Deleted MP3 files recovery
Many people use their mobile devices – including laptops, smartphones, and MP3 players – to listen to digital music on a daily basis. Some even maintain extensive digital libraries of digital music on their desktop PCs. In fact, it's not unusual to see a digital music enthusiast spend countless hours downloading, organizing, and listening to their favorite songs.
But what happens when that data is suddenly corrupted, inaccessible, or otherwise lost?
If you maintain a regular backup of your music collection, either on an external hard drive, RAID system, or cloud server, a corrupted music library isn't really a big deal. You can simply restore the original file from your archive.
But what if you don't maintain a regular backup of your music files? What if you just haven't had the time to backup your latest downloads?
Again, some users spend countless hours – and invest hundreds or thousands of dollars – into recovering their lost music files. However, there are some free solutions and utilities available that could spare you from the headache of restoring lost data without affecting your wallet.
Recycle Bin
The first and most obvious place you should check for lost data is your operating system's Recycle Bin. Nearly every major OS in use today has one, although it might be labeled differently. In either case, this is the best place to look for files that have been unknowingly erased.
Since modern operating systems don't usually delete data outright, most files can be recovered. Even if it doesn't appear in your computer's Recycle Bin, there's still a chance to recover your lost MP3s.
File Search
In addition to the Recycle Bin, all major operating systems include search functionality that lets you look for specific files or folders. It's helpful if you know the exact filename of the lost data in question, but you can also filter results according to a specific file type – such as MP3 – to locate all the music files on your hard drive.
This is a great option if you think your lost MP3 file has simply been moved to a new folder, or even if you might have another copy of the file somewhere on your hard drive. If not, however, you'll likely have no other choice but to opt for third-party software.
Third-Party Software
Although some options work better than others, there are a plethora of choices – including paid and free utilities – when it comes to recovering lost data. Many of the options are generic data recovery and undelete tools, but there are some specialty apps that cater specifically to MP3s and other types of digital music files.
Third-Party Data Forensics Services
In the most extreme cases, you might need to enlist the help of a third-party data forensics specialist. For some situations, including damaged, corrupted, or inaccessible drives, this might be your only option for a successful recovery. Keep in mind, however, that these services always come at a premium. Not only are you paying someone for the time spent working on your system, but you're paying them for their expertise in data recovery, too.
