Video files are very important for us. They hold our memories, moments and experiences of the past. Thanks to advancements in hardware we are able to store a large collection of videos at ease on PC or laptop. But the sad fact is that sometimes they can be deleted due to various reasons, not by choice but sometimes it happens.
What Are the Common Causes of Video File Loss?
Video file loss usually occurs due to human mistakes or wrong operations done on devices that we intended to recover from. Some of the most common causes include:
- Accidently erase a video file from your PC/laptop by selecting Delete (or Shift + Delete) on the computer keyboard.
- Formatting of system or hard drive on which the video was stored.
- Corruption due to virus attack.
- Disconnect devices from the computer improperly.
- Accidental power outage while copying a video file.
- Try to recover storage space on the computer by deleting ‘unwanted’ files.
- Reset laptop without taking a backup of all the important data.
Some people tried to recover their deleted videos by restoring the system to an earlier point in time. While this only restores the system state of that particular moment and not the personal files; Some people continued working on their computer after video deletion, thereby overwriting recoverable data with fresh files. If this happens, there’s almost no hope of retrieving the video.
When you accidentally erase or damage a video file, the sooner you recover it, the better.
How to Recover Deleted Videos?
Normally, when you delete a video, it goes to the Recycle Bin folder of your computer. The user might open that folder and recover it if he or she wants. It’s also worth noting that if you have maintained Windows Backup or System Image on a regular basis, your chances of retrieving the video are still quite good.
If your videos are neither in the trash nor backed up, things are going to get a lot more difficult. It’s not completely out of the question, however. Though video files are deleted, they do not get wiped off immediately from the hard drive or storage media. This makes it possible to recover deleted videos using software like Stellar Data Recovery.
Recover Deleted Videos from Recycle Bin
The first thing you should do when a video has been deleted is utilize the Undelete option on all PC operating systems, which is Recycle Bin. The Recycle Bin retains most of the deleted files and folders until you empty it.
To recover a video from Windows 11’s Recycle Bin:
- Select the “Recycle Bin” option from the drop-down menu in File Explorer.
- You can now browse through the files that were deleted. Select your video and then “Restore” to restore it. As soon as it’s done, your video should appear in its original folder or any other location where you had originally stored it.
Recover Deleted Videos from File History
For Windows 7, 8.1, 10, 11 users, it is important to have a backup in place to secure personal files against data loss or overwriting. This works well for most cases of video file deletion.
To recover deleted videos on Windows 11 using File History:
- Open the search in Windows (pressing the Windows key + S is the keyboard shortcut for this) and search for “File History”. Select “Open”.
- To restore your video, connect the external hard drive that contains backup data and then select “Restore personal files”.
- Select the video file that you want to recover and press “Restore”.
Windows users can use File History to restore deleted videos, assuming that the files were backed up on an external hard drive or network. This process is simple and straightforward; however, it may not work if the video was recently created or if there is no backup data available.
Recover Deleted Videos from Dedicated Data Recovery Software
As shown above, you should always try to recover deleted videos using system features first. If the file is not in the Recycle Bin or system backups, then it’s time to turn to dedicated software that can scan storage devices for video files and restore them back to their original location.
Stellar Data Recovery is highly recommended to the users—it’s a powerful tool that can retrieve deleted files from internal/external hard drives, SD cards, USB flash drives, smartphone memory cards, and other storage devices. In order to recover deleted videos, download and install the program on your PC.
Free Download Stellar Data Recovery (Standard Edition)
Note: Stellar Data Recovery is a freemium data recovery program for Windows and macOS. It can recover deleted files and folders, along with videos, photos, text files, and audio files. Its free edition performs up to 1 GB scan and recovery of data. Its most basic paid edition—the Standard Edition, costs $49.99 and can be used to recover as much data as you want.
The steps required are as follows:
- Launch Stellar Data Recovery, and then choose a recovery file type based on your needs: in this case, it’ll be “Video”.
- The software will present a list of all storage devices detected in the system. Choose the storage location where you deleted your video, and click “Scan”.
- The program will then proceed with scanning your chosen drive for any recoverable videos.
- It will show you a list of found files and give you the opportunity to preview them before recovering. If it’s the video you’re looking for, go ahead and recover it.
So, for cases where you have accidentally or intentionally deleted a video that is too important to lose, Stellar Data Recovery will help.
Conclusion
It is very common that we delete some video files accidentally and then just found out that the video is actually important and we don’t have it anymore. So what can we do to recover deleted videos?
Actually, there are many ways that you can try to recover deleted videos. For example, you can use Stellar Data Recovery software or other video recovery tools for this job. It may help you retrieve the lost/deleted files back with ease. You can try to use free software or service since there are many free video recovery tools on the Internet. But if you want a professional yet safe solution, please don’t hesitate to choose Stellar Data Recovery. It not only helps to recover deleted videos, but also any other files that you have lost. And it is 100% Safe.