Advice Request Recover formatted data from android

[Tiamati]

Sup guys!

I need your help with a very delicate situation. ..my mother-in-law accidentally formatted her phone and asked me to recover some deleted files. She had no backup whatsoever. Is there any way or program (free) to do that? I don't want to disappoint her, but I also don't want to spend money on something that might not work.

Please, give me some advice before she comes back from her bingo night and finds out that I failed her. Thank you in advance.

 

[upnorth]

Start with share the phone vendors name and version, and also what version of Android is installed. Sometimes vendors have their own very well working tools that can be used for free. Normally those are backup tools, and since there is no created backup it's a bit more tricky situation. But try to check any possible cloud backups. OneDrive, Google Drive etc.

 

[Ink]

More details would be beneficial, for example, Android version?

Second question; why was backup disabled?

Your backup data (except what you back up to Google Photos) is erased if:

• You don't use your device for 57 days
• You turn off Android backup

1. Back up or restore data on your Android device - Android Help

Steps you can investigate.

1. Stop using your phone and put it in Airplane mode
2. Check your recycle bin
3. Check cloud backup
4. How to retrieve WhatsApp photos
5. Try Android data recovery apps
6. Android data recovery services
7. Contact the developer

2. How to retrieve lost files on Android: Your guide to Android data recovery

EaseUS is fairly known name in the backup community.
3. Free Android Data Recovery Software - EaseUS Android Data Recovery

The bad news​

Can Data Be Recovered After a Factory Reset?

Since Android 6 Marshmallow, Android devices ship encrypted by default. This means that you don't have to worry about people accessing your deleted data using forensic tools.

Android devices use full disk encryption (FDE) or file-based encryption (FBE) protocols, as well as a TRIM feature that clears and removes data when it is deleted. This eliminates any chance of recovering it once you factory reset your phone.

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However, encryption doesn't mean that your data is entirely gone. Most services now have some kind of cloud backup, where your user data is stored online. Your Google account, for example, may have synced data from your Android device.

4. Can You Recover Data After a Factory Reset on Android Phones?

Photorec (part of testdisk) is a fantastic open source file recovery tool that's my go-to, well respected, pretty easy to use and very good at file recovery as long as the data on the drive has only been deleted, not overwritten. I think it should work for your phone then, as long as the format didn't secure delete / rezero the memory

It's a PC tool, but you can run it on your SD card in a reader, or on your phone's memory if you attach it to the PC as a USB storage device

One thing to be aware of is it will find most files in my experience, but often it loses the filenames in the process, and it dumps every file it finds on the drive into generic folders, so you might have to sift through a lot of files with the extension of the ones you need before you find them, but it is good if you need something important back

PhotoRec

5. How to recover files after formatting android mobile

 

[Tiamati]

Second question; why was backup disabled?

I'd like to know too. She disabled by mistake, i guess. BTW, i'd like to know a way to protect Android configs. So, she can't do this again!!

2. How to retrieve lost files on Android: Your guide to Android data recovery

She also disabled all those options too, including google photos AND whatsapp online backup!

EaseUS is fairly known name in the backup community.
3. Free Android Data Recovery Software - EaseUS Android Data Recovery

I'll try it.

4. Can You Recover Data After a Factory Reset on Android Phones?

It seems to be a factory reset (despite she doesn't know about how she did it). Bad news =/

5. How to recover files after formatting android mobile

I'll try it

Start with share the phone vendors name and version, and also what version of Android is installed.

ASUS _X00TDB: Asus ZenFone Max Pro (M1)
Android 9 (patch 09-2020)

Ty guys!