How to recover data from an SSD safely. Get your SSD data back while minimizing the risk of further data loss. Here's how you can safely recover data from an SSD. Before we begin, be sure to subscribe to NinjaOne's IT Video Hub and our YouTube channel for more tech content like this. Seven-step guide to SSD data recovery. Recovering data from a solid-state drive, or SSD, requires a different approach than traditional hard disk drives, HDDs, due to technologies like TRIM, wear leveling, and garbage collection. By following this seven-step guide, you can recover SSD data safely, thereby reducing the risk of data loss. Firstly, preserve the SSD and assess its condition. Shut down the device before carefully detaching the SSD, capture SMART and controller health information with diagnostic tools, and determine the recovery scope. Next, address any drive encryption in the drive before performing SSD imaging. Unlock encrypted volumes using approved recovery BitLocker keys or credentials and see if the decrypted volume mounts correctly in the OS. If decryption is not possible, proceed with SSD imaging. SSD imaging creates a replica of the storage device so that recovery can be done safely on a copy rather than the original. Use disk imaging software and save the image to an external storage device in an external storage device. Check its overall integrity and open the SSD image in a read-only state. After creating the copy, the next obstacle is to work around SSD TRIM and wear leveling, as they can make recovery of deleted data difficult. Focus on active data areas, use logical recovery tools to target recoverable structures, and utilize file carving on file types most likely to survive, such as documents, email archives, images, and databases. Then, when recovering data, prioritize the critical data with immediate business value. Start with finance folders, CRM databases, mailbox stores, or project directories. Check their overall integrity and move verified data to a secure location. If hardware or firmware is blocking access, escalate recovery to a certified professional. Never attempt any unsafe repair attempts, such as heating, freezing, or reflowing SSD components. Instead, take note of hardware-level issues and document the hardware-level issues, and ship the drive to a trusted recovery partner. And finally, document every step of the process to create an audit-ready recovery record and improve future recovery efforts. Record SMART reports, imaging logs, file hashes, recovery tool logs, and validation steps in recovery tickets, summarize results in a client report, and highlight steps taken that can reduce future recovery risk. Through care and due diligence, recovering SSD data can be performed safely while minimizing the risk of further data loss. For more information, check out our official blog post on seven steps to safely perform SSD data recovery, linked in the description below.