One thing to know first
Stop using it right now, and then relax, because this one is usually fine.
A quick format does not erase anything. It writes a fresh, empty index and marks the whole volume as available, while every file remains physically on the media exactly where it was. The only thing that destroys them now is new data landing on top, so the priority is simply that nothing else writes to that device. Stop using it, stop saving to it, and if it is the drive your operating system runs from, shut the machine down rather than leaving it idling, because background activity alone will write over the very thing you are trying to get back.
Often fixable yourself
Formatted SSD by mistake
An SSD in this state is very often something you can resolve yourself, at no cost, and this page tells you how before it tells you anything about us. Where that doesn't work, the rest explains what the fault usually is and what recovery involves.
What this usually turns out to be
This is the one device on this list where a quick format really can destroy your data, and quickly. On a hard drive, formatting only unlinks the content. On an SSD the operating system additionally tells the drive that every block is now unused, and the drive's own housekeeping then erases those blocks in the background to keep itself fast. That process is called TRIM, it runs on its own within minutes, and once a flash block has been erased there is nothing left to read, not by us, not by anyone, at any price. The honest position is that an SSD formatted some time ago and left running is usually not recoverable, and you should be sceptical of anyone who tells you otherwise.
No moving parts, so an SSD never clicks or grinds. What fails instead is the controller or the translation layer that maps your files onto the flash beneath them.
Quick formatbetter news
The default on every platform. It replaces the index and leaves all file content in place. This is the good case, and it is the common one.
Reinstalled or re-imaged the operating systembetter news
Usually a quick format followed by a comparatively small write. Files outside the areas the installer touched are frequently recoverable.
Full format on Windows 10 or later
Writes zeroes across the whole volume. This one genuinely does destroy the data, and no lab recovers it. Worth knowing rather than paying to find out.
Formatted, then used
Each file written since the format may have landed on top of something you want. Recoverability falls with every gigabyte added.
What to check first on an SSD
- Power the machine off now rather than reading further, if the format was recent. TRIM cannot run on a drive that is not powered.
- Work out how long ago it happened and whether the drive has been running since. Minutes is a different situation from days.
- If the drive was in an external USB enclosure, there is a real chance TRIM was never passed through to it at all, which changes the outlook considerably for the better.
What not to do
Do not run recovery software against it while it is powered and idle, hoping to get ahead of the problem. Scanning keeps the drive powered for hours, which is exactly the condition its background erase needs. And do not pay anyone who guarantees recovery from a TRIMmed SSD.
Try this before you pay anyone
Be honest with yourself about the odds here before spending anything
- If the format was minutes ago, power the machine off now. TRIM cannot run on a drive that is not powered, and that is the only thing that helps at this point.
- Work out how long ago it happened and whether the drive has been powered since. Minutes is a genuinely different situation from days.
- If the drive was in an external USB enclosure, check that, because TRIM is frequently not passed through to USB, and if it was not, this becomes an ordinary and very recoverable format.
- Only if the drive was never powered on afterwards, or was external, is carving software worth running. Recover to a different disk.
This is the one device where a quick format really can destroy your data outright. The operating system tells the drive those blocks are free, and the drive's own housekeeping erases them in the background within minutes. An erased flash block contains nothing at all, not something faint. We would rather tell you that now than take your money to confirm it, and you should be sceptical of anyone who guarantees recovery from a TRIMmed SSD.
How recoverable this is
One of the most recoverable situations there is, provided nothing has been written since. A quick format leaves the file content untouched, and a large share of these are resolved by the reader themselves with free software in an afternoon. The two exceptions that genuinely close the door are a full format on Windows 10 or later, which writes zeroes everywhere, and TRIM on an SSD, which discards the data at the flash level. Both are worth knowing before you spend anything.
What moves it, for your device specifically:
- Whether it was a quick format or a full one
- How much has been written to the device since
- Whether TRIM has run since, because on an SSD that erases the flash rather than merely unlinking it
- Whether the original partition structure can be restored, which brings names and folders back with it
We will not give you a percentage for your device, and you should be wary of anyone who does. Nobody can know what is recoverable until the media has been imaged and read. What is above describes this class of failure; your drive gets its own answer after an assessment, in writing, at no cost.
What it costs
from $249
Deleted, formatted or corrupt (drive healthy)
Files deleted, a drive reformatted, a partition lost, a filesystem that won't mount. The media itself is fine; the map to the data isn't.
What moves a job within its band: capacity, how much of the media is unstable, whether the filesystem is encrypted, and how much of the drive has to be read before the files you need are reachable. You get one fixed figure after the assessment and it does not move afterwards. If we can’t recover what matters to you, there is no recovery fee.
Other faults on an SSD
Next step
Tell us what failed.
Free assessment. Fixed quote before recovery starts. No recovery, no fee. Sydney drop-off or Australia-wide by tracked post.