Hard drive failed and there is no backup

Stop using the drive. If it failed and there is no backup, we read what is left before we try to repair it.

A loud metal-on-metal click, a buzz, or a scrape means turn the drive off and leave it off. Seagate’s data-loss FAQ says that noise can mean a mechanical failure. Shut the computer down. Do not power the drive again. Do not run a repair tool on it. Seagate’s clicking page says a hard click is loud enough to interrupt conversation. A quiet tick, while the drive still opens your folders, can be the normal sound of a working disk.

A portable drive that clicks once and never shows up can be short of power. Western Digital’s My Passport page, updated in June 2026, covers a drive that tries to spin, clicks, and is not recognized. Use the cable that came with the drive. WD says a cable longer than 18 inches may not power it on. A reel cable or an extension can fail that test even when it is shorter. My Passport drives from before 2007 are listed at 22 inches. Plug into a port on the computer, not a hub. Try a second computer once.

If the drive is quiet, and Disk Management or Disk Utility can see it, copy the files to a different disk before any repair. Apple’s Disk Utility page says to have a current backup before First Aid. The step after a failed repair is to erase the disk. Microsoft’s initialize page says initializing a disk already in use erases the data on it.

The longer checklist, including cloud trash and a phone, is Photos and files lost with no backup. If an old backup turns up and will not open, use Backups will not restore. Restore onto a different disk.

Write down what the drive is doing

Note the time, the drive’s name, and the last file you saved. Write whether it clicks, whether a light is on, and whether any folder still opens. Seagate’s FAQ says to record the symptoms, and what you did just before the failure.

A desktop drive with its own adapter and no light is a power check. Seagate’s USB troubleshooter says to confirm the adapter is connected, try another wall outlet, and plug the adapter into the wall if it sat on a strip.

Stop saving anything new onto this disk. Seagate notes that ordinary programs write while they run. Those writes can land on space you still hope to read.

If the noise is metallic, stop

Unplug an external drive. If a laptop is clicking from inside the case, shut it down and leave it shut down. Seagate says repair software uses the failing drive and can cause a complete failure. The same FAQ says not to format the drive, not to change its partitions, and not to open the case. Open a hard drive only in a microscopically clean environment.

Western Digital, updated in June 2026, does not recover data, does not repair drives, and does not sell replacement circuit boards. A repair voids the WD warranty. The contract is between you and the lab. WD’s warranty note says a recovery service keeps the drive warranty if the lab gives you a letter, on company letterhead, stating that it worked on that drive. WD says many of those partners offer service worldwide. If your country is missing from the list, ask one of them.

A Seagate or LaCie drive that shipped with Rescue uses Seagate’s recovery page. Look the serial number up first. Ship the drive only after the claim is approved and a label arrives by email. Seagate estimates about 30 days from the day the lab receives the media. The time varies with the damage, the parts, and the shipping. Recovered files come back on an encrypted storage device. If recovery fails, Seagate destroys the drive unless you ask them to mail it back. Ask for that return if you may want a second lab to try.

Shipping rules change by country. Customers in the Philippines follow Optical Media Board rules. Customers in South Korea arrange and pay shipping to Seagate’s partner there. Where import costs apply, you are the importer of record. The disk steps above stay the same.

A warranty swap arrives blank. The files you want are the ones still on the failed disk. In Device Manager, open Disk drives and Universal Serial Bus controllers. Open any unknown device with an exclamation mark, and read Device Status. Seagate says code 10, after another cable and another computer, means the drive has probably failed. Choose a lab when you need the files. Choose a warranty replacement when the warranty still covers the drive and the files are replaceable.

If the computer cannot see the drive

Run the connection check once. Then stop powering a drive that still never appears.

On Windows, Microsoft’s disk page applies to Windows 10 and Windows 11. We use this order.

1. Unplug the disk and plug it back in. In Disk Management, choose Action, then Rescan Disks.
2. Shut the PC down. If the drive has a power switch, turn that off too. Start the PC, then the drive.
3. Use a USB port on the PC, not a hub. Microsoft says some ports do not provide enough power.
4. Try another cable. For an internal drive in a desktop, shut the PC down first and follow the PC maker’s manual.
5. Plug the disk into a different computer. If it fails there too, Microsoft says the disk is the likely fault.

Open Disk Management from the taskbar search. Type Computer Management, right-click it, and choose Run as administrator. Then open Storage, then Disk Management. You can also search for Create and format hard disk partitions and run that as administrator.

On a Mac, open Disk Utility from Applications, then Utilities. Choose View, then Show All Devices. Apple says that if the device is missing from the sidebar, shut the Mac down, unplug extras, and check the cable, the connection, and power. The Mac or the drive may need service. Seagate’s troubleshooter also checks System Information. Hold Option, click the Apple menu, and choose System Information. Under Hardware, select USB or Thunderbolt. If the drive is missing there and in Disk Utility, try a second Mac once.

If this computer will not start, you cannot open these tools on it. Move an external drive to another machine for the checks above. An internal drive that is clicking stays in the computer, powered off, until a lab says how they want it packed.

If Windows lists the disk

Find the disk in the lower pane. Read the label before you confirm a dialog.

Microsoft says Initialize Disk is for a new disk with no files on it. On a disk you have been using, initialization erases the data. The troubleshooting page says the usual reason an old disk will not initialize is that the disk is failing.

Match the status you see.

• Offline. Right-click the disk and choose Online.
• Healthy, with a filesystem, and no drive letter. Seagate says to right-click the partition, choose Change Drive Letter and Paths, click Add, and assign a letter. Then copy the files.
• RAW or Unallocated. Leave Format and New Simple Volume alone. Microsoft says formatting erases all data on the disk. A new volume is the wrong step while you still want the files. If the disk is still RAW or Unallocated after a different port, cable, and computer, Seagate says to look at data recovery.
• Healthy (At Risk). Microsoft says you can still read the volume, and the disk may be failing. Copy the files and replace the disk.
• Unreadable. Choose Rescan Disks, or restart. Microsoft says an unreadable disk is sometimes only spinning up. Sometimes it has failed.
• EFI System Partition or Recovery Partition. Leave them. Microsoft says they hold files the PC uses to start and to recover.

A locked One Touch with Hub can look uninitialized until you unlock it. Seagate calls that out for the security-enabled model. Unlock it before you treat the disk as blank.

Copy what opens onto a second disk. Open a photo and a document from that copy. A name in a list is weaker proof than a file that opens.

If the Mac lists the disk

In Disk Utility, with Show All Devices on, select the indented volume and click Mount. Seagate says a volume that will not mount has filesystem trouble. On macOS 10.13 or later, Show All Devices is what lists the physical disk and the volumes under it.

If this disk is the only copy, Seagate says to consider a recovery lab before Repair Disk. If the files are visible, we copy them to another disk first.

First Aid is the repair Apple documents. Select the last volume on that device, click First Aid, then Run. Apple’s page says to move up the sidebar. Repeat First Aid on each volume, then each container, then the device. Skip a row when the button is dimmed. If it asks for a password, use the password you use to log in to the Mac.

When First Aid cannot repair the disk, Apple says to erase it. Erase deletes the files. We stop on that message when there is no other copy, and we send the disk to a lab.

When recovery software is worth running

Software fits a quiet drive the computer can already see. The problem is deleted files, or a damaged filesystem. Seagate’s FAQ says the utility has to save files onto different media. Skip every utility if the drive clicks, buzzes, scrapes, or makes another metallic noise.

On Windows 10 and Windows 11, Windows File Recovery is Microsoft’s app in the Microsoft Store. It searches a local disk, including an external drive, for files gone from the Recycle Bin. It does not search cloud storage or a network share. Use the computer as little as you can. Microsoft says a new file can overwrite the free space where a deleted file still sits, and that this is especially likely on an SSD.

The source drive and the destination drive have to be different. If the PC has only one drive, use a USB drive as the destination. Microsoft says creating a new partition after the loss makes recovery less likely.

Install the app, open Windows File Recovery, and allow the change. Regular mode is for files deleted recently on a healthy NTFS disk. Extensive mode is for a corrupted NTFS disk, an older deletion, or a disk that was formatted. FAT and exFAT use Extensive mode. Right-click the drive in File Explorer and open Properties to see which filesystem it has.

For a corrupted disk on D:, with files going to E:, run:

Winfr D: E: /extensive /n *.jpg /n *.pdf

Type Y to start. Microsoft puts the results in a recovery folder on E:. Ctrl+C stops the scan. If Regular mode misses the files, try Extensive mode when the file type is one the tool supports.

Open what comes back. Then unplug the failing disk.

A drive with no letter, a drive Disk Management cannot see, or a drive that clicks, stays out of this app. Send it to a lab with the notes from the start.

Windows 10 no longer gets free updates. Microsoft says that support ended on October 14, 2025. The recovery app is still documented for Windows 10 and Windows 11.

A copy that might already exist

Microsoft’s disk page says files you stored in OneDrive are still available from OneDrive.com if the hard disk fails. Sign in from a phone before you pay a lab.

Also check mail you sent with the file attached, a second computer on the same account, and an old phone or camera card. The cloud trash albums are in Photos and files lost with no backup. The UK NCSC says cloud sync needs protected older versions, because a deletion can sync too.

If the disk is encrypted

A lab can copy the drive and still be unable to read it. The volume stays locked without the secret.

On Windows, the BitLocker recovery key is 48 digits. Microsoft’s key page says you can need it for a data drive or an external drive, including when you forgot the unlock password. From another device, open aka.ms/myrecoverykey and match the first 8 digits of the key ID on the screen. A work or school PC may keep the key at aka.ms/aadrecoverykey. Microsoft Support cannot retrieve or recreate a lost key. Without the key, Microsoft says the remaining path is a reset, and a reset removes your files.

On a Mac, Disk Utility unlocks a disk with the password you use to log in. A FileVault recovery key is separate. Apple’s password page says it is 24 characters, created when FileVault was turned on. It leaves out the letters I and S, and the numbers 1 and 0. It is a different code from an Apple Account recovery key. On macOS Tahoe 26 or later, look in the Passwords app on another device signed in to the same Apple Account, with iCloud Passwords & Keychain on. Search for “recovery key”. Erasing the Mac removes each user account and its data. We leave erase alone until a lab says the disk cannot be read.

Write the password or the key into the notes that travel with the drive.

Make a backup before the new disk fills up

CISA states the 3-2-1 rule as three copies, two kinds of storage, and one copy kept off-site. CISA’s options paper gives the same rule for files at home. A second folder on the disk that just died was a single copy, in the same room. CISA also says to test a restore, and to know how to reach the files with the internet down.

The NCSC says to keep an offline copy, away from the machine. Keep backups long enough to notice a bad change before they are overwritten. The NCSC says at least a month. Restore one file on purpose before the day you need the backup.

On a Mac, Time Machine is the built-in path. Use a drive with at least twice the Mac’s storage. In macOS Ventura 13 or later, open the Apple menu, System Settings, General, Time Machine, then Add Backup Disk. Set Up Disk may offer to erase that drive, so pick an empty one. If you turn on Encrypt Backup, keep the password. You need it to restore. Time Machine keeps hourly backups for 24 hours, daily backups for a month, and weekly backups after that. Choose Back Up Now from the Time Machine menu. Eject the disk, or shut the Mac down, before you unplug it. When the first backup finishes, follow Apple’s restore steps, put one file in a different folder, and open it.

On Windows, File History copies your libraries. Microsoft names Documents, Pictures, Videos, Music, and Desktop. Connect a drive. Open Control Panel, System and Security, Save backup copies of your files with File History, and choose Turn on. For a folder that lives elsewhere, right-click it, choose Show more options, then Include in library. To test it, right-click the folder, choose Restore previous versions, and use Restore to. Restore on its own replaces the current file, and Microsoft says that replacement cannot be undone.

If the restore fails, or the backup asks for a key you cannot find, leave that media as it is. Backups will not restore is the order for a backup that exists and still will not open. Photos and files lost with no backup is the order for the drive on the desk.

Related playbooks

• Photos and files lost with no backup. The drive died, the phone went in the water, or the folder is simply gone, and there was never a copy.
• Backups will not restore. Backups exist, but they are missing, corrupt, incomplete, encrypted, incompatible, or too slow to use.