How do I recover my downloaded music?

Why You May Need to Recover Downloaded Music

There are several common reasons why you may need to recover downloaded music files that have been lost or deleted:

Accidental deletion – Files can easily be deleted by mistake, through actions like emptying the recycle bin or using the “delete” key accidentally.

Hard drive failure – Hard drives can unexpectedly fail due to age, physical damage, malware, or other issues, resulting in potential data loss.

Corrupted files – Downloaded music files can become corrupted from bad sectors, interrupted transfers, viruses, or other damage, making them unplayable.

Formatting or reinstalling – If you format your hard drive or reinstall your operating system, this can wipe out music files if not properly backed up.

Theft or damage – If a device containing downloaded music is lost, stolen or physically damaged, the files may need to be recovered if no other copies exist.

According to research, up to 94% of companies that experience a severe data loss never recover [1]. With digital music libraries getting larger all the time, it’s important to understand how to recover downloaded files when needed.

Locating Your Music Library Backup

If you previously made backups of your music library, the first step is trying to locate those files. Here are some tips for finding any existing backups:

Check external hard drives and USB flash drives you’ve used for backups. Your music library may still be stored there if the backup is recent.

Look through cloud storage services like Dropbox, IDrive, pCloud, or Mega where you may have uploaded music files (https://www.lifewire.com/best-storage-solutions-for-backing-up-digital-music-2438772).
On your computer, look in folders like Documents/Music or My Music where backup files may have been saved.
Search your email inbox for any automated backup files sent from music applications or cloud services.

Check the native music apps on your smartphone which may automatically back up songs to the cloud.

Locating an existing music library backup will make recovering your downloaded songs quick and easy. But if no backup can be found, don’t worry – there are still ways to try recovering your music library detailed in the sections below.

Checking Your Download History

One of the easiest ways to recover purchased music is to check your download history in the app or web browser you used to download it initially. This allows you to re-download previous purchases without having to buy them again.

In the Apple App Store app, open the App Store app and tap on your profile icon in the top right. Then go to Purchase History to view and download previous purchases.[1]

On an iPhone or iPad, you can also go to Settings > Your Name > iTunes & App Store Purchases to find your download history. On a Mac, check the App Store app > Purchases.

For the Google Play Store app, open the app and tap the hamburger menu icon in the top left. Go to My Apps & Games > Library to see your download history and reinstall apps.[2]

On the Google Play website, you can visit play.google.com/store/account and click Order History to view and download previously purchased apps, games, music, movies, TV shows, and books.

In the Amazon Appstore app, go to Menu > My Apps and Games to locate and re-download previous app downloads. For Amazon Music purchases, check Your Music Library in the Amazon Music app.

On Amazon’s website, view your Digital Orders history at www.amazon.com/mn/dcw/myx.html#/home/content/orders/date to find and download previous app, music, video, and ebook purchases.

Searching Your Hard Drive

One of the easiest ways to find lost music files is to manually search your hard drive’s contents. First, open the File Explorer in Windows or Finder on Mac. Navigate to the drive where your music files were stored previously (often your computer’s main hard drive or an external drive). Click through the folders one by one to visually scan for any music files. Pay close attention to your downloads folder, documents folder, desktop, and any other locations you may have saved music files.

For a more comprehensive search, use your operating system’s built-in search tool. On Windows 10 and 11, search from the taskbar or start menu. On Mac, use Spotlight search. Type in keywords related to your music files such as the artist name, song title, or music file types like .mp3 or .wav. This will scan your entire hard drive for matching results. Review each file closely to determine if it’s your missing music. You may need to open the file and play it back to confirm.

If your music library was organized into a central folder or music management program like iTunes, thoroughly browse through all subfolders as your music may still be present but disorganized. Music recovery software like EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard can also scan your drive and identify lost media files, even if you can’t locate them manually. But first exhaust your options to find music simply by opening and browsing folders before resorting to advanced recovery tools.

Using Data Recovery Software

Data recovery software provides an efficient way to restore lost or deleted music files from your computer’s hard drive or external storage devices. Popular data recovery programs like Stellar Data Recovery, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, and Recuva scan your drive and retrieve recoverable files. Many options have free trial versions to preview found files.

When choosing data recovery software, look for programs that support recovering audio files like MP3s, WAVs, etc. Advanced tools allow filtering scan results by file type to easily locate music. Some key features that aid music recovery are deep scan modes to thoroughly search the drive, RAW file recovery to restore corrupted files, and selective file restore to only recover the music you want.

Overall, data recovery software provides an accessible and user-friendly solution for music library restoration. Just be sure to avoid writing new data to your drive before scanning to maximize recoverability. Run a thorough scan, filter by audio, then restore your lost tunes.

Retrieving Cloud Backups

One solution for recovering downloaded music is to check cloud storage services like iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. for backups of your files. Many cloud services retain deleted files for a period of time in a trash or recycle bin folder. You may be able to restore your lost music from one of these cloud backups.

For example, according to Apple support, you can recover deleted files from iCloud for up to 30 days after deletion. To do this, go to icloud.com, click the App Launcher button, choose Data Recovery, then click Restore Files to recover deleted music.

Services like Google Drive and Dropbox have similar restore features to recover files from the trash bin. Check your cloud storage accounts to see if they retained any of your downloaded music files before permenant deletion.

Contacting Online Music Stores

One route for recovering your downloaded music is to contact the online stores where you purchased the tracks or albums. Major music retailers like iTunes, Amazon Music, Google Play Music, and others allow you to re-download previous purchases through your account. Here are some tips for retrieving your music this way:

For iTunes purchases, you can sign into your Apple ID at https://www.apple.com/itunes/ and view your purchase history under Account Settings. Any available downloads will have a cloud icon that lets you download them again. See Apple’s support article for more details: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201251.

Amazon Music allows you to re-download previous MP3 purchases by going to Your Music Library, clicking on Purchased, and selecting the albums or songs to download again. Refer to Amazon’s instructions here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201380010.

If you bought music through Google Play Music, you can go to music.youtube.com and re-download purchases under Library > Purchases. See Google’s help for recovering lost music: https://support.google.com/youtubemusic/answer/4627259.

Checking with the store where you bought your digital music can often provide an easy way to retrieve lost downloads. Make sure to have your account login credentials handy when contacting them for assistance.

Using File Carving Tools

File carving is an advanced data recovery technique used in digital forensics to reconstruct files that have been deleted. It works by searching for file headers and footers that mark the start and end of files.

Some popular open source file carving utilities include Scalpel, Foremost, and Bulk Extractor. These tools can scan hard drives and recover files based on specific file signatures. For example, Scalpel can carve out JPG, GIF, PNG, MPEG, and PDF files.

File carving is helpful when directory entries are corrupted or missing. It relies on finding patterns in file formats rather than file system structures. Advanced utilities use heuristics and special handling techniques to reassemble fragmented file data. This allows partial recovery of files even if some data blocks are overwritten or corrupted.

The effectiveness of file carving depends on the file format. Formats with easily recognizable header-footer patterns like JPG can be carved reliably. Complex formats like DOCX are more difficult to reconstruct. Carved files should be validated carefully as data errors may exist.

Sending Your Hard Drive to a Lab

As a last resort, you can send your hard drive to a professional data recovery lab. These labs are equipped with advanced tools and techniques that can recover data from severely damaged drives. However, using a data recovery lab can be expensive, often costing hundreds or thousands of dollars depending on the extent of damage. Prices may range from $300 for simple logical recovery to over $3000 for a full forensic-level recovery.

According to Data Recovery Success Rates, the overall success rate for data recovery labs is around 70% across all devices. Success rates depend on factors like the cause of data loss and the extent of physical damage to the drive. Logical software-level recovery has a higher success rate, while physical damage often requires difficult disk repair and results in lower success rates.

Before choosing a data recovery lab, research their reputation, capabilities, and security practices. Look for certifications like ISO 9001 compliance. Once you select a lab, follow their instructions carefully for shipping your drive. Back up any remaining accessible data first if possible. Be prepared to wait 1-2 weeks or longer for recovery attempts, with no guarantee of success.

Preventing Future Data Loss

The best way to avoid needing data recovery in the future is to implement regular backups of your data. Here are some tips for keeping backups to prevent data loss:

Use an automated backup service that creates daily backups of your computer and stores them in the cloud. Services like Backblaze, IDrive, and Acronis Cyber Backup make regular backups easy.
Manually back up important files and folders to an external hard drive on a regular basis. Weekly or monthly backups give you multiple restore points.

Store a copy of critical data offsite in case of theft, fire, or other disaster. Services like Dropbox, Google Drive, and Microsoft OneDrive give you offsite backups.
Enable version history and file recovery in cloud storage services like Google Drive and Dropbox. This allows restoring previous versions of files.
Use RAID storage configurations for drives storing critical data. RAID 1 mirrors drives for redundancy.

Enable automated syncing of key folders across devices using cloud services. This prevents data loss if a device fails.

Following modern best practices for backups will help ensure you always have access to important data and minimize reliance on data recovery methods. Refer to resources like this Digital Guardian article for more prevention tips.