Recover Deleted Vmdk File From Datastore | Windows Trusted |

The first and most critical rule of recovery is to to that datastore immediately. The longer the host remains active, the higher the risk that the "deleted" space will be reused for new data, making the original VMDK unrecoverable. 1. Distinguishing Between Descriptor and Data Files

If only the descriptor ( .vmdk ) was deleted but the -flat.vmdk file remains, you can recreate the descriptor manually: recover deleted vmdk file from datastore

This rarely works for fully deleted files. It is more useful for repairing corrupted descriptors. The first and most critical rule of recovery

Recovery strategy depends on the deletion method: Distinguishing Between Descriptor and Data Files If only

If the file was deleted via SSH or isn’t in the hidden folder, vmkfstools (the native VMware disk utility) offers a last-resort recovery option for recently deleted VMDKs, but only if the disk was or thin-provisioned and the blocks remain untouched.

The moment you realize a VMDK is missing from a datastore (typically VM power-on fails with "File not found" ), follow the golden rule of data recovery: