Data recovery from USB sticks We get it back.
The USB stick is the medium that most often dies mechanically — bent in a laptop, torn off in a bag. The memory almost always survives it.
- In-house clean room
- Never outsourced
- Our lab
- Transparent & fair
The connector breaks, the memory does not
Inside a USB stick the memory sits in its own chip, well protected and mechanically insensitive. What breaks is the route to it: the solder joints at the connector, a trace on the narrow board, occasionally the controller. All of that is work under the microscope — and in most cases the contents are complete afterwards.
USB stick & flash drive
Whether logical or physical — in most cases the memory is still intact. The diagnosis shows what exactly is wrong.
Connector snapped off
Bent in the port or torn off. The solder joints to the board are cracked, often along with the contact pads.
Not recognised
A faulty controller or an interrupted trace. The memory itself usually stays intact.
Wrong or zero capacity
The internal translation table is damaged. The stick reports a factory identity instead of your data.
Water & corrosion
Been through the washing machine or stored damp. Cleaned, reconditioned, read out.
From symptom to cause.
Nobody searches for a fault pattern. You hear a noise or read a message — and the most pressing question is: may I switch the device on one more time?
Symptom
Connector snapped or bent
Likely cause
Cracked solder joints, often together with the contact pads on the board.
What to do now
Do not push it in further and do not solder it yourself. Keep both parts and send them in.
Symptom
Not recognised, no sign of life
Likely cause
Faulty controller or power supply.
What to do now
Do not work through several computers.
Symptom
Reports 0 bytes or a few megabytes
Likely cause
A damaged translation table. The chip no longer knows where anything is.
What to do now
Do not format under any circumstances.
Symptom
“Needs to be formatted”
Likely cause
The administrative structure of the file system is damaged; the files are usually still there in full.
What to do now
Decline and unplug the stick.
Symptom
Gets very warm
Likely cause
A short on the board.
What to do now
Unplug immediately and do not plug it in again.
Symptom
Files deleted, stick works
Likely cause
A logical fault. On USB sticks the data is usually still there — unlike SSDs, background clean-up is rare here.
What to do now
Do not save anything else onto it.
First the connection, then the memory
The first question is always: can the stick be made addressable again by ordinary means? Cracked solder joints and interrupted traces are restored under the microscope, corroded areas cleaned and reconditioned. Only when the controller itself is beyond use do we read the memory directly — and afterwards put the raw content back into a readable order outside the device.
Equipment we use
In Frankfurt. Never outsourced.
Why this takes so much effort.
No jargon for its own sake — the reasons from which price, duration and prospects of success follow.
Two construction types, two routes
Classic sticks have controller and memory separate on a narrow board. If the electronics are destroyed, the memory chip can be desoldered and read externally. Compact models are often built as a single potted package — there is nothing to desolder, and access has to be established via exposed contact points inside. Which type it is only becomes clear after opening.
Why a raw image is not yet a file
Flash memory does not store data the way it arrives. The controller scrambles it according to its own pattern and adds error-correction information with which individual flipped bits are corrected. When reading directly, exactly that controller is missing. Scrambling and error correction therefore have to be reproduced externally before a raw image becomes a file system again.
Why cheap sticks fail more often
Promotional giveaways and very cheap models often use rejected memory and save on error correction. They fail earlier, and their controllers are poorly documented. Recovery is still possible — it simply takes longer.
Before you do anything.
Bring the medium in or send it to us. The Economy diagnosis is free — you find out what is possible before anything costs money.
Take the medium out of service immediately — every further use can accelerate the loss.
No recovery attempts with tools from the internet.
Do not open the device or medium yourself.
Take it to a reliable data recovery specialist — analysis first, then a quote.
The mistakes that make it expensive.
Almost every well-meant reflex makes the damage worse. That is why you find not only the rule here but also the reason — nobody follows an instruction without one.
Do not solder the snapped-off connector back on yourself.
The contact pads on the board are tiny. A soldering iron that is too hot lifts them off — after that the route through the electronics is closed for good.
Do not work through several computers.
With a short, every attempt means more current through a faulty component.
Do not confirm the prompt to format.
It only means the table of contents is unreadable — not that the files are gone.
Do not run the operating system’s repair function.
It writes into exactly the areas needed for a reconstruction.
Do not take the stick apart.
The board is thin and the components sit close together. Whatever breaks while prying has to be restored first.
What this roughly costs.
With a USB stick the construction type determines the effort — and you only see it after opening. Four typical cases with the amounts from our fixed-price table.
Your case
Files deleted, the stick is recognised normally
What it becomes
Create an image, reconstruct the file system or carve the contents out by their signatures.
Guide value
€299
Your case
Connector snapped off
What it becomes
Restore cracked solder joints and traces under the microscope, then read it out.
Guide value
€499
Your case
Not recognised, controller faulty, classic construction
What it becomes
Desolder the memory chip, read it directly, turn the raw image back into a file system outside the device.
Guide value
€499
Your case
Potted package without accessible contacts
What it becomes
Expose contact points inside and probe them with needles — the most demanding route, to be worked out separately for each construction type.
Guide value
after diagnosis
Examples are guide values, not an offer. What your case costs is fixed in writing after the diagnosis — only then do you decide whether we continue. Where it says “after diagnosis” above, our price list does not know the case as a flat rate; it is calculated individually and itemised in the quote.
Our diagnostic tariffs.
You set the pace. Shipping both ways is included in every tariff — from Standard upwards we collect from you. And you always get a written quote before we start the recovery.
Economy
0 €
free diagnosis
- Diagnosis
- approx. 5 working days
- After approval
- Regular queue
- Updates
- By email
Written quote · free shipping both ways
Standard
99 €
incl. VAT · per medium
- Diagnosis
- within 2 working days
- After approval
- Scheduled with priority
- Updates
- Email and phone call
Written quote · free collection and return
Emergency
249 €
incl. VAT · per medium
- Diagnosis
- next working day
- After approval
- Moved to the front
- Updates
- Named contact
Written quote · express collection and return. Arrives before 12 noon: diagnosis the same working day.
The Economy diagnosis is free of charge. With Standard and Emergency the diagnostic fee applies even if you decline the quote — it is not offset against a later recovery. Either way, you decide freely after the quote whether we continue.
Four steps to your data.
- 01
Send it in or drop it off
Order online or hand it in without an appointment in Frankfurt-Sachsenhausen.
- 02
Diagnosis
We examine the medium and send you a written quote.
- 03
Approval & recovery
We only begin the recovery once you have approved it.
- 04
Your data back
On a storage medium in the parcel or via an encrypted cloud download.
Where even we reach a limit
USB sticks are comparatively rewarding cases. The limits lie where the memory itself is affected.
Destroyed memory chip
After breakage, fire or an electrical surge there is nothing left to read.
Encrypted models without a password
Sticks with hardware encryption give up nothing without the password — that is their purpose.
Overwritten
If writing continued after the loss, the affected areas have been replaced.
Answered briefly.
What does data recovery cost?
We work with transparent fixed prices based on the fault pattern — depending on the medium from €99, €299 or €499; in cases of total damage individually. Before every recovery you receive a written quote and decide freely whether we continue.
Do I pay even if no data is recovered?
The Economy diagnosis is free — if you decline afterwards, no costs arise. With Standard and Emergency the diagnostic fee (€99 or €249) applies even if you decline; it is not offset against a later recovery. The recovery itself is only charged after your approval.
How long does it take?
Depending on the tariff, the diagnosis takes about 5 working days (Economy), 2 working days (Standard) or one working day (Emergency) — with Emergency, the same working day if the medium arrives before 12 noon. How long the recovery itself takes depends on the fault pattern and is stated in the quote.
Is my data safe with you?
Yes. We work in line with the GDPR, pass nothing on to third parties and never outsource. Your data is stored exclusively on our encrypted server and completely deleted after handover.
Can I send the medium in?
Yes. Shipping both ways is included in every diagnosis tariff; with Standard and Emergency we collect the medium from you. Or you come to our lab in Frankfurt-Sachsenhausen without an appointment.
My stick snapped off in the laptop and part of it is still in the port.
Keep both parts and send in both. The broken-off connector sometimes still carries contact pads that are useful for the rebuild.
The stick went through the washing machine. Hopeless?
Not at all — this is a frequent and often successful case. Important: do not let it dry out and above all do not plug it in. The sooner it is cleaned, the less corrosion.
Windows wants to format it. May I?
No. That message means the table of contents is unreadable. The files are almost always still on the stick in full.
Data Recovery Professionals
A worldwide group of independent, owner-run data recovery companies. Members share methods from professional data recovery, forensics and software development — so on rare damage patterns the knowledge of the whole group stands behind your medium.
Every hour counts. Let us talk.
Bring the medium in or send it to us. The Economy diagnosis is free of charge.
Wasserweg 8–10 · 60594 Frankfurt am Main