How to recover deleted files on Western Digital My Cloud EX2 Ultra?

I’m running a Western Digital My Cloud EX2 Ultra server. We’ve got about ten people using it, and I’ve set up several folders with specific permissions for different users—everything works fine over ZeroTier. We all just access everything through File Explorer by mapping the specific server folders each person needs.

But now we’ve hit a snag—one of the users accidentally wiped out some really important files. I jumped straight into the server settings and noticed there's a 'Recycle Bin' option, but it wasn't enabled. I went ahead and turned it on for all the folders immediately (though, obviously, I didn't expect that to magically fix things retroactively).

Afterward, I did some digging online, and apparently, some people claim that even if you have the Recycle Bin enabled on the server, files deleted via File Explorer don't actually get sent there. I ran a few tests myself, and yeah, it’s true—deleting stuff doesn't move it to the Recycle Bin at all.

So now I'm totally stuck—does anyone actually know how to fix this?

On top of that, I stumbled upon this file recovery software:
https://www.imyfone.com/data-recover...m-wd-my-cloud/

The site explicitly says: "As WD My Cloud is remotely accessible, iMyFone D-Back Hard Drive Recovery Expert can work from any PC as well."

The problem is, I can't actually "locate" or see that mapped folder in File Explorer when I try to use the software.

Forget about that spammy software. Just try mapping the drive via its IP address so you can access it properly as a network drive, like T:
Then, I guess you could try using Recuva or something similar, but honestly? The chances of actually recovering anything are pretty slim.

Megan Thomas5 said:Forget about that spammy software. Just try mapping the drive via its IP address so you can access it properly as a network drive, like T:
Then, I guess you could try using Recuva or something similar, but honestly? The chances of actually recovering anything are pretty slim.

Hmm, look, I know there's a ton of junkware out there related to this stuff, but I don't think this specific program is one of them... I've mapped the drive like this (https://prnt.sc/psofQ8Kej9tH). That's how we handle our own server when we're updating content. But for some reason, I just can't get to it through any 'Undelete' programs.

Thomas Sanchez2 said:I’m running a Western Digital My Cloud EX2 Ultra server. We’ve got about ten people using it, and I’ve set up several folders with specific permissions for different users—everything works fine over ZeroTier. We all just access everything through File Explorer by mapping the specific server folders each person needs.

But now we’ve hit a snag—one of the users accidentally wiped out some really important files. I jumped straight into the server settings and noticed there's a 'Recycle Bin' option, but it wasn't enabled. I went ahead and turned it on for all the folders immediately (though, obviously, I didn't expect that to magically fix things retroactively).

Afterward, I did some digging online, and apparently, some people claim that even if you have the Recycle Bin enabled on the server, files deleted via File Explorer don't actually get sent there. I ran a few tests myself, and yeah, it’s true—deleting stuff doesn't move it to the Recycle Bin at all.

So now I'm totally stuck—does anyone actually know how to fix this?

On top of that, I stumbled upon this file recovery software:
https://www.imyfone.com/data-recover...m-wd-my-cloud/

The site explicitly says: "As WD My Cloud is remotely accessible, iMyFone D-Back Hard Drive Recovery Expert can work from any PC as well."

The problem is, I can't actually "locate" or see that mapped folder in File Explorer when I try to use the software.

Is restoring from a backup the only way out?

ironwolf2 said:Is restoring from a backup the only way out?

Yeah, our backups run on a weekly schedule. The files that got deleted were specifically from this current week, right at the end of the business day—so, I guess if the backup runs every Monday and this happened on a Friday, they aren't in there.

I mean, scanning a mapped drive is pretty much a non-starter. You don't actually have direct access to the drive itself; it’s just a virtual layer sitting there. You can't touch the underlying file system like that. But hey, if this is a total disaster, just tear the thing apart and connect the drive locally. Pull it out, plug it straight into a machine, and then try to recover your files.
It'll be easy enough to put the drive back in later.

Megan Thomas5 said:I mean, scanning a mapped drive is pretty much a non-starter. You don't actually have direct access to the drive itself; it’s just a virtual layer sitting there. You can't touch the underlying file system like that. But hey, if this is a total disaster, just tear the thing apart and connect the drive locally. Pull it out, plug it straight into a machine, and then try to recover your files.
It'll be easy enough to put the drive back in later.

Yeah, that's pretty much where my head is at too... Thanks! Though maybe there is some other way—if anyone knows one—but yeah, pulling the drive is probably my last resort. 🙂

I’d suggest grabbing GetDataBack Pro—honestly, it's the best tool I've found for recovering deleted files. What you should do is pull the drive out and plug it directly into your computer as an external drive, then just run a full scan using GetDataBack. One thing I learned the hard way is that you absolutely cannot save the recovered files back onto the same drive you're scanning; if you try, you might overwrite the very data you're trying to save. For example, if that drive shows up as your E: drive, make sure you're saving everything over to your D: drive instead. Once you've got all your stuff safely copied off, you can move it back to the original drive and put it right back on your network setup.

shadowlynx102 said:I’d suggest grabbing GetDataBack Pro—honestly, it's the best tool I've found for recovering deleted files. What you should do is pull the drive out and plug it directly into your computer as an external drive, then just run a full scan using GetDataBack. One thing I learned the hard way is that you absolutely cannot save the recovered files back onto the same drive you're scanning; if you try, you might overwrite the very data you're trying to save. For example, if that drive shows up as your E: drive, make sure you're saving everything over to your D: drive instead. Once you've got all your stuff safely copied off, you can move it back to the original drive and put it right back on your network setup.

Yeah, I get what you mean. Thanks!

Look, if you're trying to restore deleted files using something similar to the Recycle Bin on a network drive, you’re basically going to need some kind of 3rd party app installed on either the server or the client side—it really depends on which specific application you're running (though I'm not 100% sure how the latest versions of Windows Server handle that bit)

Usually, you've got a typical client purge window of about 7 days. That's great because it means you can just grab the file directly from your own PC. But once that window closes? Yeah, you're stuck. You'll have to open a ticket with the file server admin so they can pull the file straight from the server for you. As for the server itself, the purge time is typically around 30 days—kind of like how email servers work—and after that, the file is gone for good. Depending on how the system is set up, it might be wiped securely by overwriting the data, or maybe it gets backed up first before being nuked.

Some apps actually give you versioning too! So, if you're constantly saving over the same file—like if you're working on a document in Microsoft Word and saving different drafts under the same name—the system keeps those versions separate. That way, you can roll back to a specific version whenever you need to.