The free version of Recuva may help, but I am afraid, due to the community code of conduct, we are not allowed to suggest paid software. You can find many on the internet.
Yellow lock icon on Files
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Anonymous
Hi,
Files are stored on different partitions (D Drive) of the same hard drive. Recently I've reset the laptop and only reset the OS partitions (C Drive).
Once reset is done, some of the files inside the D Drive has the yellow lock icon and cannot be opened, moved, or copied.
I've tried all the steps such as take ownership of the files, decrypt files via Advanced Properties and decrypt files or folders using Command Prompt. Without any success.
Any other suggestion to resolves this issue is much appreciated.
Thank you.
Windows for home | Windows 11 | Files, folders, and storage
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
3 answers
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Anonymous
2025-04-21T08:57:57+00:00 Hi Dyari,
There is no backup has been done.
Any specific third-party recovery tools that can resolve this issue?
Thank you
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DYARI BARHAM 34,936 Reputation points Independent Advisor2025-04-21T07:37:41+00:00 Hi
I'm Dyari. Thanks for reaching out.
Have you backed up the EFS certificate before resetting Windows?
Refer to How to Back Up Your File Encryption Certificate and Key in the non-Microsoft link below:
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/encrypt-decrypt...
If you have also lost your encrypted data, unfortunately, there is no native Microsoft tool to recover it. The only option is to restore from a backup, if you have created one. This is because the encryption is tied to the user profile, and resetting Windows removes that user profile.
Otherwise, you can use a third-party recovery tool like Recuva, which may recover your data before encrypting it.
Please let me know if you need further assistance.
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