How can I restore my data in my Galaxy Tab 3 10.1?

[AC Question]

Hello,
I have had a Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 for around 3, 4 years now, with all kinds of stuff on it. It's had (hardware) issues with turning/staying on sometimes, since, according to what I heard, this model often didn't have the battery tightly in place.

All that aside, a few days ago, when I turned it on, all its apps, including the Google ones, were gone; the only thing remaining were the system apps and Samsung stuff. The Storage was still filled, and they appeared in the app manager, but with com.appname.etc names and taking 0,00B. Not only that, but personal files (photos, music) appear gone as well, and when plugged in to a PC, they aren't accessible either (in fact most folders are gone).

What do I do? I don't want to lose everything

Davide

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Try booting into Recovery and wiping the cache partition: https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-27393

In general, if you start noticing that your device is having trouble turning or staying on, it's a good idea to make sure all important data is backed up or synced, since that can be a warning sign that the device is going to fail soon.

 

[Shiamano]

Hello, I am the OP. Wiping cache partition was to no avail, unfortunately. What else can I try?

 

[B. Diddy]

What happens if you boot into Safe Mode? https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-27367

 

[Rukbat]

I'm just throwing a guess in here, but it appears that the tab did a factory reset. If it did, you'd have to root it, then install a file recovery program (DiskDigger undelete works well, but you'd need the paid version to recover anything but pictures). You won't recover everything (rooting and installing an app both can overwrite deleted files), but you should recover most.

 

[Shiamano]

Safe mode doesn't appear to show any difference, unfortunately. As for the factory reset, possibly, but wouldn't that have kept the Google apps (and deleted other data)?

 

[Rukbat]

It keeps system apps, but not all Google apps are installed as system apps.

 

[Shiamano]

Rukbat, thank you so much, even though not perfect, it still did do something. Sad I can't get everything back, but thank you. And thanks for the initial guidance too, B. Diddy.