Urgent help required, lost all files on internal storage and SD card :(

[alex_ncfc]

I had my Z1 Compact connected to my PC and I was deleting some folders which were empty (one of which was called storage) and it was showing on the actual MTP drive in Windows Explorer on the phone.

I then discovered to my horror that by deleting this folder, I had deleted everything off both my internal storage and also the SD card - I am fuming. How has this happened?!

Anyway, I now can't recover my data either - because all recovery tools need root! I can't mount the phone's internal storage as Mass Storage, and therefore can't run programs like Recuva on it. How can I get my data back?! The phone's internal storage is literally empty and I have lost everything, and I am both gutted and angry, as well as very tired (I have been trying to get this solved all evening)

I need someone to either tell me how to root (I am on the latest 5.1.1 build of Lollipop) or if there is any other way I can recover my files?

Many thanks

Alex

[CameronT]

Hi @alex_ncfc,

I am really sorry to hear about this

I do not have a way to help you restore that data in the default system. Rooting your device may cause further problems so please be aware of that before proceeding, and I am unable to assist you with the rooting process. You can start here, but for further assistance you might need to look at third party forums.

[alex_ncfc]

Thanks for the fast reply.

I am fuming and very angry as I thought I was just deleting an empty folder called "Storage" and it has deleted my entire file system. I can't find the words right now, I've lost all my photos, music, videos, whatsapp chats/backups, ringtones, etc etc.

I really need to be able to root it so I can mount the internal drive as Mass Storage, someone out there must know how I can root?? It was so easy on my previous Xperias.

[CameronT · Accepted solution]

@alex_ncfc,

The third party forum XDA developers have users who should be able to assist you, but please keep in mind that this is not an official Sony forum. I am unable to help with this due to the potential damage that can be done to your phone during the root process.

I do wish you good luck! I hope you manage to restore your data.

As an aside, while this will not help you get your data back this time, it may help prevent data loss in the future. I recommend you use the Google Photos app, as this will do an automatic back up to cloud storage for your photos. For the rest, backup using Xperia Companion.

[Keith5001]

I would get another phone and log into it with my Google account and see if anything was saved like photos etc. Did the windows os put anything in its recycle bin. The companion software can take a backup did you do this. Also the data may be on the file system but as cleared data. The more the device is used the less recovable the data. It might not be worth the effort to get it restored.

[Keith5001]

Have you confirmed that the sd card has been cleared from another phone. I also believed prior to reading your story that USB access would not allow harmful access. Deleting empty Dirs does not gain you space in any case
. They are there for a reason.

[alex_ncfc]

Thanks for the help and suggestions, everyone.

After a very late night, and numerous attempts this morning, I've now accepted my files are gone with no way of recovery. I will definitely learn from this, I usually do a full copy of the Internal Storage to my laptop hard drive every 6-12 months but I will be doing it more often now. The good thing is I was already using Google Photos, so all of my photos up until yesterday afternoon are on there (albeit not in the highest quality, as I opted for unlimited storage at lower quality instead of high quality with 15GB storage)

The thing I am most gutted about losing is my WhatsApp chat logs and received files - I know that they are now backed up onto the Google Drive account too, but I hadn't done this since July, so although I'll be able to restore chats, pics etc from then, I will be missing about 3 months worth. I will definitely be backing up my WhatsApp more regulary to my Google Drive too. I'm also saddened that my music has all gone, as well as my custom ringtones in the correct folders.

I won't bother deleting empty directories again - the reason I did so is because so many apps create them in the root of the drive and it makes it a chore to go through. 

I'm sure there will be other things I remember that I have lost. 

Guess I will be starting from scratch. Which is pretty handy really, as I've just gone and upgraded to the Xperia X Compact.

Thanks again.

[CameronT]

@alex_ncfc,

If you ever want to do a full clean up of your device the best thing to do would be a backup, then a software repair using Xperia Companion. This completely wipes the phone and re-installs Android, so it removes all unnecessary and cluttered data. Just make sure to back up first.