How do I recover files from an unreadable USB drive after running first aid on Mac?

now stop using the USB drive, and try PhotoRec, which is a free, open-source recovery tool. Run PhotoRec on your Mac, if it can recognise the drive, select and scan the USB drive, then save the recovered files to a different drive. PhotoRec may not preserve the original folder structure or filenames, but it can recover many common file types，there's a reasonable chance that at least some of your files are still recoverable, if your drive works normally and the deleted files were not fully overwritten.

hevonen13 wrote:

My USB drive is suddenly not showing any files (it was fine a few months ago) and after running the first aid on disk utility it is now saying it's unreadable when i plug it in. I have tried to open the USB on other laptops/my phone and it comes up with the same message. Before i ran the first aid, the USB drive was recognised but when i clicked on it, there were no files coming up. I tried to restart my laptop and replugged it in but still nothing. Then i ran the first aid as i saw something online about it. After that it changed the name of my drive to 'vendor co product code media' and said that i have used 1.2MB as opposed to before i ran the first aid where i had 105.9MB of used storage. I'm worried that it has deleted my files, is there any way I can fix this?

Unless you have already used Apple's built-in Time Machine software or another method to backup your files, then there is likely no way to recover them.

If this is an SSD or flash drive, then your recovery chance is about 0%.

If this is an HDD with magnetic platters, then maybe 5% chance if you $pend money on recovery.

There are a lot of ways to lose files today. The only way to guarantee any recovery is to have a backup plan that uses the 3-2-1 strategy; 3 copies of the data, using 2 different methods and keeping 1 copy offsite.

After you pick yourself up from this mishap, consider taking advantage of the info in this link as you move forward: Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support

"USB drive" implying a flash memory device? They are notoriously unreliable. If Disk Utility concluded it is unreadable, it was reasonable to confirm that conclusion using other devices, which you did.

Throw it out. It's useless. Anything it may have contained is gone.

USB or SD flash memory from well known established and reputable vendors such as Lexar or Sandisk tend to be reliable. With memory you — usually — get what you pay for.