What is LOST.DIR Folder in Android Devices?

Most of the Android users must have seen a folder named LOST.DIR in the File Manager of their phone. Many of the users will be curious as what this folder is used for in their phone. Some might think of it as a malicious folder due to no knowledge about this folder. In this article, we will discuss what this folder is and what it is used for in our phones.

What is LOST.DIR Folder?

Android system has a special program called File System Check that is similar to chkdsk utility in Windows and fsck in Linux. This utility creates a LOST.DIR folder in the device. LOST.DIR is a system folder created in the SD card directory to collect the corrupted data. This data is created when the process of copying data from or into SD card is interrupted due to shutting down the phone or pulling out the SD card. You can analogous this folder to Recycle Bin of the Windows OS. Data can be moved back to its original place from the recycle bin and so can be done with this folder. However, files are moved to recycle bin because of the action of a user by deleting and in LOST.DIR, files are moved because of some technical interruption and not because of the user intention.

Android system places copies of the interrupted files in this folder so it can recover them on the next boot. The files will also be renamed during the process of copying. No, LOST.DIR directory is not a malicious program as many users think. There are multiple reasons due to which files will end up in LOST.DIR folder:

• Pulling out the SD card while files being processed.
• Interruptions while downloading files on the device.
• Sudden freezing of Android device operating system.
• Switching off the device while file process is running.

Recovering Data from LOST.DIR

You can restore your files from LOST.DIR folder using recovery software. However, for this to work you must recover deleted/corrupt files as soon as possible. With time, the new information will be overwritten on the existing one. There are many recovery software from which you can recover your data. We are going to use Easy Drive Recovery that is also recommended by most of the users.

1. Download the Program from the above link and install it.
2. Connect the SD card to your PC and open the program. Now select the drive and click the next button to scan as shown below:

   

3. Once the scan is complete, you will find multiple types of files in the program. Select the files and right-click on it to recover and choose the Recover selected files option.

   

4. Provide the location of a folder to recover the selected files as shown below:

   

5. Your recovered files will be copied to that specific folder.

Can I delete LOST.DIR Folder?

Many users will be curious about deleting this folder from their device to save storage space. This folder will always be empty unless one of the above reasons happens. However, when the files are recovered back to your SD card, then you can delete the folder or the content inside the folder. You can also delete the folder with content available if the corrupted data is not important to you. The folder will be recreated by the system on the next reboot. When your devices show you a message saying “Preparing external SD card“, it’s actually checking the contents of LOST.DIR folder.