Accidentially formated USB stick with encrypted files on it - how do I restore it?

Hi,

I had an SanDisk USB stick with encrypted files on it. I had plugged it into my android phone and it said the USB is empty (guess it could not read the encrypted files) and asked me if I wanted to format that drive. Unfortunately I did. How can I recover those files? Thank you very much!

Were the encrypted files in SanDisk’s SecureAccess?  The phone certainly could see the SecureAccess files and folders but not your files.  If you encrypted the whole drive then that would explain why your phone couldn’t read it.  You should check with the vendor of the software used to encrypt the drive to see if you have any options.

Since you formatted the drive I would say the files are lost.

LostPartition, I’ve just heard of this SanDisk app that may help you recover your files.  It’s $39.99 for the standard version and $59.99 for the Deluxe version.  I’ve never used it and as I said I just heard of it so I can’t vouch for it’s effectiveness.

https://sandiskrescuepro.lc-tech.com/

Do note: https://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/7473/~/rescuepro-support-information-page

After formatting the USB stick, you’d better stop using it in case of data overwritten. Then you can choose a reliable USB data recovery program to restore it. I recommend Bitwar Data Recovery to recover your formatted USB stick. It helped me recover the lost files successfully. I’ll be glad if it also can help you.