How to Recover LOST.DIR Files from Android SD Card/Memory Card

What is LOST.DIR Files?

LOST.DIR is a default folder in an Android SD card or memory card. It is automatically created by Android OS as a place to save files in Android when there is an emergency. After that, when Android users reboot the Android device, the files will be restored from LOST.DIR automatically, reducing the data loss issue.

Are files in LOST.DIR folder important?

To answer the question, you should learn in what kind of situations the LOST.DIR folder is created to save important files.

• Android devices unexpectedly crashed or froze.
• Android phone shut down suddenly.
• Apps suddenly flashback.
• SD card in Android device abrupt removed.

From the above-listed situations, you know, for sure, the LOST.DIR folder as well files saved there are very important. Without them, users might suffer a lot by losing files from the Android devices, including but not limited to photos, videos, documents, app data, and so on.

How to delete LOST.DIR in SD card

You can connect your Android SD card with your computer > open the SD card > find LOST.DIR folder, select and delete it from the SD card. However, it’s useless. After you remove it, when rebooting your Android phone, a new one will be created. For me, it is a good place to rescue files from an Android device. There is no need to delete LOST.DIR files at all unless you do not care about the data at all.

How to Recover Files from LOST.DIR with/without PC

Since LOST.DIR folder is the place for Android devices to rescue data in an emergency, you must want to know how to restore LOST.DIR files from memory card/pen drive, or at least how to view LOST.DIR files on Android devices. Let’s get started.

Method #1. How to Retrieve Files from LOST.DIR with PC

As I have mentioned that whenever you reboot or there is a problem with your Android device, the LOST.DIR will be refreshed with new data. In this case, if you want to get back files from LOST.DIR in pen drive, SD card, or memory card on Android, do the data recovery as soon as possible with data recovery software. The sooner you do it, the better result you will get.

The following steps are for how to find lost.dir files on Android external SD card and memory card. Please note that the data recovery software has a separate version for Windows PC and Mac. You can do the following guide either on PC or Mac. It depends on you.

1. Connect the SD card with your computer, letting it be recognized as an external disk.
2. Download and install the data recovery software on your computer. You need to get the right version according to your computer operating system.
3. Launch the data recovery software. In the first window, please hove over the hard drive lists. Click the "Scan" button to let the software scan for LOST.DIR files.
4. When the scanning is finished, you can check and preview the found file. they’re put into a directory. Select the target files and click "Recover" to save them on your computer, not to the original SD card. By default, file extensions for files in LOST.DIR folders are replaced with numeric sequence names. You can easily find the files there.

Method #2. How to Get Back Files from LOST.DIR without PC

To recover files from LOST.DIR without PC, means you want to restore files from LOST.DIR, right? You don’t even need to do it at all. When rebooting the Android device, the currently saved files in LOST.DIR is restored. If you want to find LOST.DIR files on SD card, another way is by adding file extensions.

How to view LOST.DIR files on Android?

All the file extensions are in LOST.DIR folder are replaced by numeric sequence names. If you want to view LOST.DIR files on Android, you need to add the file extensions for them.

1. Connect your Android device with your computer.
2. Open the Android device and locate the LOST.DIR folder.
3. Open the LOST.DIR folder and rename the files with the right file extensions.
4. After then, you can open the files and check the details.

If necessary, you’d better copy and save them to your computer to avoid data overwritten issues happening.

LOST.DIR files is very essential for users since there are key data saved in accidents. It helps people get back what they have lost during the Android crash or incidents. If you have lost important files on Android, you can try to recover files from LOST.DIR folder. The sooner the better. Otherwise, you might face the LOST.DIR folder being replaced or refreshed then there is a new accident. iBeesoft Data Recovery is a great tool for recovering LOST.DIR files from Android SD card.