[Solved] Recuva Recovered Files Not Opening

Recuva recovered files not opening is an issue that many people have encountered. You can see people have posted that after hours of data recovery with Recuva, only get the message the file formats are not supported when opening the recovered files. There are many cases on Reddit and Quora.

Part 1. Possible Reasons for Recuva Recovered Files Not Working

Gathered the information from the Internet, we can make a conclusion for the possible reasons for why Recuva recovered files not opening.

1. Wrongly operating on Recuva to recover files. Recuva is not simple data recovery. It has many options for data recovery. If you haven’t set up it right, then you might get corrupted files.
2. The scanned hard drive file system is not supported. Recuva only works on FAT, exFAT, and NTFS file systems of Windows.
3. The deleted files were corrupted before Recuva recovered them.
4. Files scanning and recovery are not completed.
5. Files are encrypted.

Part 2. How to Fix Issue Recuva Can’t Open Recovered Files

To fix the issue of Recuva recovered files not opening, you should find out the reason that cause the files not to open, then get the right solutions. Here in the following, the workable solutions are for your reference.

Solution #1. Get to Know How to Use Recuva

Since Recuva is a free data recovery software. It’s really a great tool for people to rescue their data in an emergency. However, since there are many options for this software, you should make clear how to use Recuva correctly in the first place. From its official webpage HOW TO USE RECUVA, you can learn how to use Recuva, Recuva Settings, Recuva advanced features, technical information, and even troubleshooting.

By doing this, you will benefit

1. You’ve learned the right way for how to recover data with Recuva. If you have done it wrongly, then try the correct way.
2. You get to know whether there was any problem when you first did the data recovery with Recuva. If there was, then correct it.
3. You learned whether your hard disk is supported or not. Just right-click on your hard drive and click "Properties" to check the file system of your hard drive. If it is not FAT, exFAT, or NTFS file systems, you should make use of another data recovery software tool for help.
4. You’ve learned how to set up Recuva advanced settings correctly.

For the first solution, you will learn can't open recovered files of Recuva is caused of the software or not. It’s a trial-and-error solution.

Solution #2. Fix the Can’t be Opened Files Recovered by Recuva

If files were corrupted after deletion, Recuva doesn’t have the capability to collect fragments and put together them, fixing the corruption. After all, you know the last update or Recuva is in 2016. Several years passed, it is not updated with the latest technology to recover and fix corrupted files.

In this case, you can try iBeesoft Data Recovery, a professional data recovery tool that comes with the latest technology to fix file corruption during the scanning process. After then, you can preview the fixed files and retrieve them to your computer. It is able to fix corrupted MP4 videos, MOV videos, JPG/PNG pictures, corrupted PDF files, and Microsoft documents. It supports over 2000 storage devices, including SSD, HDD, SD card, USB flash drives, and more. Feel free to give it a try and check the scanning whether having fixed the files not opening an issue or not.

1. Download and install the data recovery software on your computer.

It’s fully compatible with all Windows operating systems, even including the latest OS.

2. Launch the data recovery software for Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7 on your PC.
3. Hover mouse over the hard drive list. Click the "Scan" button beside the hard drive where the can’t open files were.

It’s even better to scan the original deleted files hard drive. It will increase the fixed success rate.

4. Preview recovered files

Wait for the scanning process to finish. After then, you can see the found files in the result window. From there, find the corrupted files, open them, and preview them. If there is no problem, select them and click "Recover" to save on another folder.

Solution #3. Remove File Encryption or Virus

Some files are encrypted by a file system or software. In this case, you can also try to decrypt them. The simplest way is to right-click on a file that can’t be opened, then select properties. In the Security window, in the "Permissions" click Edit, make sure you correct it with full control, like write, edit, read, etc.

Another problem is that virus has infected the files. In this case, you should run security software on your computer to scan the folder or hard drive again, letting the security software remove the virus from the files.

From the above-mentioned ways, you may get a clear mind for how to solve the problem of how to open recovered files from Recuva. The solutions are not complete solutions, but if they can give you a clue to the solution, then we are very lucky.

Recuva is really a popular free data recovery software tool to rescue files. However, it hasn’t been updated since 2016. Its supported hard drive file systems are limited. You can find alternatives to Recuva as well as alternatives to Recuva for Mac users to have a try! Sometimes, the latest tools come with the latest data recovery technology, like fixing file corruption. It will save you time and energy for data recovery.