Guide · USB sticks and external drives
How to recover deleted photos from a USB flash drive
Photos deleted from a USB stick don't go to the Recycle Bin, so there is nothing to restore with a click. The data is usually still on the stick, though, and comes back well if you scan it before copying anything new onto it.
Do this first
- Don't copy anything onto the stick. New files take the space the deleted photos are still in.
- If Windows asks to format it, click Cancel. Formatting is the one thing that makes the job harder.
- Save the recovered photos to your computer, never back onto the stick.
Why the photos are usually still there
Most USB sticks use FAT32 or exFAT. Deleting a photo marks it as deleted in the stick's file table and frees its space, but the photo itself is not wiped. As long as nothing new is written to the stick, it stays exactly where it was, with its name.
First, make sure they are really gone
Hidden by a virus
A common trick of USB viruses is to hide all folders and leave shortcuts in their place. If your stick suddenly shows only shortcuts, or looks empty but still shows used space in Properties, open Command Prompt and run this (use your stick's letter instead of E:):
attrib -h -r -s /s /d E:\*.*Then scan the stick with your antivirus. If the photos reappear, nothing was deleted.
Copies somewhere else
Photos on a stick often came from somewhere: a phone, a camera, an e-mail, Google Photos or OneDrive. A minute spent checking the original source can save the whole job.
Recover the photos with NicoVault File Recovery
- Plug the stick in and leave it alone – don't open or copy anything on it.
- Download and install File Recovery on your computer. The scan and the preview are free.
- Choose the stick and scan it. The quick scan finds the deleted photos with their names and folders in seconds. The deep scan then looks through the free space by content: JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, WebP, HEIC and camera RAW photos, plus videos and documents.
- Preview the photos. Click any of them to see it. Each one shows its chance: Good, Partly overwritten (it may open with a grey part) or Lost.
- Tick what you want and recover to a folder on your computer. The program will not let you save onto the stick you scanned.
Saving needs a license: €7.99 for a single recovery (7 days, as many files as you need) or €24.99 for lifetime use on one computer. If files shown as Good do not come back and we can't solve it together, you get your money back within 14 days.
“You need to format the disk” or the stick shows as RAW
This usually means the stick's file table is damaged, not that the photos are gone. Don't format it and don't run CHKDSK on it. In File Recovery, choose the stick under Whole disks and scan it: a damaged or deleted partition is found again with its files and folders, and a stick Windows can't read at all is searched by content. Photos found by content are named after the date they were taken.
When software can't help
If the stick is not detected on any computer, gets very hot, or was bent or broken, the problem is the hardware. A recovery program needs the stick to be readable. In that case stop trying and take it to a data recovery lab, because each attempt can make things worse.
| What happened | Chance |
|---|---|
| Photos deleted, nothing copied since | Very good – with names and folders |
| Stick quick-formatted | Good – found by content, named by date taken |
| Windows asks to format / shows RAW | Good – if you didn't format it |
| New files copied after deleting | It depends – some photos partly overwritten |
| Stick not detected anywhere | Not for software – hardware fault |
Questions people ask
Do photos deleted from a USB stick go to the Recycle Bin?
No. Windows deletes files from USB sticks and memory cards straight away, without the Recycle Bin. The data stays on the stick until new files are written over it.
Can I recover photos from a formatted USB stick?
After a quick format, usually yes: the deep scan finds photos by their content. The original names are lost, so photos are named after the date they were taken. A full format in Windows writes over the whole stick, and then the photos are gone.
Will scanning change anything on my USB stick?
No. Scanning only reads the stick. Recovered photos are saved to another drive.
Can I see the photos before paying?
Yes. The free version shows every photo it finds as a preview, with its chance of recovery. You only need a license to save them.
Scan the drive for free
NicoVault File Recovery shows every deleted file it finds, with its name, folder, a preview and an honest chance of recovery. You only pay if you decide to save them.
Windows 10 / 11 · signed installer · about 6 MB · recover from €7.99