How to Repair a USB Flash Drive
- Plug your flash drive into your computer. The flash drive should fit into one of the rectangular ports on your PC's housing. If you're encountering ...
- Press ⊞ Win + E to open File Explorer . This opens File Explorer on Windows. You can use File Explorer to navigate to your flash drive.
- Right-click your flash drive's icon. This displays a menu to the right of the drive.
- Click Properties. It's at the bottom of the menu that appears when you right-click a drive.
- Click the Tools tab. This option is at the top of the Properties window.
How to repair a corrupted USB flash drive?
How to repair the USB flash drive on Windows 10
- Click on the “My Computer- Removable Disk” icon. Then right-click the “Properties” tab to the Removable Disk icon.
- Scan; let the computer do the task of scanning and restoring previously corrupt files.
- Finally, right-click the USB pen drive and click on eject to safely disconnect the drive from the computer system.
How to fix a corrupted USB drive on Windows 10?
To update the driver of your USB drive, you need to:
- Right click Start icon and find Device Manager. Open it.
- Find your corrupted USB drive and right click on it. Choose Uninstall device.
- Plug out your drive and plug it in again. Your computer will automatically update the driver itself.
How do I fix a broken USB?
In Windows, follow these steps:
- Insert the USB device into the PC or laptop.
- Open the file manager.
- Right-click the entry for the RAW drive.
- Click Format.
- Select either FAT32 or NTFS from the File system drop-down.
- Give the device a name (label).
- Click Start.
How can I recover data from a damaged USB drive?
You may finish the following operations in order to have a try:
- Recall whether you have saved important files without backups on the broken USB stick.
- If you have, connect the USB stick to the computer. ...
- If the USB stick can’t be detected by computer no matter what you tried, you may need to turn to professionals and pay for the USB file recovery willingly.
Can a damaged flash drive be repaired?
Finally, if the flash drive won't work because of physical damage, you should take it into a tech department or data recovery professional; if that's not possible, you may be able to fix it yourself by soldering the broken USB drive's circuitry to a working USB cable.
How do I fix a corrupted and unreadable flash drive?
Another way to make a corrupted or unreadable USB drive work again is to format it:Press Windows + R keys to bring up the Run box. Type: diskmgmt. ... In Disk Management, locate the unreadable flash drive, check its disk information. ... Choose a file system like NTFS, FAT32 or exFAT and the Perform a quick format checkbox.
How to Fix Corrupted USB Flash/Pen Drive Using Cmd
CMD is your first choice for damaged USB flash drive, and pen drive recovery. Requiring no formatting, it allows you to fix a corrupted USB drive w...
How to Repair Corrupted USB Pen Drive/Flash Drive Without Formatting
If the above method is not workable, just carry out the following steps to repair the damaged USB flash drive without formatting and rescue your da...
Fix Corrupted USB Pen Drive Or Flash Drive Using EaseUS USB Repair Tool
If all the above solutions are failing to help, you can try this last way to repair corrupted USB flash drive without losing data using EaseUS file...
Can you recover files from a broken flash drive?
Yes, broken USB flash drive data recovery is possible using either the built-in Windows or macOS tools or a third-party solution. To do this with D...
Can a damaged flash drive be repaired?
That depends on how badly it’s broken. If it’s just a case or port issue, it’s possible. If the circuit board is broken, the likelihood of repair i...
How do you fix a physically broken flash drive?
How to fix a broken USB flash drive will depend on how badly it’s damaged. If necessary, follow these steps: Find an old USB cable Strip the newly-...
How much does it cost to repair a broken flash drive?
That depends on the extent of the damage. This can cost you anywhere from $150.00 to reattach broken pads to a connector to $300-$500 for “chip-off...
Why is my USB stick not working?
Your USB stick might not be working because of a damaged file system, missing device drivers, malware or virus, or a broken circuit board.
How do you fix a USB that won't open?
You can set the RAW partition as active with the following steps: Press the WIN+R key combination. When prompted, type diskmgmt.msc. Right-click on...
Why can't I see my USB drive in Windows 10?
Most likely the device has been physically damaged, the partition table is corrupt, or the drive has become RAW.
How to fix a broken USB drive?
Step 1: Remove the flash drive's casing. Do this with your flathead screwdriver. Step 2: Use the magnifying glass to inspect the circuit board (PCB) and solder pads.
How to fix a corrupted file system?
Step 1. DOWNLOAD EaseUS CleanGenius on your computer and complete the installation. Step 2. Run the software. Click "Optimization", and then choose "File Showing" . Step 3. Select the drive with a corrupted file system. Tick the "Check and fix file system error" option and click "Execute".
What is a solder pad?
Solder pads are the 4 bits of solder that connect the prongs of the USB connector to the copper lines in the circuit board. If the connector has broken away without causing damage to the PCB or solder pads, continue to the next step. Step 3: Set the flash drive on a hard surface.
How to find files on USB flash drive?
Step 1. Connect USB flash drive to your computer. Open EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard and hover on USB device. Click "Scan" button to start looking for lost files on PC. Step 2. When the scan completes, you can apply the "Filter" feature or the click the search box to quickly find the lost files from USB. Step 3.
How to fix chkdsk?
So, perform data recovery in advance, and then continue with the CMD method. Step 1: Plug in your USB flash drive or pen drive to your computer. Step 2: Go to the Start menu and type cmd in the search box.
What to do if you have a logical error on a pen drive?
After you have checked and fixed the logical error on the pen drive, you can scan your device to see if any data was lost in the process. EaseUS file recovery software can search for any lost files on the device and, if there are any, recover them.
What is a USB flash drive?
A USB flash drive, pen drive, or hard drive is basically a portable storage device. This device is convenient for people to carry their data anywhere they go and use it with various devices. Sometimes, this frequent use of the USB can cause issues, like lead the USB drive to go corrupt.
How do USB sticks get damaged?
One of the most common paths to an unreadable card is when it’s been removed from a computer or laptop, without first safely ejecting the device. Do this once or twice, and you might be lucky.
What to do if USB is bent?
If your USB stick is bent, you can try to carefully bend it back into shape. Use caution with this method.
Why is my USB drive unreadable?
Your USB drive might be unreadable, because of the assigned letter drive. To remedy this, insert the SD/USB device and change the drive letter by following these steps: Press the Windows key + X key combination. Click Disk Management.
How to fix a flash drive that won't open?
1. Plug your flash drive into your computer. The flash drive should fit into one of the rectangular ports on your PC's housing. If you're encountering errors on your flash drive or it won't display its contents, you may need to update its drivers or software using your computer's repair feature.
How to get files off a flash drive?
Windows - Open Start, click the File Explorer icon, and click your flash drive's icon. Mac - Open Finder and click your flash drive's icon. If the flash drive doesn't connect to your computer, you can try taking it to a tech department to see if they can still pull the files off of it.
How to eject a flash drive on Mac?
To eject it, click the eject icon next to the drive in the Finder, or click and drag it to the Eject icon in the Dock when on your desktop .
Why won't my flash drive work?
Finally, if the flash drive won't work because of physical damage, you should take it into a tech department or data recovery professional; if that's not possible, you may be able to fix it yourself by soldering the broken USB drive's circuitry to a working USB cable.
What to do if you choose to seek the services of a professional data recovery company?
If you choose to seek the services of a professional data recovery company, be sure to describe your problems to the best of your abilities to ensure they have the tools and experience for the job.
Where should a flash drive fit on a Mac?
The flash drive should fit into one of the rectangular ports on your Mac's housing. If you're encountering errors on your flash drive or it won't display its contents, you may need to update its drivers or software using your computer's repair feature.
Can a flash drive be 100% free?
A flash drive can never be 100% free, although seeing it as 2.5 from 8 is a bit odd. It's possible there is a driver error, depending on the device. Otherwise try plugging it in again, into another port or computer.
Why is my USB drive bent?
A bent USB drive is another very common occurrence, often caused by people sitting down and bending the drive in their pocket. The next time the customer goes to use the drive with their PC or Mac, they discover the media is damaged.
What happens if you can't access thumb drive?
When you can’t access the data files on your thumb drive through its broken USB connector, there is a “Plan B.”. However, Plan B just happens to involve removing the heat pads, then the NAND chip itself, and piecing its data files together. It’s hard work, requires specialized tools and knowledge, the file recovery process is slow, ...
Can Gillware find a thumb drive?
They’re also easy to lose and easy to damage. And if your flash drive goes missing, Gillware’ s data recovery experts can’t help you find it. Thumb drives should only be used to transfer data from one computer to another, and never to store critical data on a PC or Mac.
Can thumb drives survive a fall?
These “thumb drives” or “jump drives” can survive perilous falls that would put any spinning disk media (such as your portable external hard drive) out of commission. Some can even survive taking a trip through the wash or accidentally accompanying you when you go for a swim.
Is there a moving part in a USB flash drive?
There are no moving parts in your USB flash drive, which is a massive point in its favor for resilience, as it doesn’t have to worry about things like read/write head crashes and platter scratches. All of the data lives on a NAND chip soldered onto the device’s PCB. The flash memory equivalent to platter damage and rotational scoring would be if the NAND chip became cracked or shattered by a heavy impact or crushing force, which is very rare.
The Question
SuperUser reader Rasmus Mathiesen wants to know if it is possible to repair a friend’s physically broken USB drive:
The Answer
SuperUser contributors Chris H, tehwalris, and Annonomus Penguin have the answer for us. First up, Chris H:
How to repair a USB flash drive?
If you are not comfortable using chkdsk, insert the USB drive into the PC through the USB port. Step 1 – Click on the “My Computer- Removable Disk” icon. Then right-click the “Properties” tab to the Removable Disk icon.
How to fix unreadable disk drive?
You can sometimes fix the unreadable drive by enabling the device on the control panel’s device manager. You simply go to start and then control panel in order to access the device manager. Enlarge the list next to the “disk drives option.”. Double click on the arrow facing downwards under this tab option to “Enable device.”.
How to find a USB drive that is missing?
Step 1 – Attach the USB drive to your computer and press on the Windows button at the bottom left of your screen (this used to be called the Windows Start button). As soon as you see a popup, type diskmgmt.msc and hit enter. This will start Disk Management, which is great for detecting any missing drive.
How to use a pen drive in Windows 10?
Step 1 – Insert/connect the USB flash drive or hard drive into the computer system USB port. Step 2 – Windows 10 should automatically detect the USB flash drive. Then, go to the removable disk icon under the “My Computer” icon list. Step 3 – Access the pen drive via right-clicking the properties tab, then click on the Tools tab using ...
Why is my computer not connecting to my computer?
Broken stems, connectors, and dead drives tend to not connect to the computer’s power system. This can bring about many error messages once the drive is connected to the system. The messages will communicate to you that you need to connect and insert the drive into the computer even if it is in the right computer port.
Can a USB flash drive be repaired?
Because they are cheap, USB flash drive repair is not common. Not only are they easy to damage, but file system errors are common and data corruption is a frequent problem we encounter. Improper removal of the USB drive from the computer can be the start of a corrupted USB drive. Issues that require USB flash drive repair can be logical or physical.
How to Tell If Your USB Drive Needs Repairing
Does your computer refuse to detect your USB flash drive no matter what you try? Unfortunately, in such cases, there’s not much to do but recycle and replace the device.
What Are USB Repair Tools?
Multiple solutions fall under the somewhat vague term “USB repair tools”. The term covers:
8 Best Tools to Repair Your USB Drive
The USB stick repair solutions we will see here are the best for dealing with multiple problems. If you know what you’re dealing with, feel free to pick the best USB flash drive repair tool for the issue at hand.
