Can I retrieve deleted voice recordings?

Deleting a voice recording from a phone or other device by accident can be frustrating, especially if the recording contained important information. Many use cases exist that require retrieving deleted voice recordings, including:

Accidental or unintentional deletion
Needing recordings for evidence or documentation

Wanting to access old recordings for sentimental reasons

Today’s smartphones and devices make voice recordings easier than ever, but deletions still happen on occasion. Users often want to recover recordings for evidence, business records, moments captured, memories, and other reasons. Thankfully, solutions exist to retrieve deleted voice recordings like undelete apps, data recovery software, backups, and services. In this guide, we will explore the common ways to recover deleted voice recordings from both mobile devices and computers.

Check Recently Deleted Folder

Many apps and devices like Android phones or iPhones have a ‘recently deleted’ folder where deleted files are temporarily stored, typically for 30 days, before being permanently erased (1). To check if your deleted voice recording is still recoverable:

Open the app you used to record the voice memo (e.g. Voice Recorder, Voice Memos)
Look for a tab or option called “Recently Deleted.” On Android this may be called the Recycle Bin and be located within the Gallery app (2)
Browse the deleted recordings list to see if your file is still there

If found, tap to restore the recording

Act quickly while the recording is still available for recovery, as the app will automatically remove it after a month.

^{[1] https://www.easeus.com/data-recovery/where-do-deleted-files-go.html}
^{[2] https://www.imobie.com/android-recovery/where-do-deleted-files-go-on-android-phone.htm}

Use File Recovery Software

There are a number of dedicated data recovery apps and software available to search for deleted files. These apps scan your entire device’s storage, including unallocated space where deleted files may reside until overwritten. Some of the top recommended recovery software include:

Recoverit Data Recovery – a comprehensive recovery app that searches for various audio files and lets you preview items before restoring them.
Audio Recovery – Android app focused specifically on retrieving deleted audio files like MP3s, calls, ringtones, etc.

These applications scour your storage space to find files marked for deletion. As long as the space hasn’t been overwritten by new data, the software can restore your lost audio recordings. However, its important to avoid saving new data to your device before recovering the files.

Restore from Backups

If you had the foresight to back up your voice recordings, you may be able to restore deleted files from a recent backup. Both iCloud and iTunes allow you to back up an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch and preserve valuable data like voice recordings.

To restore from an iCloud backup, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups and tap on your device. Then tap Restore [device] and confirm on the next screen. iCloud will redownload your most recent backup and restore any deleted voice recordings as long as they were saved prior to your latest backup.

You can also restore from an iTunes backup on your computer. Connect your device to your computer, open iTunes, select your device, then in the Summary tab click Restore Backup. Select the backup you wish to restore from and iTunes will reinstall all of your content and settings as they were at that time.

Restoring a device backup should retrieve any previously deleted voice recordings, provided the backups are fairly recent. Just be aware that restoring also wipes all current data, so save anything valuable before proceeding.

Avoid Overwriting Data

It is crucial to avoid saving new data to the Android device’s internal storage if you want any chance of recovering deleted files. New data occupies the same storage sectors where deleted files reside. So if you continue using your device as normal, there is a significant risk of overwriting deleted voice recordings and making recovery impossible.

For example, if you take new photos, download apps, or save any files after accidentally deleting a voice memo, those newly saved files write over the sectors where your deleted recording was stored. At that point, data recovery software cannot retrieve your deleted audio because the original data bits have been replaced.

Therefore, as soon as you realize important voice recordings are missing, stop using the device’s internal storage. Do not take photos, install apps, or otherwise save new data that could occupy the same storage space. This gives data recovery the best chance of finding your deleted files intact and restoring them successfully.

Use Data Recovery Services

If restoring critical voice recordings that need to be recovered after exhausting all other options, consider enlisting professional data recovery services. Many
organizations specialize in extracting data even when the device has been physically damaged or the storage has been rewritten. Some employ powerful techniques such
as retrieving data from damaged hard drives by opening them in a dust free clean room environment and accessing the platters directly.

These companies use proprietary data recovery tools and expert knowledge to restore files from situations where they appear unrecoverable. They may also access law
enforcement resources and forensics technology not widely available to the public. The most advanced data recovery labs claim to achieve over a 90% success rate recovering
lost customer data.

However, these professional services tend to be extremely expensive, sometimes costing thousands of dollars depending on the complexity and how much data needs to be
recovered. They also typically take at least several days to complete. So data recovery services should only be used for critical voice recordings as a last resort when all
other options to recover deleted files have failed.

Enable Auto-Backup

One of the best ways to prevent losing voice recordings and other important data in the future is to enable auto-backup to cloud storage. Android and iOS devices include built-in auto-backup options that allow your content to be continuously and automatically backed up as you use your device.

On Android 6.0 and higher devices, turn on Auto Backup for Apps in your device settings to automatically back up app data like voice recordings to your Google Drive. Samsung Galaxy devices also have an auto-backup option to save content to your Samsung Cloud account.

For iPhones and iPads, enable iCloud backup in Settings to continuously save information like voice memos, photos, contacts, and more to iCloud. Your content can easily be restored if needed.

Third party apps like Google Photos will also automatically back up photos and videos. Enabling backups to cloud storage services can give great peace of mind that your data is protected from unexpected issues like accidental deletion.

Record to External Storage

One way to help prevent losing important voice recordings is to store them directly on external storage rather than the device’s main internal storage. External storage options include removable SD cards or cloud storage services.

According to this Sweetwater article, external hard drives provide useful benefits for storing recordings:

Back up recordings

Archive recordings long-term
Restore recordings from backup if deleted from main device

So recording directly to an SD card, external hard drive, or cloud storage can serve as a backup if recordings get accidentally deleted from the device’s internal storage. Keeping copies in both locations gives a fallback option.

The external storage also provides more overall space for recordings. And if issues arise with the device, the recordings remain safe in external storage unaffected.

Prevent Accidental Deletion

There are several settings you can enable on your iPhone to help prevent accidentally deleting voice recordings:

Enable extra confirmation prompts for deleting – Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch and toggle on “Prevent Cross-Element Gestures” to require extra confirmation before deleting items.

Disable swipe gestures – Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Swipe Gestures and turn off “Swipe to Delete Gesture” to disable the swipe gesture that allows for quick deletion. You can re-enable swiping if desired once confirmation prompts are on.
Lock down deletion controls – Go to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions to restrict deletion capabilities by locking them down with a PIN.
Create read-only folders – Save your most important recordings in a folder and mark it as read-only to prevent anyone from being able to delete the files.

By enabling some of these settings, deleting voice recordings will require more intentional steps and confirmation prompts to help avoid accidental deletion.

Conclusion

Recovering deleted voice recordings is possible through various methods. First, check your device’s Recently Deleted folder, if available, to see if the recordings are still there and can be restored. File recovery software and data recovery services can potentially find and retrieve deleted files, even if they have been overwritten, depending on the situation.

The best way to prevent losing voice recordings permanently is to have backups enabled, either to cloud storage or an external device. Also consider recording important voice memos directly to the cloud or external storage when possible. Enable auto-backup features on your device if available.

Be careful to avoid accidentally deleting important voice recordings. Consider locking or protecting the files, recording to storage that is less prone to accidental deletion, and frequently backing up your device’s recorded content.

With proper backups, prevention of accidental deletion, and recovery methods as a last resort, you can likely retrieve deleted voice recordings in many cases. But regular backups are key to ensure you don’t lose important audio content.