How to Recover Lost Partitions on External Hard Drive Mac/Windows 11/10

Did you lose partition accidentally on an external hard drive? Don't worry. You can quickly recover the partition along with the data. This article will share how to recover a lost partition on an external hard drive. And we will share the step-by-step instructions.

Let's begin!

Part 1. How to Recover Deleted Partitions on External Hard Drive Mac/Windows by iMyFone D-Back Hard Drive Recovery

iMyFone D-Back Hard Drive Recovery is suited for both Windows and macOS. It is a simple tool that beginners, as well as veterans, can easily use. You can quickly recover the lost partition and data with a few clicks.

D-Back Hard Drive Recovery is a complete and all-in-one solution for your data. It does not matter how you lost your data; it can recover it. It works in accidental deletion, formatted drives, virus attack, lost partition, system crash, or other scenarios. Using the tool can help you recover the lost data.

It supports many devices, including smartphones, computers/laptops, tablets, SSDs, HDDs, music players, cameras, video players, SD cards, USB flash drives, and many other storage options. It is an all-in-one tool to recover lost data from your devices.

Another distinct benefit of D-Back Hard Drive Recovery is its advanced video and image analysis techniques. It detects if the File is damaged in any way. The videos and images are repaired during the recovery process. Thus, there is almost no chance of losing any data.

D-Back Hard Drive Recovery can be downloaded for free. The data scan and preview are also free as many times as possible. Moreover, you can also recover a few files using the free version. Thus, you can quickly satisfy the tool using the trial version and buy the premium version.

The installation of the app is pretty easy and quick. It will hardly take seconds to install the application on your computer.

Steps to Recover Lost Partition on External Hard Drive Using D-Back Hard Drive Recovery:

Step 1. Download D-Back Hard Drive Recovery and then install it on your computer. The installation process is easy and quick.Connect the external drive to the computer. After installation, launch it on your computer. In this case, click on Can't Find Location" tab.

Step 2. Now select the drive you want to scan.

Step 3. When you click on a drive, the scanning begins. The software does a quick scan that hardly takes a few seconds or a minute. After that, it starts the deep scan. After completing the recovery process, you need to select the suitable files for the recovery. The files are filtered according to their types and format on the left.

Step 4. Click on the Recover button. Select the destination. Click on OK. D-Back Hard Drive Recovery will save your files to the desired location.

Part 2. How to Recover Accidentally Deleted Partition without Software

Sometimes, you don't see the partition in the File Explorer because of the missing drive letter. It is because Windows cannot assign a drive letter to the drive. In such a case, the partition is lost. However, you can still assign a drive letter to the partition independently. You will get the lost partition in no time and without any software.

Method 1. Using Disk Management

The first method is using Disk Management, a built-in Windows feature. It helps you delete, format, and change the partition's storage. You can use it for free and recover the partition.

Steps to Recover the Deleted Partition:

Step 1. Connect your external drive to the computer via a USB cable.

Step 2. Open Control Panel. Go to System and Security. Under Administrative Tools, click on Create and format hard disk partitions.

Step 3. You will see a new window of Disk Management. There will be all partitions and drives, including the external drive. Right-click on the drive and click on Change Drive Letter and Paths.

Step 4. You will see a popup. Click on Change. To select a new drive letter. Then click on OK.

Method 2. Using Diskpart

Diskpart is a command interpreter that is run via DOS. It helps create disk partitions, manage volumes, and manage the partitions. For this method, you need to use a few commands to change the drive letter of the external disk. After changing the letter, you will see the drive in the File Explorer.

Steps to Assign Drive Letter Using Diskpart:

Step 1. First, you need to open the command prompt. Type "cmd" on the Windows search bar and hit Enter. On the command line, type "diskpart" and hit Enter.

Step 2. Type "list volume" and hit Enter. It will show you the volume of the partitions.

Step 3. You need to select any volume to change its drive letter. Type the following command,

select volume X

Remember to replace the letter X with the volume number (1,2, 3, etc.)

Step 4.Finally, you need to assign the drive letter. Type the following command.

assign letter = D

The letter will be assigned to the drive after hitting the Enter.

Step 5. Close Diskpart and command prompt. Check whether the external drive is recovered or not.

These two methods do not always work and can't protect your data in a 100% safe way. Using D-Back Drive Recovery, you won't worry about the data loss cause you can directly recover the lost data at a 100% success rate and 100% secure.

Part 3. What Causes the Lost Partition

There are multiple causes of the lost partition. Let's have a look at them.

• Accidental Deletion: The first cause of lost partition is unintentional deletion. Sometimes, users deleted the partition unintentionally.
• Virus Attack: The partition disappears from the File Explorer due to a virus attack. The removal of the virus is necessary in this case.
• Power Failure: Sudden power failure also causes various issues with the partition. You might not see the partition after the failure. 
• New Partitioning: When you create new partitions, old partitions are deleted automatically. Thus, you will not see them.
• Bad Sectors: The bad sectors in the partitions make it lost. It would help if you cleared the bad sectors first to see the drive.
• Corrupted File System: The partition is not shown in the File Explorer due to a corrupted file system and errors.

These were only the cases of the lost partition. If you have lost the partitions, it could be due to the above reasons.

Part 4. FAQs about Partitions Recovery

4.1 Can you recover a deleted partition

Yes, you can recover the deleted partition using iMyFone D-Back Hard Drive Recovery. It is an excellent data recovery that will recover your data quickly. It will scan all your files, and then you can select the files you want to recover.

4.2 How to recover an unallocated partition

If you want to recover an unallocated partition, you must assign a letter to the drive. For that, you can use the methods we have discussed. The first method is using Disk Management. It is an easy method and perfect for beginners. The second method is Diskpart. Some people might not be comfortable with the method because it requires command; however, it is pretty straightforward. There are only a few commands needed.  

4.3 How to recover deleted EXT4 partition

EXT4 partitions are in the Linux operating system. These partitions cannot be recovered through all data recovery tools. The tool should be compatible with Linux. You can also use the TestDisk Data Recovery Tool, but keep in mind that it is like the command prompt, and you might find it a bit difficult.

4.4 How to recover an SSD partition

For SSD partition recovery, you need to follow the same methods discussed in Part 2. You can either use Diskpart or Disk Management. SSD data can be recovered using iMyFone D-Back Hard Drive Recovery. It supports SDDs as well as HDDs. You only need to follow the steps we have discussed in Part 1. You will recover the data without any loss.

Conclusion

There is nothing to worry about if you have lost partitions on an external hard drive. It happens, and there are various ways to recover the partition and the data. We have discussed how you can use D-Back Hard Drive Recovery to recover all your essential files from the lost partition. It is pretty simple, and beginners can do that easily. We have also discussed two methods to recover the lost partitions. You can use those methods and change their drive letters. You can get your partition back. Otherwise, D-Back Hard Drive Recovery is the ideal tool to recover the data, and then you can create new partitions and save that data.You can choose it for Win or Mac. Your Pc decide it.