Full Guide to Recover LOST.DIR Files on an SD Card/Android

What Is the LOST.DIR Folder

The LOST.DIR folder is automatically created by an Android device to save files that are lost or accidentally deleted due to software corruption or other unexpected false. This folder serves as the Recycle Bin for Windows. You can recover LOST.DIR files to get your wanted files back in some cases.

Is It Safe to Delete the LOST.DIR Folder

Some people find that the LOST.DIR folder occupies too much space on their phones, but they don’t know whether this folder can be deleted.

If you haven’t lost important files, it is OK to delete the LOST.DIR folder. Generally, this folder stores files that are not successfully saved due to improper shutdown. But as long as you run the software successfully the next time, these temporary files are not needed.

After you delete this folder, you will find it reappears after you restart the device or any program/app shutdown. Take it easy since the LOST.DIR folder just ensures the security of photos, videos, and other files on your device.

How to Recover LOST.DIR Files

If crucial files are missing from your Android device, you can recover them from the LOST.DIR folder. But before successfully restoring lost files, refrain from restarting your device, as the LOST.DIR folder will automatically restore some files to their designated locations. Thus, your missing files are possibly overwritten in this process, leading to irrecoverable.

Here are three methods for you to recover LOST.DIR files.

#1. Recover LOST.DIR Files by Renaming Its Extension

If there are only a few files in the LOST.DIR folder, changing file extensions makes LOST.DIR recovery easier. You can rename the file extension to make it accessible to other applications.

Step 1: Connect your mobile phone to the computer using the USB cable or insert an SD card through a card reader if needed.

Step 2: Double-click on the File icon on the Taskbar to open File Explorer. You need to look through the left pane to open your Android device.

Step 3: Find the LOST.DIR folder and double-click to open it.

Step 4: Look through the file list, you should right-click on the file and choose Rename to change its extension.

• For pictures, you can change their formats to JPG, PNG, GIF, etc.
• For videos, you can change formats to MP4, WMV, AVI, etc.
• For music files, you can change formats to MP3, WAV, CDA, etc.

Step 4: Click Yes to apply the change. Then, you can check whether the chosen file is the one you need.

#2. Recover LOST.DIR on an SD Card

If numerous files exist in the LOST.DIR folder, you can still recover files easily with professional LOST.DIR recovery software, like MiniTool Power Data Recovery. This section will tell you how to recover LOST.DIR on a PC with this powerful tool.

MiniTool Power Data Recovery is well-designed to fit all Windows systems; thus, you don’t need to worry about incompatible issues caused by this tool. Additionally, this free file recovery software provides a professional data recovery service that helps to recover types of lost files from different data storage devices, including SD cards, external hard drives, USB flash drives, memory sticks, and more.

Step-by-Step Guide on LOST.DIR Recovery

Before starting file recovery, you should get MiniTool Power Data Recovery and install it properly on your computer.

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Step 1: Connect your SD card to your PC via a card reader. Launch the software and ensure the SD card is recognized by the software.

Now, choose the partition of the SD card under the Logical Drives section and click on the Scan button.

Step 2: Wait for the scan process to complete. You can browse the found files during the process but for the best data recovery result, please do not interrupt the process.

On the scan result page, you can expand different folders to find the needed files. You are suggested to go to the Type category list where you can find files according to their types.

There are other features you can use:

• Filter: you can filter out files by setting the file size, file type, file category, and file modified date.
• Search: you can search for the required files by their file names (both full and partial names are OK).
• Preview: you can verify the content of the chosen file to ensure it is the correct one.

Step 3: Add checkmarks ahead of the needed files and click on the Save button to recover files. You should choose another path for these files to avoid data overwriting.

#3. Recover LOST.DIR Files from Android

In addition to MiniTool Power Data Recovery, MiniTool Solutions has specifically designed an Android file recovery software, MiniTool Mobile Recovery for Android. You can use this software to recover photos, App photos, videos, audio, messages, and other data.

You can run this software to recover LOST.DIR files from Android directly. Read this post to learn specific steps to recover files: Do You Want to Restore Deleted Files Android? Try MiniTool.

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Prevent the LOST.DIR Folder Taking Up Too Much Space

People complain that the LOST.DIR folder occupies too much storage space that the phone is run out of storage. Here are some tips for you to avoid this:

• Clear junk files periodically
• Properly eject the SD card
• Back up important files to other data storage devices
• Uninstall unnecessary applications
• Avoid running unused apps in the background

Bottom Line

To sum up, doing a LOST.DIR recovery is not a difficult task with the methods mentioned above. But you are still highly advised to back up files in time. You are welcome to share any problems with MiniTool software with us via [email protected].