Recover Data from a Damaged USB Flash Drive

Applies to: USB drives, including USB flash drives and external hard drives

My USB drive is broken.

"Hello, I have a damaged SanDisk 4GB USB flash drive that contains important files of over two years. When I plug the drive into the USB port, Windows detects it and says it's ready to use. However, I am unable to access the files on the USB drive. Are there any dead USB drive recovery solutions that can help retrieve data from the faulty USB flash drive?"

By “dead USB drive”, do you mean that you have tried everything possible to fix it, but Windows still fails to recognize the USB drive? Or the USB flash drive shows up as online but is inaccessible, lost, uninitialized, not readable, or shows no media in Disk Management? Actually, as long as your problem is not “USB drive not showing up in Windows”, there's still a chance for you to recover data from this “dead” USB drive and make it usable again, just as described above.

To check if a USB flash drive or external hard drive is damaged, go to This PC > Manage > Disk Management, and examine its status. You can usually spot a corrupted USB device if:

• USB drive not showing up at all in Windows
• USB appears as "Online" in Disk Management but files are inaccessible
• USB shows up as "Lost," "Uninitialized," "Cannot be read," or "No Media" in Disk Management

The first one implies that the USB drive is really damaged, whereas the last two don't necessarily mean a device failure. Your chances of successfully recovering a damaged USB drive vary depending on the specific situation you're in.

Dead USB Drive Recovery Overview

Before we get into how to recover data from a corrupted or broken USB flash drive, you need to figure out if your dead flash drive is recoverable.

If you're getting the first error, your USB drive might be damaged. When your USB flash drive, external hard drive, or SD card is undetected or unrecognized due to physical damage, data recovery is almost impossible. A broken USB can only be fixed by a professional or replaced altogether.

However, if you come across the latter two cases, data recovery is still possible before you decide to trash your USB drive. In these cases, your USB drive may not be physically damaged but fails to work or become inaccessible due to other reasons like RAW file system, unformatted error, and so on.

How to Recover Data from a “Broken” USB Drive

When your USB shows Online in Disk Management, you can directly recover data from the corrupted USB and then fix it. If your dead USB drive shows as Lost, Uninitialized, Not Recognized, or No Media, you need to fix the device with the solutions provided below first, and then perform data recovery.

To recover data from a "broken" USB flash drive or USB hard disk, you'll need the assistance of a third-party software. Utilize the Data Recovery Wizard tool to help retrieve data from an inaccessible USB drive. It supports data recovery from computers or external storage devices after deletion, formatting, or when the device becomes inaccessible.

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Step 1. Run the USB Data Recovery software

Connect your USB drive or flash drive to the computer, and then launch the USB Data Recovery tool on the PC. Select the drive labeled “External Drive,” and then click “Scan” to begin searching for lost files.

Select the USB/flash drive to scan and recover lost files from

Step 2: Scan and search for lost files from the USB drive

Data Recovery Wizard thoroughly scans your USB flash drive/pen drive and locates all lost data. After the scanning is complete, use the Filter feature to locate the files you need.

Step 3: Recover all lost files from USB device

Double-click it to preview the files. Select the files you want to recover, then click “Recover” to save them to a secure location on your computer or another external storage device.

How to Repair a “Corrupted” USB Drive

When your USB drive shows up as "Lost" in Disk Management, it could be due to a damaged USB device or an abrupt disconnection. In this case, reconnect the USB flash drive or external hard drive and activate it (right-click on the USB in Disk Management and choose "Reactivate Disk"). If that doesn't work, use data recovery software to salvage your data as much as possible.

Seeing " uninitialized USB drive"? You can refer to the article on how to fix "Disk Unknown Not Initialized" in Windows 10.

"Cannot read" or "No media" errors might be due to hardware issues or I/O device errors. To fix the problematic USB, you can refer to articles on how to recover from an unreadable USB and how to fix a USB showing 'No media' in Disk Management. Ensure your USB drive is correctly identified by your computer before attempting data recovery.

Bottom line

If the drive still shows up as “Missing,” “ uninitialized,” “unreadable,” or “No media” after trying these fixes, your USB drive is probably truly broken and can't be fixed. If it's under warranty, get it replaced. If not, it's time to get a new one.