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Our Windows version | Windows 10 |
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How long we tested | 1 week |
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Number of tested tools | 15 |
There’s no point in investing time, effort, and maybe even money into a data recovery program with mediocre chances of success. Make sure to do your research and choose one with a proven track record, making it all the more likely for you to get your lost files back.
While there are a few genuinely free data recovery programs out there and some with a decent trial version, they’re often either overly complex, ineffective, or have recovery limits. So if you’re willing to invest, you should find a program that fits your price range. Also, consider whether you’d prefer a program with subscriptions or a one-time payment.
Whether it’s pictures, documents, audio, or file types, it’s a good idea to select a recovery program that supports the retrieval of a wide range of file extensions. Once you’re done recovering your files this time around, you may need to use the program again in the future for a different file type.
Download and install the program to the Mac or Windows platform
Fire up the application and point it at the disk where the files were lost
Start the search for recoverable data by clicking on the Recover button
Preview the files that can be restored and click Recover to retrieve the data
Password protect your machine. If you live in a household with multiple people, then it’s a good idea to put a strong password on your computer or laptop. You never know when a child or another unauthorized person might try to make their way into your machine and fiddle with your files. Better safe than sorry.
Do routine maintenance on your computer/laptop. Neglecting your computer or laptop can lead to dust build-up, ventilation issues, and other hardware pitfalls. In turn, this could cause your device to abruptly fail, resulting in data loss. So make sure to always perform regular maintenance on your machine to ensure that it stays in tip-top shape.
Back up files regularly. While backing up files can sometimes be time-consuming and a hassle, it’s a vital part of keeping important files safe from unforeseen data loss. After all, you can never tell when you might accidentally delete a file or encounter device failure. One missed backup session could set you back hours, days, or even months of work.
For Windows, if you deleted the M4A file using the Delete key or right-click > Delete command, then you should be able to find it in the Recycle Bin. On Mac, deleted X files are moved to the Trash before being deleted permanently. If your file is not present in either of these tools, you’ll need to utilize a free data recovery program.
Data recovery software often saves recovered files in a specified directory which you can then access through Windows File Explorer. Disk Drill, for example, is one of the best data recovery programs around and includes a button at the end of the retrieval process that will open the folder where your recovered M4A files are located.
The best way to recover M4A files from a memory card is to leverage a top-notch data recovery program, as it’s the most flexible and accessible retrieval method around. It’s worth noting, however, that this is ineffective if you used a “full” format on the card or it has become heavily damaged/compromised. For that, you’ll need to seek out a data recovery service.