Files lost after Syncing

[xn0]

Hi there! I searched the forum a bit, but could not find a solution or hint to this particular problem. Maybe you guys can help.

Situation:
I created 2 Photoshop files (*.psd) in a specific folder yesterday. (A WIP and a finished artwork.) After syncing,they apparently disappeared. After some searching on the SSD, I could find for some reason two Windows shortcut files for both files, but the original files were gone. I also saw in Photoshop a link to these files in "Recent Files" (In the Open Files dialog in PS), so the files were definetly saved at a point in time.

Suspicion:
FreeFileSync synced an earlier backup state, but not the most recent files (e.g. the two new PSD-files) and overwrote not only the backup but also the original Folder on the corresponding SSD. (Just for clarification: I backup my SSDs to two external 8TB HDDs via FFS).

Things I tried sofar:
- Searching via Win Explorer (resulted in finding the remaining Win shortcuts)
- Searched for PS Recovery Files (none found, the corresponding folder was empty)
- Tried to rollback the folder via "Previous Versions", but apparently this windows function was not configured
- Restore from Recycle Bin (unfortunately empty)
- Scan via DiskDrill (Recovery Software, no results, only finds the existing files)
- Scan via EaseUS (Recovery Software, no results, only finds the existing files)

Question:
Is there another way to recover these files? There must be at least traces of them on the SSD. Maybe there is a way to rollback the syncing of FFS to a previous state before the "deleting" Sync process started?

[xCSxXenon]

You would need to run data recovery software, Recuva is commonly recommended. FFS never affects the source unless you are using "two-way" sync, which wouldn't make sense for backup purposes. Also, FFS deletes things into the recycle bin unless you switched it to permanent deletions.

[xn0]

Is Recuva better than DiskDrill or EaseUS? What is exactly the difference here?

[xCSxXenon]

I use DiskDrill and EaseUS in my repair store and have great success. I believe they are both paid software though. As far as efficacy, there's really no way to know. They all likely utilize the same recovery vectors, it all comes down to their individual algorithms that piece together strings of 1's and 0's to recreate potential files.

[xn0]

Ok, Recuva is currently running, lets see if if finds something.

>"Two-Way Sync"
What I'm doing at the moment, is simply mirroring my PC to 2 external HDDs. (see Screenshot)

>"permanent deletions."
Is this maybe the trashcan symbol at the far right? Does this need to be switched off?

[xCSxXenon]

Below "select a variant" there is an option to delete to recycle bin or permanently. By default it goes to recycle bin, unlikely you've changed it from what I've seen so far. If those PSD files were created on the source disk, FFS had nothing to do with their disappearance

[xn0]

Its kind of weird, since the files were once saved on the SSD, and then they just vanish? Such an odd bug. I never experienced anything like that.

[therube]

Files lost

There is nothing better for finding files then Everything.

Give it a shot (on the chance that the file is there, just not where or named as you expect).
All kinds of means. Name, partial name, size, size range, date, date range, extension, ...


Might you have "swapped sides" (so mirrored right to left, essentially)?


If the files were "deleted", note that the more operations performed on a disk, the less likely one is able to successfully "undelete" files (as "free areas", i.e. spaced previously occupied by the "deleted file" are more apt to be overwritten).

[xn0]

Everything found just the exported files unfortunately. (In this case PNGs.). The PSDs remain lost for some reason.

>right to left mirroring
I checked it, it was mirroring from my internal disks (left) to my external 8TB disks (right), unless it did it by itself during the process, which seems kind of unlikely.

[xn0]

Quick Update: Its still unclear if its releated to a genuine FreefileSync-Bug, User error on my side or some Win10-related issue. The file seems not to be there, not even as "residue" on the disk, which is a shame. Alright, moving on. :)