Stop Using the Drive Immediately
Do not write any more data to the USB stick. Every new file can overwrite the sectors that still contain your lost photos.
Select the Proper Scan Mode
For a drive with bad sectors, use Deep Scan (the default). It first runs a Quick Scan and then carves the entire volume, skipping unreadable areas.
If the USB is formatted FAT32 or exFAT, Carving Only also works, but file names will not be restored.
Recover to a Different Drive
RecoverHelper opens the source USB in read‑only mode and blocks same‑drive output. Choose another USB stick, external SSD, or computer folder as the destination.
Free JPG & PNG Recovery and Unlocking All Formats
JPG and PNG files are recovered at full quality without any registration.
After pairing the free mobile app once, every other format—RAW, HEIC, video, audio, documents, archives—becomes recoverable at no cost.
Best Practices for Bad‑Sector USB Recovery
- Preview results before saving.
- Run the scan on a stable computer with sufficient power.
- If the scan stops, resume it; the tool skips bad sectors automatically.
- Store recovered files on a healthy drive and back them up.