Recovering Deleted PDF Files Free - 5 ways

Deleted pdf files by mistake? Retrieve them?

Formatted drive and lost pdf files? Storage media inaccessible, important pdf files on the drive?...

There are many cases when users may lose their important files including the PDF format files, this guide shares useful free tool that you may use to undelete pdf files with several simple steps.

5 ways to recover deleted pdf files

Here are five ways to recover deleted PDF files:

1. Check the Recycle Bin/Trash: If you recently deleted the PDF file, it might still be in your computer's Recycle Bin (Windows) or Trash (Mac). Open the respective folder and search for the deleted PDF file. If found, restore it to its original location.
   Remark: It's the easiest way to undelete pdf files if they could be found in the trash of your device/pc.

2. Use File Recovery Software: There are various file recovery software available that can help you recover deleted files, including PDFs. Programs like iCare Recovery Free, or Recuva. Install and run the software, select the desired drive or location, and perform a scan to recover the deleted PDF files.
   Remark: It's useful to run a recovery tool on Windows pcs and retrieve the lost pdf files.

3. Restore from Backup: If you have a backup system in place, check your backup files for the deleted PDFs. Restore the files from the backup location to your desired location on your computer.
   Remark: If there was no previous backup, no good from this point.

4. Cloud Storage Services: If you have stored your PDF files on cloud storage platforms like Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive, check the respective cloud service's trash or recycle bin. Deleted files are often retained in these locations for a certain period, allowing you to restore them.
   Remark: If there was no previous backup, no good from this point.

5. Seek Professional Data Recovery Services: If the above methods don't yield satisfactory results or the PDF files are crucial, consider consulting professional data recovery services. These experts have specialized tools and techniques to recover deleted files, even in complex scenarios.
   Remark: dedicated help but needs a lot cost.

Remember, it is important to act quickly and avoid writing new data to the storage device where the PDF files were deleted to increase the chances of successful recovery.

PDF Data Recovery with Software

If you just mistakenly delete PDF data on your computer, you might simply restore it from recycle bin. However, if the deleted PDF data was not moved to recycle bin, you need to rely on data recovery software.

iCare Data Recovery Free is a data recovery program that is able to work on almost all Windows operating system including personal operating system like Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10 and Windows Server operating system like Server 2000, 2003, 2008, etc. Therefore, you can use this data recovery software on any Windows computer when PDF files got lost in various situations.

Steps to Retrieve Deleted PDF Files

iCare Data Recovery helps recover deleted files on Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10, 11, so you can follow the guide below for deleted PDF files recovery on any Windows OS:

Preparation: Free download and install iCare Data Recovery on a Windows computer. Then, you can run the data recovery software and follow the steps to retrieve PDF files:

Step1. You need to select a proper scan mode after running the data recovery software on your computer.

Step2. Choose the drive where PDF files were lost and then you only need to wait patiently when the software is scanning to search all lost files.

Step3. You can preview and save the PDF files to another drive when the software shows all found data after scanning.

iCare Data Recovery enables you to recover deleted files from pen drive, USB flash drive, memory card, portable hard drive, etc when you accidentally delete PDF from any of those storage devices.

Download iCare Free

How to Recover PDF Files in Different Situations?

Like all other formats of files, you might lose PDF files in many situations. Is there any difference for PDF recovery when it got lost due to different reasons? Well, here are some common reasons for PDF file loss, in which situation you can use iCare Data Recovery to retrieve PDF files:

1. You might mistakenly delete PDF files from hard disk drive and then continue deleting data from recycle bin. You might delete a PDF file from hard drive by pressing Shift + Delete keys or Delete key on your computer. If you shift delete PDF files on PC, it will not be moved to recycle bin.

2. Probably, you save the PDF files to a disk drive after editing or reading it on your computer. However, you accidentally format the disk drive and lose everything stored on it. Or, you might copy all PDF files to a removable disk like flash drive, pen drive, etc in order to move it to another computer, but you format the flash drive or pen drive by error. You will lose all data on the formatted media at once whether you quick format or full format it.

3. Sometimes, you may fail to read or edit PDF files on your computer because system reports the drive which was used to save the data needs to be formatted. Usually, your computer reports such kind of error message due to various reasons like virus attack, bad sectors, improper operation and more.

4. PDF files got lost due to virus infection. When your computer or storage media is infected with virus, it might result in PDF data loss forever. If you meet this problem, you had better not run antivirus software before recovering data because it might erase the PDF files.

iCare Data Recovery supports to recover PDF files after deleting, formatting or disk drive shows not formatted error or turns to RAW file system. Before getting back the lost PDF files, you should prevent overwriting or physical damage to the disk drive where was used for PDF file storage.

About PDF

PDF, namely Portable Document Format, is a file format used in Adobe Systems. You can set text, fronts, formats, colors, graphics, hyperlink, audios, etc in a PDF file. A PDF file can be added to magazine articles, product brochures, etc, which is able to preserve the original graphic appearance. You can edit and read PDF files on computer which runs Windows OS, Unix and Mac OS.

Last updated on Nov 28, 2023

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Data Recovery Software > Howto > PDF Deleted Recovery