Losing your music library can be devastating. All those hours spent curating playlists and acquiring rare tracks are wasted in an instant. But don’t panic just yet – it is possible to recover deleted music in many cases. This comprehensive guide will walk you through various methods to restore your lost tunes, depending on how and where they were stored.
How music files get deleted
Before looking at recovery methods, let’s first understand the common ways music files get deleted in the first place:
- Accidental deletion – You may have accidentally deleted files yourself using the keyboard delete command or emptying the recycle bin.
- Hard drive failure – Hard disk crashes can lead to complete data loss, including music files.
- Formatting drives – Formatting your hard drive or external storage devices erases all data.
- Corruption – Viruses, system errors, and power outages can corrupt music files beyond access.
- Theft – Having your laptop, external hard drive, or music player stolen also leads to losing music.
Knowing the cause of deletion will help determine the best recovery method to use.
How to recover deleted music from your computer
Let’s first look at options to recover music deleted from the hard drive on your computer:
1. Restore from Recycle Bin
If you accidentally deleted files from your computer, the first place to check is the Recycle Bin on Windows PCs or Trash on Macs. This is where deleted files are temporarily stored before being permanently erased.
To restore from Recycle Bin:
- Open the Recycle Bin – Right click on desktop icon or go to start menu.
- Look for your music files.
- Select the files and click Restore to retrieve them to their original location.
If your music is not in the Recycle Bin, it means it was deleted through formatting or other ways that bypass this storage.
2. Use file recovery software
If music is not in the Recycle Bin, your next option is to use dedicated file recovery software. These special programs scour the hard drive and recover deleted files. Some popular ones include:
- Recuva – Free recovery tool from Piriform with deep scan support.
- EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard – Recovers files deleted from Recycle Bin, partitions, and external devices.
- Stellar Data Recovery – Advanced paid software with RAID, Virtual machine and encrypted volume recovery.
- Disk Drill – Mac and Windows support with preview during scanning.
Here are the general steps to recover deleted music using file recovery software:
- Download and install the recovery program on your computer.
- Run the software and select the drive partition to scan.
- It will scan the drive for recoverable deleted data.
- You can preview files during the scan itself.
- Select the music files you wish to recover and restore them.
- Save the recovered music files to another drive.
Advanced paid software like Stellar have better recovery success rates for completely lost or formatted music. But free software can also recover deleted songs in many cases.
3. Retrieve from automatic backups
If you had enabled automatic backup for your music library, you can retrieve deleted songs from those backups. Here are some places you can check:
- Time Machine – Macs by default create hourly backups to external drives with Time Machine.
- File History – Windows has the File History tool to do automatic backups to external drives.
- Cloud storage – Services like iCloud, Google Drive and Dropbox may contain copies of your deleted music.
You can browse through older versions of your music folder in these backups and restore missing files that were deleted recently.
4. Try System Restore
Windows has a built-in System Restore functionality that maintains snapshots of the operating system at different points of time. You can rollback the system to an older restore point to retrieve deleted files. Do note that System Restore only works if you had set up restore points earlier.
Follow these steps for System Restore:
- Go to Control Panel > System > System Protection
- Choose a restore point before your music was deleted
- Click Scan for affected programs to see deleted files.
- Click Restore to rollback to selected restore point.
- Your deleted music will be restored.
5. Recover from external drive backups
If you regularly backed up your music library to an external hard drive or devices like USB stick, you can recover deleted files from those backups. Just connect the external device to your computer and copy back the missing music files.
6. Consult a data recovery service
For difficult cases like physical drive failures, you may need to consult a professional data recovery service. But keep in mind this can be an expensive proposition.
A reputed data recovery company with a Class 100 Clean Room can attempt to recover damaged drives by opening up the hard disk in a dust-free environment. If the music files can be read, they will recover it to another external media.
7. Re-download or re-rip music
If all else fails and your music is completely lost, the only resort may be to re-download the songs or re-rip music from CDs again. You can try finding sources to re-download purchased digital music or pirate them from torrent sites. For CDs, plug in an optical drive and rip the tracks again.
Recovering music deleted from USB drives
Portable USB drives are common storage devices used to store music files and transfer between different devices. But these drives are also prone to physical damage and accidental file deletion. Here are some tips to recover deleted music from USB drives:
- Use recovery software to restore deleted files from USB devices. Programs like Recuva work well.
- On Windows PCs, USB drives may have a Recycle Bin allowing restores.
- If drive shows up as Raw partition, use TestDisk to recover partition table.
- For a USB stick that is physically damaged, seek professional data recovery services.
- If music was deleted a while back, you may be out of luck for USB devices.
How to recover music deleted from SD cards
SD cards used in phones, tablets, cameras, and other gadgets are prone to corruption that can erase your music library. Here are tips for recovering media deleted from SD cards:
- Use recovery software like Disk Drill which has SD card scanning capability.
- For Android phones, apps like Dumpster can restore deleted files.
- On Windows/Mac, insert the SD card and preview it for recoverable files.
- If the SD card is still readable but files are missing, recovery is possible.
- In case of physical damage, take it to a data recovery center.
How to recover music and media deleted from iPods
Before the rise of smartphones, iPods were widely used portable media players by Apple device owners. Recovering deleted music from an iPod is tricky but possible in some cases. Here are some things you can try:
- Restore your iPod to an earlier state from within iTunes to retrieve media.
- Use third-party iPod recovery software like iSkysoft Toolbox.
- Jailbreak your iPod and use data recovery apps from Cydia store.
- Take it to Apple Store and ask if technicians can recover any media.
- For older iPods, recovery is difficult if music was deleted awhile back.
Tips to avoid losing your music library
Prevention is always better than cure. Use the following tips to avoid losing your music collection in the first place:
- Maintain at least 2 backups – whether to external drives or cloud storage.
- Don’t save all music on your computer. Also use external devices.
- Enable Recycle Bin protection and System Restore on Windows.
- Setup automatic backups via Time Machine or similar software.
- Store music across different devices like computer, mobiles, USB drives etc.
Following best practices for data backup is key to preventing permanent loss of music and media due to deletions, corruption, or computer crashes.
How to recover playlists and metadata of music
Being able to recover the actual music files is one thing. But you also want the playlists, metadata like song details, album art, and other information associated with the music. Here are some tips for recovering the extra data along with music:
- Recover from music player backups – iTunes and other media apps back up metadata.
- Use advanced recovery tools that restore file timestamps and directory structure.
- Music purchased online can be re-downloaded to get all metadata.
- Manually add back album arts and other data. Tedious but works.
Best music recovery software
Having seen various data recovery methods, let’s look at some of the best music recovery software products:
| Software | Highlights |
|---|---|
| Recuva | Free music recovery tool. Easy to use. |
| EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard | Recovers from deleted partitions. Affordable cost. |
| Stellar Data Recovery | Advanced recovery from all file systems. More expensive. |
| Disk Drill | Mac and Windows support. Preview during scan. |
| iMyFone AnyRecover | Specialized recovery for iOS devices, iTunes. |
Evaluate your specific situation and choose the right software for recovering deleted music files on Windows, Mac, USB drives, iOS devices etc.
Recover music like a pro with these tips
Follow this expert advice to recover deleted music from various devices like a pro:
- First look in Recycle Bin or Trash before more drastic methods.
- Learn how to use data recovery software like Recuva.
- Understand what causes data loss – accident vs hardware failure.
- Determine if music was lost from computer vs external device.
- Restore from automatic backups where available.
- Handle portable music players like iPods separately.
- Learn how metadata like playlists is stored and recover accordingly.
- Keep backup habits to avoid needing recovery in the future.
Understanding the common causes for data loss and learning how recovery tools work can help you retrieve deleted music successfully. Backups and multiple copies remain the best insurance against losing your tunes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it possible to recover music after a factory reset?
Recovering music after a factory reset is difficult but chances improve if you immediately avoid writing new data to the storage. Use music recovery tools before adding anything new. The more you use the device, the less likely recovery becomes.
Can you recover music after a clean install of Windows?
Music can potentially be recovered after a clean install of Windows using file recovery tools. The process will be easier if the deleted music was stored on a separate partition or drive not formatted during OS reinstallation.
What is the best free deleted music recovery software?
Recuva and EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free are considered among the best free deleted music file recovery software for Windows and Mac. They can restore media files lost to accidental deletion, formatting, corruption etc.
How do I recover music from a broken MP3 player?
From a broken MP3 player, music recovery becomes difficult but chances improve if internal storage is still intact. You can try professional data recovery services to extract media by opening up the device in a clean room environment.
Is it possible to recover music files after reinstalling Windows?
Yes, music files can be recovered using data recovery software even after reinstalling Windows. As long as the partition or drive with your music library has not been formatted, recovery of deleted media files may be possible.
Conclusion
Losing your prized music collection can be devastating. But don’t give up hope just yet. Using the comprehensive recovery techniques outlined, there is a good chance your deleted tunes can be restored and the music playback can continue.
The key is to act fast before temporary storage like Recycle Bin is purged. Storage devices and cloud backups are your friends when it comes to recovering lost media. Follow best practices going forward to avoid needing data recovery!