Stop using the stick and plug it into a computer
Don't add or save anything to the USB drive once you've lost files — new writes can overwrite what you're trying to recover. Plug it into a computer and recover to the computer's drive, not back onto the stick.
Run Carving Only or Deep Scan
USB flash drives are typically FAT32 or exFAT, so there's no Master File Table for names — use Carving Only (or Deep Scan) and RecoverHelper reconstructs each file by its signature. If the drive is failing or shows as RAW, pick its raw device entry; the bad-sector tolerance skips unreadable areas and keeps going.
Read-only and free for photos
The source drive is opened strictly read-only, so scanning a flaky stick can never make it worse. JPG and PNG recovery is free; documents, video, audio, archives and camera RAW unlock for free by pairing the free RecoverHelper mobile app.