User Query: "Please Help! My pen drive got infected with shortcut virus. Now I am not able to see any files that I have been saving in the pen drive for the last few years. When I connect it to my Windows 10 PC, I only see a shortcut. Within the shortcut, there is nothing. Can anyone tell me how to recover files infected by shortcut virus from USB? Waiting for an instant solution to this.”

Pen drive shortcut virus is very common these days. It enters your pen drive when connecting to an infected computer or other devices. When a pen drive is infected by a shortcut virus, all the files and folders are converted to shortcut files and do not open. Thus, you will lose all the data stored on that pen drive.

Table of Contents:

1. How To Recover Lost Files From A USB Drive Infected By A Shortcut Virus?

  1. Check Hidden Files and Folders after Shortcut Virus Infection
  2. Recover Lost Data After Shortcut Virus Attack Using a Powerful USB Drive Recovery Tool

2. How To Remove Shortcut Virus from USB Drive?

  1. Antivirus Scan To Eliminate the Shortcut Virus from the Drive
  2. Manually Delete the Shortcut files from the Infected USB Drive
  3. Delete Suspicious Registry Using Registry Editor

How To Recover Lost Files From A USB Drive Infected By A Shortcut Virus?

Method 1 - Check Hidden Files and Folders after Shortcut Virus Infection

Once you are done deleting the shortcuts of files and folders. I recommend you try finding the hidden original files and folders that have gotten replaced or are missing after the Shortcut virus attack.

Here’s how you can unhide the hidden files.

  1. Connect the storage device, which was earlier infected by the Shortcut virus.
  2. Launch File Explorer and click on the View tab from the menu bar on your screen.
  3. All of the files that were hidden will get displayed on your screen. If you have found the missing files, try unhiding them.

Many users use specialized tools to hide their valuable files and folders. Refer to this article to learn how to recover deleted files from the hidden Winmend folder.

I am sure by now you were able to get rid of the virus and reclaim your valuable data. But if the shortcut virus is still giving you trouble, you are wondering how to recover files after a virus attack. I recommend you try a safe yet effective USB data recovery tool.

Method 2 - Recover Lost Data After Shortcut Virus Attack Using a Powerful USB Drive Recovery Tool

Remo USB Drive Data Recovery Software is a highly acclaimed USB data recovery tool. Built with innovative algorithms that help you recover 500 types of files from Pendrive infected by shortcut viruses.
Remo is compatible with the Pen drives of various brands such as SanDisk, HP, Transcend, Toshiba, Kingston, Sony, etc.
Download and recover USB drive data lost after a Shortcut virus attack in simple clicks.

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Recover Files From USB Drive Infected By Shortcut Virus Using Remo

Download and install Remo on your computer. Run the application and connect your infected pen drive to that computer.

Now that you have safely recovered files from the USB drive after getting infected by the dreaded Shortcut virus. It’s time to remove the shortcut virus from the system or the storage device.

How To Remove Shortcut Virus from USB Drive?

Method 1 - Antivirus Scan To Eliminate the Shortcut Virus from the Drive

With millions of viruses available on the web have resulted in a sharp rise in virus attacks. This has led to innovative antivirus tools specifically built to find, identify, remove, and protect your files in the future.

If you think your USB data has been infected by Shortcut virus or any other type of Virus or Malware. Then, running a quick antivirus scan might help you eliminate the shortcut virus and reclaim your valuable data.

Method 2 - Manually Delete the Shortcut files from the Infected USB Drive

Shortcut virus is a type of malware that attacks and infects your storage devices or computers. This malware creates files and folders with shortcuts and replaces them with original files, folders, and other data.

So if you see a lot of shortcut files and folders on your USB drive or your system, one of the best ways to remove this Malware is by permanently deleting the shortcut files.

Method 3 - Delete Suspicious Registry Using Registry Editor

The Shortcut Virus, at times, might have modified and edited the registry. Resetting the Registry can help you regain your valuable USB Drive data after removing the Shortcut virus.

How To Locate and Delete Suspicious Registry Keys to Remove Shortcut Virus From USB Drive?

  1. Type the Windows + R keys and type in the “Regedit” command. Hit Enter button to open the registry settings on your computer.
  2. Follow the following path HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > Current Version > Run.
  3. If you see any keys with random names, numbers, and special characters, quickly select and delete them. This will help you erase the Shortcut virus from the Pen drive.

Conclusion:

We end our long discussion on recovering files lost after a shortcut virus attack. We have discussed two ways to recover files: unhiding the hidden files and a safe yet effective data recovery tool. I have also talked about 3 ways to help you eliminate the Shortcut virus from your system or the infected storage device.
I hope you found this article helpful.