How does data recovery work?

You say you do data recovery. If I delete a file then how are you able to recover it? Shouldn't it be gone?

Rachael, Kurri Kurri

Hi Rachael,

Recovering a deleted file is just one type of data recovery we perform.

On all computers when you delete a file it isn’t actually deleted. Instead what happens in that your computer marks the space previously occupied by the file as free.

When you save a new file the computer will find free space on your hard drive and save it there. Until a file is saved over the top of the previous file it can generally be recovered using data recovery software.

Data recovery software will scan the hard drive and look for areas marked as free space that contain data and attempt to recreate the file.

This is why it is important to shut down your computer immediately if you accidentally delete a file and want to recover it. Your computer is constantly saving data to the hard drive as part of its normal operation. Shutting it down will increase the chance that the file can be recovered.