectable USB Flash Drive by drive recognition:

      • Go to Start> Control Panel> Device Manager.
      • Expand the list next to “Disk Drives” option.
      • You can see a down facing arrow over your USB drive. Double click it and choose the option to “Enable Device“.
      • Click Next.
      • Click ‘Next’ again.
      • Finally, click Finish.

      After this, you need to assign the drive letter. To do so follow given steps:

      • Go to Start>Control Panel>System and Security>Administrative Tools then choose “Computer Management”.
      • Right, click the USB drive. Select the option to “Change Drive Letter and Paths”.
      • Click ADD and then click OK.
      • Now, assign any available drive letter to the USB drive by clicking it.
      • Right, click the USB to designate it as “Online”.

      If this fails, Windows automated “Fix it For Me” service can resolve the issue. If this also doesn’t help, then modifying the system registry will help you tackle the issue. We wouldn’t suggest you go for this option as it may harm your OS.

      Conclusion

      A USB Drive can become corrupt or unresponsive by any way of Logical or Physical issues. However, you can always securely use a professional USB data recovery tool like Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Windows to recover files after your USB Drive becomes Corrupt or Unresponsive.

      In case of any query, do let us know in the comment section below!

      Was this article helpful?

      No NO

      About The Author

      Oliver Powell linkdin

      Oliver Powell is a Data Recovery Expert at Stellar®. He is a passionate technology blogger & content creator, He explores new applications and has deep understanding of data recovery. He has experience in Windows & Mac data recovery domain.

      246 comments

      1. Hey, I have used this software for recovering my data from my inaccessible USB drive. It works perfect for me, and I would like to say thanks to its developer for developing such a helpful tool for us. Thanks for sharing the post with us.

      2. Hi, My 64 GB Core Micro Flash Drive has suddenly stopped working. I insert it in and sometimes it shows in my computer as Removable Disc (G) but when I try to click it, it says please insert Removable Disc (G) other times it does not show up at all. It does show up in Device Manager as Generic USB Flash Disc USB Device but there is no down arrow to enable the device, I have tried to assign the drive a different letter and uninstall and reinstall all to no avail. Could you please, please help me? I’m worried that I have lost over 10,000 songs! I am not comfortable formatting anything, nor am I comfortable tampering with my computer’s hard drive. The tool you recommended, with all due respect I don’t want to try as 1 GB free is not a lot compared with my 64 GB drive.

        1. Hi Rose,

          I can understand the problem you are facing and I feel sorry for it. For this, I would like to suggest you to try your drive into some another working system to check whether it is working properly or not.

          Else, I can recommend you to go for our paid software, i.e., Stellar Windows Data Recovery – Professional (mentioned above), if the data which you have is worth more for you. This software can easily detect your drive and can recover your lost/deleted data from it.

        1. Hi Umaru,

          You’ll get your required information once you purchase the above-recommended software.

          If you still face any problem, feel free to ask us.

          Thanks.

      3. Good day sir. I’ve already reformatted the drive and partially the drive works properly. However, as I plug it out for few hours the files that are stored in become corrupted. (e.g., 1.MP4 files may be played but it corrupts in the middle and wont be able to continue.
        2. Pictures’ thumbnails are shown yet if you’d click it to preview the picture wouldn’t be shown.
        3. docx files are fine at the first save yet after plugging it out and inserting it to other computers it suddenly turned somewhat Chinese characters and etc.) How could I possibly fix this issue?

        1. Hello Rustom Gaton,

          Please provide the following information, so I can help you out with the best solution:

          Can you please explain the exact situation how the drive is partially working fine?
          Are some of your hard drive partitions working fine or you are talking about the one particular drive?

          Thanks.

      4. …I’m flipping out.
        since, ALL my files are saved & transferred in my USB last night (the Files are extremely important. no kidding. I’m serious), and ALL of them just dissapeared this morning!!!
        I don’t know how, why or what the reason is.
        I just inserted it into a public comp, then as soon as I open to find for my files,
        ITS. NOT. THERE.
        WHERE DID IT GO WRONG?!!
        Is the problem the Computer? USB? My Files? Me??

        1. I advise you to first of all connect your USB to your system and open a File Explorer in it. After opening it, go through a View option displayed at the top and then click on the Hidden Files. It will list all those files which are hidden in your device.

          If the above-recommended solution doesn’t help you in resolving your query, then, I suggest to go for a data recovery software mentioned above to recover your valuable data.

          Good Luck!!!

      5. HI sir,
        i am having the following problem, the pen drive gets detected by the pc but when i insert it a dialog box pops up saying that i need to format the usb in order to use it but when i try to format it , it says that windows was unable to format it. I have tried using the disk part in cmd( i get an error when i type in “create primary partition”) , i have used ease us, rufus, even i have tried deleting all the usb serial bus controllers and then restarting the pc, But nothing has worked , also while formatting ,the capacity of the pendrive is shown as 64mb while actually it is a 4gb pendrive. Is there anyway to solve this issue, Thanks in advance 🙂

        1. Hi Prithviraj Podder,

          If diskpart didn’t work for you, then I would suggest you to try another solution to format your drive and recreate new volume. Use disk management to format your drive, just open the disk management Window and do right click on the drive and choose format option to format your drive quickly. After formatting the drive, you will find that partition listed as unallocated just do right click on the drive and chose “create new volume” option. I believe this will work for you.

          Thanks!

      6. Hi
        I think my flash drive are corrupted and I always format it, but the problem never resolve. I try the step andbit always said that I need to install new operating system. How to intall new operating system for the flash driveb or usb drive. I wish you could help me.

        1. Hello Daryll Bartolome,

          It seems your flash drive is not compatible with the Windows version you are using. The flash drive needs to be updated. Just go to the device manager, do right click on the drive listed there and choose update driver software option. After updating the driver software reinsert your drive and check if it starts working fine.

          Thanks.

      7. Hello sir i already download ur software and tried it but still my file inthe usb still cannot view.yes it recover the file/document but still it is still corrupted.i cannot view my document.please help.

      8. Hi Team,
        My name is puneeth. Yesterday to create a USB bootable hardisk instead of selecting the pen drive I have selected 1 TB USB hard disk and after clicking to create bootable USB in power iso , I realized and suddenly disconnected the drive within seconds. But it is showing 931 GB free with folders in unreadable format when i reconnected the USB hard disk. Is it possible to recover the data from USB hard disk now ? Please advise on this.

        Regards
        Puneeth

        1. Hi Puneeth,

          Yes, you can recover the data from your USB hard disk.

          For this, I advise you to download our software on your system and connect your 1 TB USB hard disk to it. After running this software, you’ll get all your data back.

          Before attempting the above task, I suggest you not to use that 1 TB USB hard disk, so as to avoid the issue of Overwriting.

          Kindly Acknowledge.

      9. My 1 Year Old 8 GB SanDisk USB was not connecting with my laptop. Also, data it was carrying with it was very much dear to me and I don’t want to lose it any cost. Discussing this problem with my system engineer, he immediately recommend Stellar data recovery software for fast recovery. I immediately purchase it from the official website along with Product Key on my Email id. And now, I have recovered all my data with complete satisfaction. Thanks for the blog.

      Leave a comment

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      Image Captcha
      Refresh Image Captcha

      Enter Captcha Here :

      Related Posts

      WHY STELLAR® IS GLOBAL LEADER

      Why Choose Stellar?

      • 0M+

        Customers

      • 0+

        Years of Excellence

      • 0+

        R&D Engineers

      • 0+

        Countries

      • 0+

        PARTNERS

      • 0+

        Awards Received