My Windows system SSD was running low on space, so I deleted OneDrive and expected it to remove only some older files I no longer needed. Instead, files stored on my Desktop—including important work files—disappeared. I used Windows File Recovery and found the files I was looking for, but the recovered WAV files will not open. How can I determine whether they are raw or corrupted, and is there any way to repair them?
2 Answers
Before assuming the files are destroyed, check the OneDrive website and its recycle bin, and verify whether the Desktop folder was being synchronized. Removing or unlinking the OneDrive app normally should not erase cloud copies, although choosing to delete synchronized local files or having files marked as online-only can make the situation confusing. If the files were never uploaded or were already removed from the cloud, the recycle bin may be the only remaining option.
The files may be damaged because some of their data was overwritten after deletion. Windows usually stores the Desktop on the system drive, and SSDs can run TRIM soon after files are deleted. TRIM makes recovery much less likely than it is on a traditional hard drive. Avoid using that SSD as much as possible, and save any recovered files to a different drive. For WAV files, you can inspect whether the recovered file has a normal size and a valid RIFF/WAVE header, but if important sections were overwritten, no repair tool can fully restore the missing audio. A specialist recovery service may be worth considering for especially valuable recordings.
These were older files that had not been backed up to the cloud, so they are not available in OneDrive. The recovered copies are the only ones I have.