How to Recover Deleted Files from QNAP NAS Device?

QNAP offers Network-Attached Storage (NAS) devices for both home and enterprise users that can be configured as a large single storage volume connected to a local network or as a RAID setup. QNAP also provides various advanced utilities, such as immutable storage, snapshots, Network Recycle Bin, etc., to protect the data in different data loss scenarios. In case you have accidentally deleted some files or an entire volume or partition, then you can perform QNAP file recovery using the built-in features mentioned above or a specialized NAS data recovery software.

How to Perform QNAP Data Recovery?

If you have accidentally deleted some important files from your QNAP NAS device, follow the methods explained below.

Caution: Before you proceed with the methods explained below, make sure to stop READING or WRITING (including automatic data backups) to the NAS right away. Doing this helps avoid overwriting of data and will increase the chances of recovering deleted files.

Method 1: Recover Deleted Files From QNAP NAS via Network Recycle Bin

If you have enabled the Network Recycle Bin on your QNAP NAS, you can use it to recover deleted files on your QNAP NAS. It contains files deleted from the NAS device via File Station, Samba, and FTP. It retains the deleted files and folders for 180 days. If you have enabled this utility, follow the steps below to recover the deleted files from your QNAP NAS device:

Note: The steps below work for both QNAP QTS and QuTS Hero operating systems that format the member drives of the NAS with ext4 and ZFS file systems, respectively. You can also refer to the steps to restore deleted files from a NAS running on QuTS Hero OS.

• Log in to your QNAP NAS dashboard.

• Open File Station.
• Click on Recycle Bin.
• Locate the file/folder that you wish to restore and select it.

• Right-click on it and select Recover. Alternatively, click on the wrench icon on the toolbar and select Restore.

• It will open the Recover window. Choose the desired option (Yes or No), if you want to overwrite the existing file/folder while restoring.

Method 2: Use Snapshots to Recover Deleted Files and Folders

To recover the deleted files from your QNAP NAS, you can use Snapshots – a powerful feature that comes with every QNAP NAS device. This feature allows you to create snapshots of volumes/partitions, take block-based snapshots of modified data, and create regular snapshots using versioning. You can use the snapshots to perform QNAP data recovery and restore entire partition/LUN, specific files or folders, etc.

Method 3: Use a Dedicated NAS Data Recovery Software

To simplify the process of recovering files from your QNAP NAS device, you can use Stellar Toolkit for Data Recovery. It is an advanced NAS data recovery software that helps you recover data lost from QNAP NAS devices in various situations, including accidental deletion, volume formatting, and member drive failure. It recovers data from an SSH-enabled NAS by establishing a secure connection with the QNAP NAS connected over the same local network. Apart from QNAP, it can recover data from NAS devices of brands such as Synology and ASUSTOR.

This software also supports data recovery from RAID-based QNAP NAS devices. However, this process is dependent upon the type of RAID configuration and the number of drive failure. Additionally, this data recovery software can help you recover lost data from popular virtual machine image files, like VMDK, VHD, VDI, VHDX, etc.

Here are the steps to use Stellar Toolkit for Data Recovery to perform QNAP file recovery using the SSH protocol:

Before you proceed, make sure you have enabled SSH settings in QNAP NAS. Here’s how to do it:

• Launch QTS.
• Go to Control Panel > Network & File Services > Telnet / SSH.

• Select the Allow SSH connections (Only administrators can login remotely) option.
• Next, check the Enable SFTP setting.
• Select Edit Access Permission to add users who can access NAS via SSH.

• Press Apply.
• Again, click on Apply to save changes.

After this, follow the steps below to use the NAS data recovery software:

• Download and install Stellar Toolkit for Data Recovery from its official website on the same computer where the QNAP NAS is connected. Then, launch the software.
• You will see the What to Recover screen. Select the type of data you want to recover from the NAS drive. By default, the All Data option is selected. Click Next to proceed.

• Select the Recover From NAS & Linux option from the left pane.
• Choose the NAS Recovery option and click Next.

• Wait for the software to search for the available NAS devices on the network.

• Select the displayed NAS device and click Next.

• The Connect NAS Remotely screen will appear. Enter your Username and Password, and click on Connect.

• It will begin connecting to the selected NAS device.

• On the next screen, the software will list all the available volumes in the connected QNAP NAS.
• Select the volume/drive and click on Scan.

• Wait for the software to scan the selected NAS volume. Once the scanning is complete, it will list all the recoverable data and folders in the left pane.
• Now, select any file from the left pane to preview it.
• After you have verified the files, select the ones you want to recover. By default, all files are selected.

Note: You will find temporarily deleted files in the @Recycle folder.

• Click on Recover.

• Select the destination path and click on Save.

The deleted files will be recovered to the selected save location.

Tips to Avoid Data Loss from NAS Devices

Here are some tips that you can follow to avoid data loss from your QNAP NAS device:

• Follow the 3-2-1 backup strategy to create multiple backups of important files.
• Create a full backup of your NAS data on another NAS device using the QNAP Hybrid Backup Sync application.
• Create regular snapshots of important data and volumes/LUN.
• Ensure that the Network Recycle Bin is enabled.
• Monitor the health of member drives regularly.

 Conclusion

QNAP NAS comes with several features, like Snapshots, Network Recycle Bin, etc., that help in recovering data in case of accidental deletion, volume formatting, etc. If these features are not enabled in your QNAP NAS, then you can use Stellar Toolkit for Data Recovery – a powerful software that lets you recover deleted/lost files without any hassle.

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