External Hard Drive Recovery
External drives are dropped, knocked off desks, and run out of power mid-write more than any other storage. We recover data from dropped, clicking, not-recognized, and corrupted external hard drives and portable SSDs from every major brand.
Clicking or beeping? Power it off now. Do not run chkdsk, format it, or open the enclosure. Bring it in as-is.
What Happened to Your Drive?
Dropped External Drive
Dropping an external HDD while it's spinning can cause a head crash or platter damage. We assess, image, and recover data using clean-room techniques if needed.
Drive Makes Clicking / Beeping
Clicking or beeping from an external drive means mechanical failure. Power it off — every click risks more platter damage. We perform head-replacement recovery in our clean-room environment.
Not Recognized by Computer
External drives that don't appear in File Explorer or Disk Utility often have a failed USB-SATA bridge, PCB failure, or logical corruption. We bypass the enclosure and read the drive directly.
Asks to Format / Initialize
'You need to format the disk before you can use it' — this message means the file system is unreadable but the data is usually still there. We image the drive and reconstruct the partition without formatting.
Corrupted / Missing Files
Files that appear but won't open, folders that are empty, or files with garbled names indicate filesystem corruption. We repair the file system structure and recover your data.
Enclosure Failure
Sometimes the drive is fine but the USB enclosure has failed. We extract the bare drive, connect it directly, and recover data if there's no underlying drive failure.
Power Surge Damage
Power spikes through USB can damage the bridge chip or drive PCB. We repair or replace the bridge and PCB to restore access to the underlying storage.
Accidentally Formatted
Formatted the wrong external drive? Quick formats don't erase data — they just mark space as available. We recover files from formatted drives before anything is overwritten.
Brands We Support
FAQ
I dropped my external hard drive — can I still recover the data?
Yes, in most cases. The outcome depends on whether the drive was spinning when dropped and what internal components were damaged. If you hear clicking or grinding, power it off immediately. Bring it to us — the sooner, the better. We have a high success rate on dropped external drives.
My external drive is beeping and not recognized — what is that?
Beeping typically means the spindle motor is struggling to spin the platters — often due to a seized bearing or a head stack stuck on the platters. This requires clean-room recovery. Do not attempt to open the drive yourself; dust will permanently destroy the platter surface.
Can you recover a drive that asked to be formatted?
Yes. The 'please format' message means the file system is unreadable — not that the data is gone. We image the drive and reconstruct the partition table and file system, recovering your files without formatting.
How much does external hard drive recovery cost?
Logical recovery (corruption, accidentally formatted, not recognized) pricing depends on the device and required service. Physical recovery (dropped, clicking, head crash) pricing depends on the device and required service. We provide an initial evaluation and written quote. No data, no fee where applicable to data recovery.