Start with the device state you have
If the USB drive mounts, opens slowly, appears empty, shows RAW, or asks to be formatted, scan it before making changes. Formatting, repairing, or copying test files to the device can reduce the amount of old data still available for recovery.
Rule out simple connection issues
USB drives can fail because of ports, hubs, adapters, or unstable power. Try a direct port, avoid loose adapters, and keep the drive still during scanning. If the device disconnects repeatedly, the connection or hardware may be the main problem.
When software may not be enough
If the USB drive never appears in Disk Management, Finder, Disk Utility, or the operating system device list, recovery software may not be able to read it. In that case, repeated plugging and unplugging can make a failing device worse.
USB recovery on Windows
On Windows, check whether the USB drive appears in File Explorer and Disk Management. A drive letter is useful but not always required; the more important signal is whether Windows can see the device, capacity, and partition layout.
USB recovery on macOS
On macOS, check Finder and Disk Utility. If the device appears in Disk Utility but the volume will not mount, scan before erasing. If the device never appears at all, the issue may be physical or controller-related.
Quick Scan vs. Deep Scan for USB drives
Quick Scan is the best first pass for recently deleted files because it can preserve names and paths when metadata remains. Deep Scan is better for formatted, RAW, or damaged USB drives, but the results may be organized by file type instead of the original folder structure.
How to avoid overwriting recoverable data
Do not save recovered files back to the same USB drive. Even a small recovered batch can overwrite old data that has not been restored yet. Choose your computer drive, another external disk, or cloud-synced local folder as the recovery destination.
