PS4 is a world-famous video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The PlayStation series wins the heart of a large number of gamers. According to users’ feedback, I find many of the PS4 gamers are in face of the same problem: lose data suddenly and need a solution for PS4 data recovery. Now, I’ll introduce different ways to recover data from PS4 hard drive, including using MiniTool Software.

To be specific, PS4 stands for PlayStation 4, which is the eighth generation of home video game console designed by Sony Corporation. PS4 attracts a large number of home game lovers since its first release in February 2013. All in all, the PlayStation 4 was announced to critical acclaim.

PS4 Lost Save Data PS4

Since the internal storage of PS4 is limited and the demands for online & offline games are increasing, many people choose to add an external hard drive to PS4. However, users reported the PS4 save data missing issue now and then; their data were lost from both the internal storage and the external hard drive.

In fact, a series of reasons including accidental deletion, power failure, and connectivity loss could all lead to the PS4 hard drive data loss. Considering this, I decided to teach you the commonly used ways to recover data from PS4 hard drive in different situations.

True Examples Showing Users’ Demands for PS4 Hard Drive Data Recovery

According to the investigation, there are many PS4 users wondering how to recover save data on PS4.

Example 1: Please please help – deleted game on PS4, can I recover?

I dropped my controller on the continue game screen and it literally hit the square and then X button in succession and my game was instantly gone. I was over level 50, day 49, 0 deaths and over 50 hours into the game and loving it. Please help me recover the data if at all humanly possible, it was an online server as well. I put so much work into my base and surviving without any deaths for that long. Please help!!! Game name was New Eden. PS profile is the same as my username here. I’m heartbroken about it, for real. P.S. I see the tutorials for corrupted data but not deleted. The online storage is also gone because I accidentally overwrote it creating another game of the same name trying to fix this. Helllpppp…– asked Skaithe_Zero

Example 2: Fuming!! My PS4 deleted all my partitions on my external Hd, please help me to recover them..

I’m really peed off right now; I have an 8tb external hd with 3 partitions. 2 NTFS were full of music and precious photos of marriage family, One of the partitions was EXFAT for PS4 Games as my internal PS4 drive was full. So I thought it would just format the one ex fat partition but it formatted the whole bloody drive. I used a recovery program to scan the lost partitions and it found them after a 24 hr scan but it wouldn’t let me recover the partitions and look inside them? I’m now currently using recuva to scan the drive again. Can I recover these files as I read Sony PS4 doesn’t use partitions? Also I read even if a drive is formatted multiple times the data can be recovered. Please help guys as I’d really appreciate it.– said MINUS12

Example 3: Broken PS4, retrieve data on new Pro?

Hello everyone I have ps4 but didn’t work and I want to replace to PS4pro the problem I have a lot of data in my PS4 and 2Tb games in external hard drive so I’m asking if there’s anything that I can do.– found on PlayStation help forums

Recover Data from PS4 Hard Drive in 4 Ways

It’s no exaggeration that Sony’s PlayStation 4 is the video game trendsetter. However, the data can’t be saved on a PS4 hard drive once and for all. Game data and files are lost now and then, and this has affected many gamers around the world. A sudden power cut, unintentional deletion, and other improper operations can all lead to the loss of PS4 game files.

In this part, I’ll walk you through the practical ways to complete PS4 save data recovery with the help of MiniTool Power Data Recovery.

How to Recover Deleted Captures PS4

The following steps show you how to finish PS4 data recovery after accidentally deleted PS4 game.

Step one: take a look at this comparison page to pick out a license type that satisfies your needs the best. Then, get the setup program of MiniTool Power Data Recovery from a reliable link and store it to your local drive.

MiniTool Power Data Recovery TrialClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

For Home Users

Step two: navigate to the setup program in local drive and double click on it to start installing MiniTool Power Data Recovery.

Step three: launch the data recovery software and connect the PS4 hard drive to your computer.

Step four: select Devices at the top of the software window and look through the drives listed under it to find your PS4 drive.

Note: It’s a common issue that the hard drive or flash drive connected to PC may not appear. This problem could be caused by various reasons. But luckily, there are practical ways to help you when the hard drive is not showing up or recognized.

Step five: select the PS4 hard drive and click on the Scan button to detect lost files on it. (You can also double click on the PS4 drive to perform a full scan directly.)

You’d better click on the Scan Settings icon (in the left sidebar) to specify file types in advance if you only need to recover certain types of data, such as MP4, AVI, and MKV.

Settings

Step six: browse the found partitions and folders carefully to find out whether your deleted PS4 data are included.

  • If you find the deleted data like captures you need, just select them and click Save.
  • If you can’t see the PS4 data among the results, you should wait for the scan to process until it finds the game files you want. Then, select them all and click Save.

Step seven: choose a drive that has enough free space left as the file storage destination and click on the OK button to confirm. (You’d better not select the PS4 drive in order to avoid data overwriting.)

The last step is waiting for the PS4 game data recovery to complete itself. (A prompt window will pop up when all the selected game data have been recovered to the specified place; just click OK to close it.)

That’s all I want to say about how to restore PS4 game saves. Click here to know more details on how to retrieve deleted files on PC.

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How to Recover Data after Initializing PS4

Where are saved games stored on PS4?

By default, the game data are saved to the internal storage of PS4 (you can go to Settings > Application Saved Data Management to access them). However, since the internal storage is so limited, more and more users choose to store the game files on a USB stick or external hard drive.

In this part, I will discuss how to recover lost saved game data on PS4 after re-initializing the PS4 drive.

  1. Get MiniTool Power Data Recovery.
  2. Connect the initialized USB/hard drive to your computer and launch the software.
  3. Select the Devices tab at the top.
  4. Select your PS4 drive from the window and click on the Scan button to start to scan it.
  5. Browse and choose the lost game data you need from the search result.
  6. Click on the Save button and choose another drive to save the lost files.
  7. Click on the OK button and wait for the recovery to complete.

Scanning

When the recovery is completed, a window will pop up in the software to inform you the task is finished. Just click on the OK button in it and go to check the recovered files to make sure you have recovered all the data you want.

How to recover save data on PS4 internal storage?

You should connect the PlayStation console to your computer; then, run the data recovery software to see whether the internal storage can be recognized.

  • If the internal storage does appear, you should scan it and choose the needed data from the result.
  • If the PS4 internal storage doesn’t show up in any recovery software, you have no choice but to ask recovery agencies for help by paying a large sum of money.

By the way, there’s an easy & safe way to initialize a disk to GPT/MBR.

  1. Run MiniTool Partition Wizard.
  2. Select the disk that you want to initialize.
  3. Find Convert Disk from the left pane.
  4. Choose Initialize to GPT Disk/Initialize to MBR Disk.
  5. Press the Apply button in the lower left corner.
  6. Choose Yes in the Apply Changes prompt window.
  7. Wait for the initializing process to finish automatically.

Initialize disk

PS4 Recover Overwritten Save

First of all, you should figure out whether the content of PS4 lost files has been really overwritten or not.

Situation one: if you have only saved data over the place taken by lost files, it is very likely that the real content still remains on the disk. You can’t see it because the system has marked it as deleted (but you only lose entries to them).

Situation two: if the PS4 drive has been overwritten with zero and one by using software or other special tools. The game data will be lost forever; you’ll no longer be able to recover them by scanning the drive. In this case, you should give a shot to the following methods to recover game files from PS4 wiped external hard drive.

Tip: You can use the Wipe Disk/Wipe Partition function in the MiniTool Partition Wizard to erase data permanently by filling sectors with zero and one.

Recover Deleted or Lost PS4 Hard Drive Games via Cloud Storage

If you are a PS Plus user, it’s very possible for you to recover the deleted and lost PS4 game files from online storage. Why? That is simply because the built-in autosave feature will store the PS4 games to the Cloud.

How to copy the lost game files from the Cloud and save them to your system?

  1. Select Settings (in the lower right corner) from the Home menu of your PlayStation.
  2. Choose Application Saved Data Management from the Settings menu.
  3. Click Saved Data in Online Storage.
  4. Choose the Download to System Storage (You may click on the Delete option to clear unnecessary files for making more room in the Cloud.)
  5. Browse the saved game data and select all the files you need.
  6. Click on the Download button in the lower right corner.
  7. Wait for the downloading process to finish.

Download to System Storage

This is the end of the PS4 cloud save recovery.

Perfect Solution – How to Create PS4 Backup Files Easily.

Recover PS4 Games by Re-downloading Them from PlayStation Store

You are allowed to download the lost PS4 games again from the PlayStation store as long as you log in with the same account used to buy the games previously. Don’t worry; the re-download of the games is free of charge.

  1. Sign in PS4 with the same account; type the username and password.
  2. Go to PlayStation Store.
  3. Browse the games to select the lost games.
  4. Download the lost games to PS4 local storage/PS4 hard drive again.

PlayStation Store

Users can also resort to the PS4 game CDs to recover data if they have one.

Recover Data from PS4 USB Storage

Two prerequisites for this method:

  • You have turned on the Sync with PlayStation Network option.
  • You have copied the video game files to the USB storage device.

How to restore PS4 game saves:

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Select System.
  3. Choose Backup and Restore.
  4. Click Restore PS4.
  5. Browse the backup files and select the ones you want.
  6. Click Yes to restore the game data.

Restore PS4

Please always keep the USB storage device connecting to your PS4 during the restore process.

How to recover data from dead PS4? The above 3 methods are useful.

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How to protect your PS4 game videos?

  1. Go to Settings.
  2. Select Application Saved Data Management.
  3. Choose Saved Data in System Storage.
  4. Select the game you want.
  5. Click on the Upload button and wait.

Last Words

It’s a common situation that saved data on PS4 are lost; various reasons should be blamed for it. However, the good news is that you, as an ordinary user, can recover data from PS4 hard drive with ease. Even though the lost data have been already overwritten, you can still follow the steps mentioned in the previous part to try to get them back.

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