Dec 16, 2020 • Filed to: USB Recovery • Proven solutions
It's well known that USB Drives are the most reliable device to store and transfer your data. But your USB Drives too can be fragile to the data loss. Many of our readers had reported issues where USB Drive shows empty but it's full, and many had also reported the opposite of it. But in both cases, your data might be at the risk. Thus, you should know the ways to fix the issue where your USB Drive shows empty but it's full actually.
Part 1: USB Shows Empty but It Is Full. Why?
Does your USB Drive show empty but is full? Or is your USB Drive empty but says full? Well, in both cases it can be a very minute and harmless error, or it can be a threat to entire data stored in your USB Drive. Although the USB Drive can be trusted, for the most part, there are instances when it can fail to work, such as the instance mention above where a full USB Drive shows as empty.
Reasons behind USB Drive showing empty but is full or vice-versa:
To permanently clear a USB thumb drive and prevent software-based file recovery methods from retrieving information from it, you can write zeros to USB flash drive. It is one of the most popular methods. It replaces your regular, regular, readable data with zeros. For this task, there are two methods available. Fix Error: USB Drive Says Not Enough Free Space on the Drive But There Is Plenty October 11, 2018 By Xtremerain Editorial Team In daily life, when copying large files to the external hard drive, you are likely to encounter the following error: 'Cannot copy xxx: There is not enough free disk space. I am using a usb flash drive to put documents on and even though it is completely empty of any documents it claims to have less space. I have deleted all documents on the flash drive and even though it is empty it still says that it is just as full as it was with documents on it. (It recognizes that the documents are gone but there is not any space still.).
- The Data stored in USB Drive might have got corrupted due to Malware, bugs, or viruses.
- There might be a connection problem in either your USB Drive or the port of your PC.
- The files in your Drive being intentionally or mistakenly hidden.
- Other kinds of errors such as Drive Letter error, Formatting error, or Directory issues.
Any of these factors, either individually or in combination with other reasons, can lead to certain problems in your USB Drive that results in USB Drive showing empty while still being full.
Part 2: USB Shows Empty but It Is Full. How to Fix?
Now as you know the reasons behind such behavior of your USB Drive, you can now look for the ways to fix it. Depending on the reason for the error, you can use various ways to fix the Drive. Below are some of the ways that you can use to fix your USB Drive that shows empty but it's full.
Fix 1: Show Hidden Files
Hidden files can also be one of the reasons for your USB Drive showing empty even after being full. Thus, try to unhide those files to fix your Drive.
Step 1. Go to, 'This PC' from your Desktop. Inside This PC window, navigate to the 'Change Folder and Search Options' through 'File' at the top left corner.
Step 2. You will see a popup window in front of you titled as 'Folder Options'. Go to the 'View' tab in the pop-up window and look for the 'Hidden Files and Folders' option under 'Advanced Settings'. Now, once you have enabled the 'Show hidden files, folders, and drives' option, you need to click 'Apply' to confirm.
Step 3. Now, you will see all of your hidden folders and files appearing. To open a certain folder, you need to Right-Click on it and go to 'Properties'. Now you will need to disable the 'Hidden' option on the 'General' tab and then click 'OK'.
Fix 2: Check USB Drive for Errors
You can use integrated methods to check the errors of your USB Drive and fix them.
Step 1. Go to, 'This PC' from your home screen. Select the USB Drive that is showing empty but is full. Right-click on it and go to 'Properties'.
Step 2. On the Properties, pop-up menu, go to 'Tools' and click on the 'Check' button under the Error Checking section.
Step 3. You will see two options i.e. 'Scan for and Attempt Recovery of Bad Sector' and 'Automatically Fix File System Errors'. Choose any of the options and click 'Start'.
This method should find and fix the errors in your Drive. You can try to fix the error via both the options one after another.
Fix 3: Run CHDSK Using Command Prompt
If you are familiar with the Command-Line of your Windows PC, then you could try this method to fix your USB Drive.
Step 1. Type 'CMD' on the search panel of your home screen and click on the 'Command Prompt' option that shows in the result.
Step 2. Type 'chkdsk #: /f' and press Enter to give the command in the Command Prompt window. ('#' needs to be replaced with the Drive letter in the command 'chkdsk #: /f').
How to make a screenshot on pc windows 7. Once this command is processed, you might see all of your data reappear, and your USB Drive might show full again.
Fix 4: Scan the USB Flash Drive Via Antivirus Software
If none of the above-mentioned methods could fix your USB Drive, then you should try eliminating viruses and Malware from your USB Drive. There are two ways you can do so.
- You can use Windows Defender, an integrated antivirus program for Windows 10 and earlier, to Quick Scan or Deep Scan your Drive. By using Windows Defender, you can perform Virus & Threat protection automatically and manually as well.
- You can download third-party antivirus software. You can use the antivirus software to scan your Drive for viruses or any other threat and eliminate the threat.
Fix 5: Format the USB drive
At last, the only option left is to format your USB Drive. This method will erase all of your data, but it might fix the issue with your USB Drive.
Step 1. Connect the USB Drive to your System and go to 'This PC' from the Home screen of your PC.
Step 2. Right-click on the Drive you want to format and choose 'Format' from the pop-up menu.
Step 3. On the Format box, configure the process according to your requirement, and click 'Start'.
It's advisable to take a backup of your data before trying this method. But taking backup becomes hard in some cases, thus, you can proceed with the recovery of data after formatting your Drive.
Fix 6: How to Restore Files in USB Using Data Recovery Software? Use Recoverit Data Recovery Tool
If formatting your USB Drive was the only method that worked for you, then you must have lost all of your data. So, it's advisable to recover all of your data from your faulty USB Drive by using the Recoverit Data Recovery tool.
Yes! You can use the Recoverit tool to recover all of your data very efficiently from your USB Drive. Some of the major features of the Recoverit tool makes it one of the best data recovery tools in the market, and it has also been rated the highest by the users.
Recoverit Data Recovery - The Best File Recovery Software
- You can recover all of your data from USB Drive empty due to various reasons like Malware attack, corruption, accidental deletes, damage, etc.
- You can recover data from all kinds of storage drives like USB Drive, SD card, SSDs, HDDs, Floppy Disks, Pen Drive, etc.
- You can preview files before recovering.
- You can even Pause and Resume the scanning process.
User Guide to Recover Data from USB Drive:
How To Empty Usb Flash Drive
Step 1. Selection of USB Drive
Connect the USB Drive to your PC and make sure it gets detected. Once connected, launch the Recoverit tool on your PC. Now, from the Drive Selection window in the tool, go to the 'External Devices' section and choose the corrupted USB Drive you want to recover files from. Click 'Start' for the scanning process.
Step 2. Scanning
During the scanning of your Drive, you can filter the scanning process by selecting a File Type or File Path from the Left-Hand panel. Once the scanning is done, all of your recoverable files from the USB Drive will get listed on the main panel of the window. You can filter the list by using the 'Filter' option at the Right-Hand panel that allows you to apply Date, Size, Type, etc. filters.
Step 3. Preview and Recover
Once you have found the files that you want to recover from the USB Drive, simply use the 'Preview' feature of the Recoverit tool to preview those files. Now, you can select all the files at once, or you can select the files that you wish to recover, and then click on the 'Recover' button at the bottom of the window. Choose the desired location to restore the files on your PC, and then click 'OK' to complete the process.
Once you have completed the procedure, you can simply navigate to the selected location during 'Step 3' and find all of your recovered files from the USB Drive.
Conclusion:
If your USB drive is full and still showing empty, then you should be concerned for your data. You should either try to fix it, or you should use the Recoverit Data Recovery tool to extract all of your data safe from the corrupted USB Drive.
USB Topic
- Recover USB Drive
- Format USB Drive
- Fix/Repair USB Drive
- Know USB Drive
The Recycle Bin exists with different names based on the USB drive file system and the version of the Windows operating system.
Following are the names of Recycle Bin depending on the USB file system:
- On FAT filesystems, it's RECYCLED.
- On NTFS filesystems, it's RECYCLER (excluding Windows Vista).
- On NTFS filesystems on Windows Vista, it's $Recycle.Bin.
If you are looking to access Recycle Bin on external hard drive or USB drive to recover your deleted files, then the first thing you should do is to stop using your USB flash drive.
Since USB drive is not an internal part of your computer, the deleted files from the USB drive will not be moved to the Recycle Bin. They are permanently deleted from your USB drive.
If you overwrite your pen drive by adding new files or updating the existing files, then the chances of recovering deleted data from it will reduce. The only way to recover your deleted files from your pen drive is by making use of Remo Recover software.
Deleted Files from USB drive not in the Recycle Bin
If you are working on a Windows system and accidentally deleted files from your USB drive, then the deleted files do not go to the Windows Recycle Bin. They are permanently deleted. Ever wondered why?
Well, the Windows system does not treat the USB flash drive as a part of the internal system since it is a 'removable' drive. One thing you should keep in mind is that deletion of files on a USB drive is same as deleting files using Shift + Delete on your Windows computer.
How to Recover Deleted files from USB drive not in Recycle Bin?
Utilize Remo Recover which is a specially designed tool to recover deleted files not only from USB drive but also from various storage devices like external hard drive, memory card, SSD, etc. This tool works with powerful algorithms to restore more than 300 file formats like photos, videos, raw-images, documents, Office files, audio files, PDFs, etc. in various data loss scenarios like accidental or permanent deletion of files, missing files from USB, formatted or corrupted USB drive, etc.
Steps to Recover files from USB drive using Remo Recover software
Download and install Remo Recover software on your Windows/ Mac and connect the USB flash drive > Launch the tool and click on Recover Partitions option (in case of severe data loss scenarios like USB formatting, corruption, etc) or click Recover Photos options (in case of accidental or permanent file or photo deletion) > Click on the USB drive option and click Scan button > After the scanning option completes, all your deleted or lost files from the USB drive will be displayed to you > Preview the recovered photos or videos from the USB drive for free > And now, select and save the recovered the files and folders to any location of your choice.
Open My Usb On Windows 10
Know more about Remo Recover
Remo Recover software easily recovers deleted files that are not in the Recycle Bin with ease from Windows or any external storage device. Moreover, this tool is compatible with all the latest versions of Windows operating systems including Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, and its previous versions and macOS Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra, etc. Also, you can make use of this tool to recover deleted files from various file systems such as FAT, FAT 32, NTFS, exFAT, etc.
