I chose 'Reset this PC' and kept my files on Windows. Are they still there?

Yes. The Windows 'Reset this PC' option offers 'Keep my files', which reinstalls Windows but preserves your personal files in Documents, Pictures and the like. If you picked that option, your files should still be on the drive. If you chose 'Remove everything' without 'Clean the drive', some data may still be recoverable like after a quick format. With 'Clean the drive' selected, the data is overwritten and effectively gone.

Does a Mac factory reset (Apple Silicon or T2) leave anything recoverable?

No. On Apple Silicon Macs and Intel Macs with the T2 chip, the storage is always encrypted, and 'Erase All Content and Settings' destroys the key held in the Secure Enclave. The data instantly becomes unreadable. There is no software or lab that can recover it. Your only route back is a Time Machine backup, an iCloud copy, or another backup you made before the erase.

Is there any software that can undo a factory reset?

No tool can 'undo' a factory reset in the sense of reversing it. On unencrypted or partially wiped storage, recovery software can sometimes carve out leftover fragments, which is why acting fast and not writing new data helps. But on encrypted devices (modern Android, Apple Silicon or T2 Macs, BitLocker PCs) the key is gone, so no software can bring the files back regardless of price.

How do I make sure this never happens again?

Set up automatic backups now, while your data still exists. On a phone, enable cloud photo sync and account backup. On Windows, use File History or a cloud drive plus an occasional full image. On Mac, turn on Time Machine and iCloud. The honest lesson from factory-reset data loss is that recovery is often impossible after the fact, so the only reliable protection is a backup made in advance.

Recover Files After a Factory Reset (2026): What's Actually Possible on Android, Windows and Mac

Q: Can I recover photos after a factory reset on my Android phone?

On a modern Android phone (Android 6 and later), usually no. These phones are encrypted by default, and a factory reset destroys the encryption key. Whatever data physically remains in the flash memory becomes unreadable ciphertext that software cannot decrypt. The realistic path is a prior backup: Google Photos, Google One, or your phone maker's cloud. Check those first before assuming the photos are gone.

A factory reset is meant to wipe a device clean, and it usually does its job well. That is great when you sell a phone or fix a glitch, and painful when you realize afterward that irreplaceable photos or documents were on it. If you are reading this in a panic, take a breath. This guide gives you the honest picture for 2026: on some devices files are genuinely recoverable, and on many modern ones they are not. Knowing which case you are in saves you money, time and false hope.

The short version is that the outcome depends almost entirely on one thing: whether the device was encrypted. Modern phones and Macs encrypt storage by default, and a reset throws away the key. That is a one-way door. Older devices and certain Windows reset options are more forgiving. Let us go through each platform clearly.

Scan my drive for recoverable filesWorks on unencrypted PCs and external drives - preview before you buy

Transparent affiliation. Save My Disk earns a commission if you buy a license through the EaseUS links in this article. It does not change the price or the content: EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is assessed on the same documented criteria as Recuva, PhotoRec and Disk Drill in our public methodology. Recovery software only helps on unencrypted storage - we say so plainly below.

Why encryption decides everything

Before splitting things by platform, understand the one rule that governs all of them. When storage is encrypted, your files live on the chip as scrambled ciphertext. A small key unlocks them on the fly whenever you use the device. A factory reset on an encrypted device does not need to erase every cell of flash memory. It simply destroys that key. Once the key is gone, the leftover data is mathematically indistinguishable from random noise. No software, and no professional lab, can turn that noise back into your photos.

This is why the advice you may remember from years ago - "just run recovery software, the data is still there" - often no longer applies. On an unencrypted disk that advice holds, because deletion only removes the index and leaves the bytes behind. On an encrypted device, the bytes may still be there, but they are meaningless without the destroyed key. That single distinction explains almost every answer below.

Android: modern phones are usually unrecoverable

Since Android 6.0 Marshmallow (2015), full-device or file-based encryption has been the default on the vast majority of phones. On any recent Android device, a factory reset wipes the encryption key, so the personal data left in flash storage becomes unreadable ciphertext. In practice, this means that for a modern, encrypted Android phone, recovering photos or messages after a factory reset is generally impossible by software.

There are narrow exceptions. A very old Android phone that was never encrypted, or an unencrypted external SD card that was in the phone, may hold recoverable data - because those are not protected by a destroyed key. If your photos were saved to a removable SD card rather than internal storage, that card is your best hope, and standard photo-recovery tools can scan it on a computer.

For internal storage on a modern phone, though, the honest answer is to stop chasing software miracles and check your backups instead. Google Photos may have synced your pictures. Google One or your Google account may hold an app-and-settings backup. Samsung, Xiaomi and other makers run their own cloud backups. Sign in to those accounts on a browser and look before you conclude anything is lost.

Windows: it depends on which reset option you picked

Windows is the most forgiving platform, because its "Reset this PC" feature gives you choices, and those choices change everything.

If you selected "Keep my files", Windows reinstalled itself but deliberately preserved your personal files. Your documents and pictures should still be on the drive - open your user folders and check. This is not really a data-loss event at all.

If you selected "Remove everything" but did not enable "Clean the drive" (sometimes called "fully clean the drive"), Windows performed the equivalent of a quick format. The file index is cleared, but on a traditional hard drive - and to a lesser extent on an unencrypted SSD before TRIM runs - the underlying data may still be recoverable with software. Acting quickly and not installing anything new on that drive gives you the best odds.

If you selected "Remove everything" with "Clean the drive" enabled, Windows overwrote the storage. That option exists precisely so a device can be sold safely, and it does its job: the data is effectively destroyed and not recoverable.

One more factor: BitLocker. On many Windows 11 machines, drive encryption is on by default. If BitLocker was active and the reset removed the volume, the same key-destruction logic as Android and Mac applies, and recovery is not possible without the original setup. Check whether your files were on an encrypted volume before spending on recovery attempts.

Mac: Apple Silicon and T2 resets are final

On Apple Silicon Macs (M1 and later) and Intel Macs with the Apple T2 Security Chip, the internal SSD is always encrypted at the hardware level. When you use "Erase All Content and Settings" or erase the drive in Recovery, the Secure Enclave destroys the encryption key. The moment that happens, the stored data becomes unreadable, instantly and irreversibly.

There is no recovery software and no data-recovery lab that can bring back files from a Mac after this kind of erase, because the problem is cryptographic, not mechanical. The bytes may physically remain for a while, but without the key they are noise.

So on Mac, the honest answer mirrors modern Android: your recovery route is a backup, not a scanner. Time Machine, an iCloud sync, or any external backup you made before the erase is what will save you. If none exists, the data is gone.

Recoverability by platform at a glance

A woman in an office hallway holding a white laptop, standing beside a glass wall that reveals blue-lit server racks

The table below sums up the realistic picture. "Encrypted by default" is the deciding column: where it says yes, a reset destroys the key and software recovery does not work.

Device / situation	Encrypted by default	Recoverable after reset?
Android 6.0+ internal storage	Yes	Generally no - key destroyed, use a backup
Unencrypted SD card from a phone	No	Often yes - scan the card on a PC
Windows "Keep my files"	N/A	Yes - files were preserved
Windows "Remove everything", no clean	Depends (BitLocker)	Sometimes, like a quick format, if not encrypted
Windows "Remove everything" + clean drive	N/A	No - overwritten
Mac Apple Silicon / T2 erase	Yes	No - key destroyed in Secure Enclave

The pattern is clear. Encryption plus a reset equals a destroyed key equals no software recovery. Only unencrypted or partially wiped storage leaves a real chance.

If you do have a real chance: act fast and correctly

When your case is one of the recoverable ones - an unencrypted SD card, an older phone, or a Windows drive that was only quick-wiped - a few habits maximize your odds.

Stop using the device or drive immediately. Every new file written can overwrite the freed space that still holds your data. On a computer, do not install the recovery tool onto the same drive you are trying to recover; run it from another disk and save recovered files elsewhere. For an SD card or external drive, connect it to a computer read-only if you can, and image it first.

Then run a reputable recovery tool. Free options like PhotoRec can carve out photos and common file types from unencrypted media. Paid tools such as EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard add a preview and rebuild folder structures, which helps when you need named files back rather than a flat pile.

Editorial pick

4.5 / 5

Recover files from an unencrypted drive or SD card

Preview before purchase - only works on non-encrypted storage

Founded in 200430-day guaranteeFree 2 GB version

See the offer

The real lesson: prepare before the next reset

The uncomfortable truth of factory-reset data loss is that in many 2026 cases there is no recovery - not because tools are weak, but because encryption did exactly what it is designed to do. That makes prevention the only reliable protection, and it is genuinely easy to set up while your data still exists.

On a phone, turn on cloud photo backup (Google Photos, iCloud Photos) and account backup so a reset never means losing memories. On Windows, combine File History or a cloud drive with an occasional full system image, and note your BitLocker recovery key. On a Mac, enable Time Machine and iCloud. A few minutes now removes the panic entirely next time.

Recover files in other scenarios

FAQ - Frequently asked questions

Can I recover photos after a factory reset on my Android phone?

On a modern, encrypted Android phone (Android 6 and later), usually no - the reset destroys the encryption key and leftover data becomes unreadable. Check Google Photos, Google One, and your maker's cloud backup instead. An unencrypted SD card that was in the phone is the exception and can be scanned on a PC.

I kept my files during a Windows reset. Are they still there?

Yes. "Keep my files" reinstalls Windows but preserves your personal files, so open your Documents and Pictures folders - they should still be there. Only "Remove everything" clears user data, and even then, without "Clean the drive", some may be recoverable if the drive was not encrypted.

Does a Mac factory reset leave anything recoverable?

No. On Apple Silicon and T2 Macs, erasing destroys the key in the Secure Enclave, so the data is instantly and permanently unreadable. Only a Time Machine or iCloud backup made beforehand can restore it.

Is there any software that undoes a factory reset?

No. Nothing reverses a reset. On unencrypted or partially wiped storage, recovery software can sometimes carve leftover fragments if you act fast, but on any encrypted device the key is gone and no software can bring the files back.

Verdict: check your backups first, chase software second

Factory-reset recovery in 2026 comes down to one question: was the device encrypted? On modern Android phones and Apple Silicon or T2 Macs, the reset destroys the key, so the honest answer is that software recovery will not work - your backups are the only route. On Windows it depends on the option you picked, and unencrypted media still offer a real chance if you act fast and avoid writing new data.

Wherever you land, do the free things first: sign in to your cloud accounts and look for a backup, because that is where most "lost" files quietly still live. And once this is behind you, set up automatic backups so the next reset is a non-event.