FAT32 Data Recovery- Guide to Fix or Recover FAT32 File System

🕔 5 minutes read

Summary: Losing data from your USB drive or hard drive can cause serious problems. This complete guide on FAT32 data recovery has everything you need to know about recovering lost data from FAT 32 partition and also repair a FAT32 file system. If you are looking for a quick and safe retrieval of data from FAT32, make use of Remo Partition Recovery Software by clicking on the download button below. 

User Query: Recovering files on damaged filesystem registering as fat32

recover-files-from-fat32
Source: Reddit

Solution: If you've been hit by a similar disaster and your computer files are lost or corrupted, don't give up hope. There are a few things you can do to repair and recover your files from FAT32. One option is to use fat32 recovery software. This type of software is designed to help you restore files that have been stored on a computer in the FAT32 format.

In this article, we have explained how to repair and recover data from FAT32 File System.

Table of Contents

What is FAT32 File System?

FAT32 is one of the earlier file systems that was introduced by Microsoft. FAT which stands for File Allocation Table has different types of file systems like FAT12, FAT16, and FAT32.

With both of its earlier versions being out of use, FAT32 is still being used most commonly in USB flash drives, SD cards, and sometimes in hard drives too.

With the FAT32 file system mostly used by external storage devices, data loss is not an uncommon issue. Before moving on to recovering deleted files from the FAT32 file system let us have a look at some of the reasons behind data loss on FAT32 drives or partitions.

How Does Data Loss Happen in FAT32 File System?

  • Accidentally formatting the drive or partition is the most common reason for data loss on FAT32 or any file system
  • A corrupt partition with a FAT32 file system can also contribute to data loss
  • An improper or failed conversion of FAT to NTFS or any other file system.
  • Virus intrusion can corrupt the file system and make your hard drive faulty
  • Improper partitioning or repartitioning the drive using disk management

How To Recover Data From FAT32?

Performing FAT32 data recovery requires a powerful data recovery tool that can help you with complex FAT32 partition recovery. Not all tools are capable of doing it, hence it is best recommended to make sure you use professional partition recovery software to recover deleted or lost partition data from a FAT32 drive.

Remo Recover - a powerful Partition Recovery Software is the tool you can rely on to get back your data from FAT, exFAT, NTFS, or even RAW drives. Built with an advanced scan feature the software will scavenge your drive to get back files of any format without any hassle.

With a free preview feature to let you judge the success rate of recovery, there’s no reason for you to say no to downloading and trying our tool for free now.

Steps to Recover Data from FAT32 File System

  • Download and install Remo Recover on your Windows PC
  • Launch the tool, and select the FAT32 drive from which you want to recover data. In case, if you want to recover data from an external drive, then connect it to your system
    launch the tool to recover data from FAT32 drive
  • Now, hit the scan button. After completion of the scanning process, you can preview the recovered files from FAT32 for free
  • If you are satisfied with the recovery result, select the files that you want to get back from the FAT32 partition and click on the Recover button
    fat32-data-recovery

Repair FAT32 using Command Prompt to Recover Data from Corrupt FAT32

If you are trying to recover data from an inaccessible or corrupt hard drive then you can try repairing the FAT32 formatted file system using CHKDSK.

CHKDSK is a command in Windows that will look for errors in the file system.

Follow the below-mentioned methods to repair the FAT32 drive using CHKDSK and recover data as well:

  • Make sure the drive with the FAT32 file system is connected to your computer
  • Open the command prompt by typing cmd in the search bar and hitting Enter
  • Right-click on cmd.exe and select Run as Administrator option
  • In the window, type chkdsk followed by the drive letter that is formatted with FAT32, a colon, and /f
    Eg: chkdsk h: /f Where h is the drive letter
    run cmd function to fix memory card errors

After you enter the command and hit enter your Windows will take several minutes to verify your FAT32 file system. By the end of it if you see a text saying Windows has made corrections to the file system then you have successfully repaired your FAT32 file system and recovered data.

If the repairing FAT32 hard drive didn’t help you recover data or if you have a formatted FAT32 drive, then it is recommended to make use of Remo's hard drive recovery software to restore data.

3 Tips to never lose your data from FAT32 drives

  1. Regular backup of data is the key to never losing your data. Switching to smart backup options like cloud backup can be a permanent solution for data loss
  2. Never proceed with process partitioning or disk management without a proper guide if you are not well aware of it.
  3. Always protect your computer with trusted antivirus software and just in case you happen to lose data, make sure you make a smart choice of choosing Remo to recover your data.

Conclusion

We hope this article helped you recover data from Fat32 Partition or File System, If you have any further queries please make use of the comment section below.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to recover data from USB FAT32?

 Follow the below steps to start the recovery process from your FAT32 USB.

1. Download and install Remo Recover on your computer.

2. Connect the USB Drive to the computer via a Card reader or USB Port.

3. Now, Launch the software on your system, select the FAT32 USB drive and click on the Scan button.

4. After completion of the scanning process, a list of recovered files is displayed under the Lost and Found folder or Lost Partition folder.

5. You can preview all the recovered files using the Preview feature for free.

6. If you are satisfied with the recovery results, select the files which you want to restore and hit the
Recover button to save them at your desired location.

How do I recover a corrupted FAT32 partition?

To Recover a Corrupt FAT32 Partition all you have to do is download and install the Remo Recover Software and follow the above-mentioned steps.

How to Format to FAT32 for USB or External Hard Drive in Windows 10?

Follow the below simple steps to Format to FAT32 for USB or external hard drive in Windows 10

Step 1: Connect the USB or external hard drive to your Windows 10 PC.

Step 2: Now, open the File Explorer, locate and right-click on the USB drive, and select the "Format" option.

Step 3:  Set the FAT32 as the target file system, tick the "Quick Format" and click "Start" to start the formatting.

Wait till the process ends and click on "OK" to confirm. And now your USB is FAT32.

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John Harris

Senior Editor, Content Analyst and a fan of exceptional customer service. John develops and publishes instructional and informational content regarding partition management, Windows hot-fixes, data management and computer troubleshooting.

As a tenured data recovery specialist, John shares exceptional insights and blog posts about data loss and data recovery across any storage device. With 8+ years’ experience in writing for Data Recovery for both Mac OS and Windows OS computers, he is an avid learner who always wants to polish and simplify the data recovery process. John passes his free time playing Chess and reading Science Fiction novels.

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