r/datarecovery rules, stats, and what to post

This is a help community for getting lost or deleted data back from failed, damaged, corrupted or formatted drives, SSDs, SD and CF cards, and USB sticks. The people posting are usually in trouble, they have lost files and they need a fix, so the tone is urgent and practical. The people answering are enthusiasts and experts, and the description asks them to understand the problem first and ask a good diagnostic question instead of rushing a solution. The scope is narrow by design. Getting data off storage media is in scope, including files deleted from it, and a dead or damaged phone counts. Creating or restoring backups, installing an operating system, online account problems, and repair of a working device are all out of scope, and files deleted from a working phone are simply gone.

Four rules decide whether anything you post survives here. “General Discourse and Civility” bans invites to DM, requires advice to be public, and says no spam, with a ban as the stated consequence. “Effort” demands device names, models, file systems, SMART info where relevant, and screenshots, and calls out low effort posts. “No offering or requesting of illegal, hacked, cracked software” results in a ban, which matters if your product touches licensing or cracks in any way. “No harmful advice and false or mis-information!” requires you to be accurate and never advise anything that puts someone's data at risk. Two more shape the shape of a post: “On topic posts only.” limits the sub to getting data off storage media, and “No cross posts from other communities” requires a fresh post with the full contents pasted in.

A good post here is a detailed help request or a careful answer, not an announcement. If you post a question, include the device name and model, the file system, SMART info if it applies, and screenshots or photos where they help, because that is exactly what the effort rule asks for. If you answer, make sure your advice is accurate and never suggests a procedure that puts the person's remaining data at risk. Keep every exchange public, never pull the conversation into DMs. If you are a founder, the honest play is to help people with real problems under your real name and let your expertise speak, and only mention your tool if it is genuinely the right answer to the question asked.

Posts get removed for lacking device details, containing harmful advice, using non English text, or cross posting from other communities. Inviting someone to a private chat is not allowed, all advice must stay public. Lecturing people about backups or scolding them while they face data loss breaks the civility rule. Asking for or offering serial numbers, hacked or cracked software leads to a ban. Off topic posts about backups, operating system installs, online accounts, or working devices are removed, and low effort posts without the details others need to help are not welcome either.

The rule against lecturing people about backups is the most humane thing I have read in a subreddit rulebook, and it tells you exactly what kind of room this is. People arrive here on the worst day of their week, and the community has decided that scolding them is off topic. If you show up as a founder, match that energy, answer in public, and leave the pitch at home.