DeepRecoveryDesk
User Guide
DeepRecoveryDesk recovers deleted files from Windows storage devices. It reads your drives read-only, never writes to the drive being scanned, and sends no telemetry.
Contents
1. What it can recover
| Source | Needs admin? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Recycle Bin | No | Highest success — the data is fully intact. |
| NTFS drives | Yes | Internal HDD / SSD. Recovers via the master file table; also lists recently-deleted names from the change journal. |
| FAT32 drives | Yes | Older USB / SD cards. |
| exFAT drives | Yes | Modern USB / SD cards. |
| Any drive (Deep scan) | Yes | Signature carving — finds files even after a quick format. |
2. Requirements
- Windows 10 (2004+) or Windows 11, 64-bit.
- For raw drive scanning: a local administrator account (you'll be prompted only when needed).
3. Getting started
- Launch DeepRecoveryDesk. A brief branded splash appears, then the main window opens with three panels: Sources (left), results (centre) and Preview (right). The ⓘ button in the title bar opens an About dialog.
- Pick a source in the left panel. Each drive shows its label, file system and free space. The Recycle Bin is always at the top and needs no special permissions. Use the ↻ refresh button if you plug in a drive after launching.
- Choose a scan mode (left-panel toggle):
- Quick (default) — fast; recovers files whose metadata still exists.
- Deep — Quick plus signature carving of the raw drive. Much slower, but finds files with no surviving metadata.
- Click “Scan for deleted files.” For the Recycle Bin, scanning starts immediately. For a real drive, Windows asks to relaunch as administrator — click Yes. If you decline, the Recycle Bin still works.
- Watch results stream in. The status bar shows progress; click Stop scan any time.
4. Reviewing results
The centre grid lists each recoverable file: name, original path, size, deletion date, source, and a colour-coded confidence:
- 🟢 Green (≥ 85%) — very likely to recover intact.
- 🟡 Amber (60–84%) — good chance; may be partial.
- 🔴 Red (< 60%) — low chance / metadata only.
Search by name or path with the box above the grid (filters live). Click a row to preview it on the right — text, an image thumbnail, or a hex dump, plus size and confidence.
5. Recovering files
- Tick the checkbox on each file you want (use the header checkbox to select all visible).
- Click Recover selected.
- Choose a destination folder.
- Each file is copied and verified with a SHA-256 checksum.
The destination must be on a different drive than the one you're scanning. Writing to the source drive can overwrite the very data you're recovering, so the app blocks it.
6. Tips for the best results
- Stop using the affected drive immediately. Every write reduces the chance of recovery. If you deleted something from your system drive, recover to a USB stick or second drive.
- Recover sooner rather than later — freed space gets reused over time.
- Use Deep scan when Quick finds nothing, the drive was formatted, or you only need common file types (photos, documents, archives).
7. Understanding the limits
- FAT32: deletion erases the cluster chain, so recovery assumes the file was stored contiguously. Fragmented FAT32 files may come back partial (lower confidence).
- exFAT: contiguous files recover cleanly; fragmented files are reassembled from the allocation chain while it survives.
- Carved files (Deep scan) have no original name or folder — they're named like
carved_000123.jpgand may include trailing junk for formats without a clear end marker. - Change-journal entries: when a file was deleted recently but its record has been reused, the app can still show the name and time, but the data is usually gone (shown at low confidence with no preview).
8. Privacy & safety
- All drive access is read-only; the app never modifies a scanned drive.
- No network calls and no telemetry (shown in the status bar).