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How To Access USB Flash Drive Files that Won't Open

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USB flash drives are a very practical way to store and share information quickly and easily. What is less practical, however, is when they stop working and you can no longer access your files.

This FAQ will walk you through how to recover your files on a USB drive that has hidden them.

Access Files on USB Flash Drive that Won't Open

Open a new text document in your flash drive, and enter the following code into the text document: 



@echo off 
attrib -s -h -r /s /d 
cls 
exit

Go to File > Save as, and save the document as unhide.bat.

Close and delete the text document that you've just created. Double-click the unhide.bat batch file. A black command screen will pop up and close on its own.


You should now be able to access your files on the pen drive.

Fix a Corrupt USB Flash Drive to Recover Files

If you still cannot access them, it may be because your USB drive has been corrupted or infected with a virus. To repair any damage done, you can try to run chkdsk.


To do so, press the Windows Key + X. Next, in the Power Users menu, select the Command Prompt option. Click Yes in the window that pops up.

In the Command Prompt window, type chkdsk E: /f /r /x (replacing E with your drive letter), then press the Enter key.

Image: © Aliaksandr Huseu - 123RF.com
Jean-François Pillou

Jean-François Pillou - Founder of CCM
Better known as Jeff, Jean-François Pillou is the founder of CommentCaMarche.net. He is also CEO of CCM Benchmark and digital director at the Figaro Group.

Learn more about the CCM team

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