The lost or deleted files will be saved in the Trash folder. If you cannot find the deleted files in Trash, you can recover them using a third-party data recovery software. The instructions to recover deleted files in Ubuntu through Testdisk utility are mentioned below.
Step 1 - Installing The TestDisk Utility
- Hold the Ctrl, alt, and T keys at the same time to open the Terminal window on your Ubuntu computer.
- Type ‘$ sudo apt-get install testdisk’ without the quotes and press Enter.
- Enter the system password.
- This will install the Testdisk utility on the Ubuntu computer.
- To check if the utility is installed or not, enter ‘$ testdisk --version’ or $ ‘testdisk -v’ without the single quotes.
- You will also see the version of the installed software in the Terminal window.
Step 2 - Run The TestDisk Utility
- Enter the ‘$ testdisk’ command in the Terminal window.
- The description of the installed TestDisk utility will be shown in the Terminal window.
- Also, it displays the following options.
- Create
- Append
- No log
- To create a testdisk.log file, select the Create option using the arrow key. This will recover deleted files in Ubuntu through Testdisk.
Step 3 - Selecting Your Drive
- After creating the log file, the Terminal window shows a list of storage drives that are attached to the Ubuntu computer.
- Select the drive where you have lost the files.
- Use the right or left arrow key to select the Proceed option.
- If you do not see your drive, select the Sudo option and type the system password.
- Note: Some of the drives might not be shown due to security permissions.
- Now, you will see all the drives in the Terminal window.
Step 4 - Selecting partition of your drive
- Once you have selected the drive, its partition table type will be displayed in the Terminal window.
- The TestDisk utility highlights the correct partition type automatically.
- Press the Enter key to continue to recover deleted files in Ubuntu through Testdisk.
Step 5 - Advanced option
To recover deleted files, select the Advanced option and press the Enter key on the keyboard.
Step 6 - Multiple partitions
- If you have multiple partitions in the selected drive, a list of partition lists will have appeared in the Terminal window.
- Select the partition followed by the directory where you have lost the files.
- The deleted files are shown in red.
Step 7 - Restoring the lost files
- Copy the highlighted files, mention the location to save the restored files, and select the C key.
- The TestDisk utility will save the selected files in the specified location.
Step 8 - Removing TestDisk
If you want to delete the TestDisk utility from Ubuntu, enter the ‘$ sudo apt-get remove testdisk’ command in the Terminal window. If you need a remote assistance to recover deleted files in Ubuntu through Testdisk, click the call button.