My external hard drive shows used space, but there are no files in it.

"Recently, I encountered an unusual issue with one of my external hard drives. It shows no data, yet the disk space is being utilized. Upon checking the disk properties, I can see the same amount of used space, but when I open the drive, none of my stored files or folders are visible. How can I recover these hidden files? I'm not a computer expert, so could you please provide me with a simple and easy-to-follow tutorial on how to unhide the contents?"

If you encounter a similar issue with files not showing on hard drive but they still exist, don't panic. Most likely, these files have been hidden and become inaccessible. This could be caused by various reasons, such as virus attacks or accidental actions in settings. Usually, you can use cmd, Control Panel, and software to unhide and display the files.

But on this page, we offer you a reliable Data Recovery Wizard tool solution to help you recover hidden files from an external hard drive. You can give it a try whenever you need it.

"Hidden File Recovery Software Tool"

1. Offers complete support to retrieve hidden files from PC/laptop hard drive or external hard drive, USB flash drive, or memory card.

2. This becomes the last resort when the Command Prompt and Control Panel methods fail to restore hidden items.

Data Recovery Wizard Pro is a professional file recovery tool designed to restore lost and invisible data from various storage devices, such as external hard drives, USB drives, SD cards, CF cards, and flash drives. With its powerful recovery capabilities, you can perform external hard drive recovery as shown, retrieving completely deleted, formatted, and hidden files.

Follow these steps to recover hidden files from an external hard drive: 1. Connect the external hard drive: Attach the external hard drive to your computer, ensuring it is properly recognized and functioning correctly. 2. Launch file recovery software: Download and install a reliable file recovery tool such as Recuva, tools Data Recovery Wizard, or Stellar Phoenix Data Recovery. These applications help locate and restore lost or hidden files. 3. Select the recovery option: Open the software and choose "File Recovery" or a similar option. Then, select the external hard drive as the target location for scanning. 4. Scan the hard drive: Click "Start Scan" or "Deep Scan" to let the software scan the entire drive for all deleted or hidden files. This process may take some time, especially for larger hard drives. 5. Preview and select files: After the scan, the software will display all the found files. Preview these files to identify the hidden ones. Hidden files usually have specific markings or are located within a "Hidden" folder. 6. Recover the files: Choose the hidden files you want to recover and click the "Restore" button to save them to a secure location, preferably another hard drive or storage device. Avoid restoring directly to the original external hard drive to prevent overwriting other lost files. 7. Verify recovered files: Once the recovery is complete, check the files for completeness and ensure the hidden attribute has been removed. Please note that file recovery software doesn't guarantee a 100% success rate in recovering all files. Therefore, acting promptly and maintaining backups are crucial in case of issues.

Step 1: Select the virus-infected disk to be scanned

Run an anti-virus file recovery software on your Windows computer. Select the virus-infected disk to scan for lost or hidden files. Note that:

    • If the virus has hidden or deleted files on an HDD, it is advisable to install the software on another disk or external USB drive to avoid overwriting data. • If the infected device is an external hard drive, a flash drive, or a memory card, it is safe to install the software on a local disk of the computer.
Select the location to scan

Step 2: Check all scan results

The "Data Recovery Wizard" will immediately start scanning for deleted or hidden files on your virus-infected hard drive. To quickly locate the files you need, you can use the filter or group by type feature to display only images, videos, documents, emails, and so on.

Filter out deleted or hidden files

Step 3. Preview and Recover Deleted/Hidden Files

Once the scan is finished, you can preview the files that were found. Select the ones you want, then click the “Recover” button. You should save the recovered files to a different secure location on your computer or storage device, and not back to where they were originally lost.

Recover files infected by virus

Video Tutorial: How to Recover Hidden Files from External Hard Drive