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

Written By Oliver Powell
Approved By Rohit Arora
Updated on 23 Jan, 2024
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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.

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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.

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.

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]

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]

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.]

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

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!

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About The Author

Oliver Powell

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

Abel says:

December 31, 2017 at 6:35 am

i have 16gb flash when i connect to pc i cant see my flash name but other flashes are opened
in the flash very usefull files how can opened my flash & how can get my files or rcover
i think its corrupted or damaged pls help me

Reply
1. Jyoti Prakash says:
  
  January 4, 2018 at 9:29 am
  
  Hello Abel,
  
  Feel sorry to hear about the flash drive.
  
  Please try the below procedures
  
  Common Fixes
  1) Try to change the connecting port and check again.
  2) Run on some other working PC/Laptop
  
  Third Party DIY Software
  Try the demo version of Stellar Data Recovery Professional.
  
  Kindly install the software from the below-mentioned link:
  
  Download Link
  
  After installing the software, please follow the below mentioned steps to perform the scan on your drive:
  
  1. Run Stellar Windows Data Recovery.
  2. From Select What to Recover screen, select the type of data i.e. Everything, Documents, Folders & Emails or Multimedia Files, you want to recover.
  3. Click Next.
  4. On Select Location screen, select Can’t Find Drive from Other Locations
  5. Now click on ‘Scan’ button.
  6. In the Select Drive section all the hard drives/storage device connected to the system are listed with their details. From this section, choose a hard drive/flashdrive you want to scan for lost partitions and click Search. A scan for lost or deleted partitions will be performed in the selected disk or drive.
  7. Any ‘lost partition’ detected, will be listed in the Partition Found section.
  8. From the list of partitions found, select any desired partition and click Scan to continue with the recovery process.
  
  Note: If you can’t find your desired partition in the Partition Found section, you can choose Deep Scan option to perform a comprehensive scan of the selected drive for deleted or lost partition.
  
  Reply
Shaiq Mushtaq says:

December 5, 2017 at 1:15 pm

Hello Sir,
I have a SONY 128GB USB that one is not supported by my phone before its also working in my phone but now i can not access that in my phone. Before its showing USB is write protected & also when i am going to insert in PC then its shown there that format when m formatting that is not also.
And when i am continue without format its not working also its shown in there USB is corrupted .
Kindly help me sir so i can fix that .

Reply
1. Jyoti Prakash says:
  
  December 20, 2017 at 10:52 am
  
  Hello Shaiq,
  
  As informed by you that USB is corrupted. In case you are looking to recover data, Stellar Windows data recovery is your best choice.
  
  Below are the steps to recover USB data.
  
  Download and install Stellar Windows data recovery – professional.
  Connect the problem USB drive you’re trying to recover data.
  Under Select Location’, your problem USB device will be listed
  Select the drive and click on ‘Scan’ button and let software begin scanning the drive.
  The software scans the media and lists all the recoverable files as well as lets you see the preview of files ready to recover.
  Choose any or all the desired files and folders and click on ‘Recover’ button
  
  Reply
Ayan Chandra says:

November 28, 2017 at 6:11 am

Hello Sir,
I have a sandisk 32GB pen drive which was corrupted and also it was not shown in computer when i insert this USB drive.
when I plug it in the computer the flash drive gets really hot. I have tried using different computers and none of them recognize it. Now please tell me what can i do to recover my data.

Reply
1. Jyoti Prakash says:
  
  November 30, 2017 at 7:01 am
  
  Hello Ayan,
  
  Thank You for contacting Stellar Data Recovery
  
  Usually, the reason for pen-drive heats-up due as it takes energy to transfer the files.
  A possible reason is that a component inside the USB has failed and too much electricity passes through the USB.
  
  Kindly download Stellar Windows Data Recovery Professional from the below-mentioned link:
  
  Download Link
  
  Please follow the below mentioned steps to perform the scan on the drive:
  
  1. Run Stellar Windows Data Recovery.
  2. From Select What to Recover screen, select the type of data i.e. Everything, Documents, Folders & Emails or Multimedia Files, you want to recover.
  3. Click on Next.
  4. On Select Location screen, select Can’t Find Drive from Other Locations.
  5. Click on ‘Scan’ button.
  6. In the Select Drive section, all the hard drives connected to the system are listed with their details. From this section, choose a hard drive you want to scan for lost partitions and click Search. A scan for lost or deleted partitions will be performed in the selected disk or drive.
  7. Any ‘lost partition’ detected, will be listed in the Partition Found section
  8. From the list of partitions found, select any desired partition and click Scan to continue with the recovery process.
  
  Note: If you can’t find your desired partition in the Partition Found section, you can choose Deep Scan option to perform a comprehensive scan of the selected drive for deleted or lost partition.
  
  Reply
casejechos says:

November 27, 2017 at 9:30 pm

Hey Jyoti Prakash,
my Kingston USB has 16 GB total capacity but only 6 GB is usable, if i transfer a 1 GB movie for example and add it to the 6 GB files it won’t play it says “CAN NOT RENDER THE FILE”.
I formatted it successfully with FAT32, NTFS & exFAT but no luck.
also tried some third party software like “HP USB Disk storage format tool” but it says media device is write protected.
i even checked my USB for errors in Properties>Tools but no error found.
i believe enabling write caching won’t make a difference.
if you have a Fix for this then please be generous !!
Thanks in advance.

Reply
1. Jyoti Prakash says:
  
  December 19, 2017 at 5:13 am
  
  Hello Casejechos,
  
  Our Support Team coordinate with you and try to solve all your issues
  
  Reply
Dhanunjay says:

November 20, 2017 at 11:35 am

hi sir.. im using sandisk 8gb pendrive… but when i connect to the pc, it shows only 890 mb… how i can solve this prblm… plz sir… plz reply

Reply
1. Jyoti Prakash says:
  
  November 27, 2017 at 9:14 am
  
  Hello Dhanunjay,
  
  Please try to connect the pen drive to another working computer and share the results with us.
  
  Reply
Sam says:

November 17, 2017 at 1:12 am

Hello.. I have a Sandisk micro USB flash drive 32GB that just quit working. The computer is not even recognizing the drive . I tried to look in the device manager and it is not listed. Also, when I plug it in the computer the flash drive gets really hot. I have tried using different computers and none of them recognize it. What can i do to recover the data?

Reply
1. Jyoti Prakash says:
  
  November 27, 2017 at 9:08 am
  
  Hello Sam,
  
  You may take the help of do-it-yourself third-party data recovery software like Stellar Windows data recovery.
  
  Kindly download the demo version and try to view the lost files in the preview section, if the files are visible, you may register the software to save the required files to your desired destination.
  
  Reply
Bhavz says:

October 26, 2017 at 11:48 am

My 16gb usb flash drive connects and disconnects every few seconds so it doesn’t stay connected long enough for me to scan for errors as suggested. Also doesn’t stay connected long enough to copy any files over to my desktop or even delete any files. I can see all the files but then it disconnects. How do I save these files elsewhere?
(I deleted unknown files that were showing on the drive – maybe this caused the problem? (trashes, spotlight etc))

Reply
1. Jyoti Prakash says:
  
  October 31, 2017 at 9:23 am
  
  Hello Bhavz,
  
  It’s really unfortunate that happens with you.
  
  Please try these common fixes
  
  1) Try to connect with other available ports on the laptop.
  2) Update the motherboard & USB drivers.
  
  Reply
Renee Gordon says:

October 24, 2017 at 8:30 am

Hello,

My USB is unresponsive to all computers. I have tried your free scan but it is still not detecting my USB! Is there anything else that can be done?

Reply
1. Jyoti Prakash says:
  
  October 31, 2017 at 9:37 am
  
  Hello Renee,
  
  It’s really unfortunate that your USB is not detected in the preview section of a free scan.
  
  It seems that it some physical errors occur, which is the best deal by our data recovery experts. Please send mail to support[@]stellarinfo.com
  
  Reply
Nani says:

October 22, 2017 at 4:08 am

Hi
My 32 GB USB Cruzer not recognizing and getting heat can i recover data. Its very important data for me. Pls suggest.

Reply
1. Jyoti Prakash says:
  
  October 31, 2017 at 10:13 am
  
  Hello Nani,
  
  Sorry to hear about your USB Cruzer.
  
  As you wish to recover the files so we recommend you to try the demo version of Stellar Windows Data Recovery – Professional from the below-mentioned link:
  
  If the desired files are available in the preview section of the software, then you need to purchase the software to save the file.
  
  Download Link
  
  After installing the software, please follow the below-mentioned steps to create an image of the drive as your drive may contain bad sectors:
  
  1. Run Stellar Windows Data Recovery software.
  2. From Select What to Recover screen, select the type of data i.e. Everything, Documents, Folders & Emails or Multimedia Files, you want to recover. Click on Next.
  3. On Select Location screen, select Recover from Disk Images from Other Locations and click on Scan button.
  4. Now select Create Image option and click Next.
  5. From Create Image screen, select the drive or partition for which you wish to create an image.
  6. To create an image of the entire drive or partition click on Start Imaging.
  7. In ‘Create Media Image to Save’ dialog box, locate the destination where image file should be saved. In the File Name text box, type name. Click on Save.
  8. Click on Scan to start the recovery process.
  
  Reply
Gley Matchoc says:

October 14, 2017 at 11:36 pm

Hi. I tried to use the application as well as the deep scan feature. By any sign of luck, is there still a way where I could recover my file? Thank you!

Reply
1. Jyoti Prakash says:
  
  November 6, 2017 at 9:56 am
  
  Hello Gley,
  
  Unfortunately, if the software doesn’t recover your data, it seems that there is some physical error.
  
  I recommend to visit data recovery services available in your location.
  
  Reply