Help retrieving file after factory reset.

[Android Central Question]

Situation: My moto x pure 7.0 has adopted merged storage so its encrypted. I removed my microsd card and did a factory reset. The microsd doesnt even pop up in a PC with an SD adapter and in the factory reset phone its not viewable needs reformat. I heard there is an encryption key file located in internal storage that pairs with the microsd. If I am able to retrieve this file and import it into my factory resetted phone will my microsd be viewable? If yes how can I file recover this specific file. All the apps I looked into dont show android files and only user files for recovery like videos/images/sms. I need an android file in directory data/misc/vold. is this to far a stretch?

 

[Mooncatt]

I think you're out of luck on this one. Just to give you an idea of how slim your odds are getting any files back, the official Google recommendation for preparing a phone to be transferred to someone else is to first encrypt the phone and then factory reset it. That is essentially what you did.

Yes, when you encrypt, there is a file "key" stored on the phone that grants access when you enter the password. When you factory reset, this key is deleted as part of the process, meaning any left behind files after the reset are still a jumbled mess of 1's and 0's.

I guess it may be theoretically possible to make a new key file based on your password. If this is possible, my guess is that it would take some highly specialized software and forensics level skills to do. It's not something the free recovery tools can do, and I doubt even the corner repair shop could pull it off.

Hopefully someone else here knows something I don't and can give you better news. If you do try to pursue this yourself, make a bit by bit data clone of the microSD card and do all of your work on it. That way if you make a mistake, you can re-clone the original and keep that data preserved.