The FOUND.000 folder is created by Windows CHKDSK to store recovered file fragments, usually as .CHK files. This guide from MiniTool Partition Wizard explains what the FOUND.000 folder is and provides methods to recover files from Found.000 folder in Windows 11/10.
Wondering how to recover files from the FOUND.000 folder in Windows 11/10? FOUND.000 may contain .CHK files created by CHKDSK when it detects file system errors.
Although some files may be recoverable, changing a .CHK file extension alone does not guarantee successful recovery.
This guide explains what the FOUND.000 folder is and provides 4 practical methods to recover files from FOUND.000.
What Is the Found.000 Folder?
The FOUND.000 folder is a hidden system folder that Windows may create when CHKDSK detects file system errors.
It can contain recovered file fragments saved as .CHK files, such as File0000.chk. FOUND.000 is usually located in the root directory of the affected drive and may be hidden by default.
If you need to recover files from FOUND.000, the first step is to locate and access the folder on your drive. Here are the detailed steps.
Also read: What Is the Found.000 Folder and Should You Delete It?
How to Access Found.000 Folder?
As the above content mentioned, the Founnd.000 folder is a hidden folder. So, you need to change some settings in the File Explorer first when you try to access the Found.000 folder. Here’s how to do it:
Step 1. Press the Windows and E keys to open the File Explorer window.
Step 2. Go to the View tab and check the box of Hidden items. Then you can see all the hidden files including the found.000 folder.
How to Recover Files from the Found.000 Folder?
Method 1. Convert Files of Found.000 Folder into Original Format
Changing the CHK file extension to its original format is the easiest way to recover data from Found.000 folder. For example, if your lost files are JPG files, you can do the following steps to get the lost files back:
Step 1. Open the File Explorer window, and then go to the View tab.
Step 2. Tick the File name extensions box to show properly the file extensions.
Step 3. Create a text document on your desktop.
Step 4. Double-click it to open, and then type “ren *.chk *.jpg”, and press the Ctrl + S keys simultaneously to save it. (You can replace .jpg with the file extensions you need, such as .xls, .png, .mp4)
Step 5. Right-click the text document and select Rename. Next, change the .txt suffix to .bat.
Step 6. Copy the .bat file to the Found.000 folder. Double-click it to run and then all the .chk files will switch into .jpg files.
Method 2. Use CMD to Recover CHK Files
Command Prompt is a built-in tool that comes with Windows. You can run different commands through it for a variety of purposes, including recovering files from the Found.000 folder, checking for disk errors, etc. To use it to recover .chk files from Found.000 folder, you can do as follows:
Step 1. Press the Windows and S keys simultaneously to open the Search window.
Step 2. Type “cmd”, right-click Command Prompt under Best Match and then select Run as administrator.
Step 3. Type the following commands, and press Enter after each command:
- cd/ (The command “cd” stands for change directory, and “/” means changing the root directory.)
- X (Replace X with the letter of the drive, which contains the Found.000 folder).
- cd Found.000
- ren *.chk *.jpg (Replace .jpg with the file extensions you need, such as .xls, .png, .mp4).
Step 4. Once done, you can recover data from Found.000 folder successfully.
Method 3. Restore CHK Files from Previous Versions
If you have enabled File History or turned on the System Protection of the local C drive before, you can also try to recover files from Found.000 folder via the Previous Versions feature. Here’s how to recover .chk files from Found.000 folder via the Previous Versions feature:
Step 1. Open the File Explorer window and find the folder where your lost files were stored instead of the Found.000 folder.
Step 2. Right-click the folder and select Properties.
Step 3. In the pop-up window, navigate to the Previous Versions tab, and then choose a version you want to restore.
Step 4. Next, click the Restore button, and then the program will copy the original file back into the folder.
Method 4. Use MiniTool Partition Wizard
If you cannot recover files from the FOUND.000 folder by renaming .CHK files, try using data recovery software.
MiniTool Partition Wizard can scan the affected drive for recoverable data and restore the files to another location.
Here’s how to recover files from FOUND.000 with MiniTool Partition Wizard:
Step 1. Click the Download button the get the MiniTool Partition Wizard installation package. Then follow the on-screen instructions to install it on your PC.
MiniTool Partition Wizard DemoClick to Download100%Clean & Safe
Step 2. Launch it into its main interface and click the Data Recovery option from the top toolbar. Next, select the partition where your lost files were stored previously, and then click Scan.
Step 3. Wait for the scanning process to complete.
Step 4. Once done, tick the files you want to recover and click Save. Choose a safe location to save the recovered files and click OK.
In Conclusion
How to recover files from Found.000 folder? We have summarized 4 feasible ways in this post. If you have any better solutions, please share them with us in the following comment area. In addition, you can send us an email to [email protected] if you encounter any problems with MiniTool Partition Wizard.
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