💡 Before starting, there are some essential tips for maximizing your data recovery success:

Tip 1. Stop using the drive immediately to prevent data overwriting or further damage at the first sign of data loss or errors.

Tip 2. If a mechanical drive emits clicking, grinding, or buzzing noises, stop all operations. As those noises are serious warning signs that a hard drive is failing. If it’s an external drive, disconnect it. If it’s an internal drive, shut down your computer. In such cases, you’re highly recommended to contact a local professional data recovery service instead of DIY recovery.

Tip 3. DO NOT installing data recovery software on the affected drive to avoid overwriting data. You can boot recovery software on a USB drive instead.

Tip 4. Use reputable data recovery software like RecoveryFox AI to restore your files.

Tip 5. Always save recovered files to a different drive, cloud storage, or external device. Saving to the original drive may overwrite unrecovered data, rendering it permanently lost.

TIP 6. Act quickly after data loss. The longer you wait, the higher the chance your lost data gets overwritten by new files.