How do I recover data from the drives of a non-functioning QNAP NAS?
Last modified date:
2025-12-05
Applicable Products
- All QNAP NAS running QTS or QuTS hero
Scenario
If your QNAP NAS is non-functioning (for example, due to hardware failure), you may need to recover files from the installed hard drives. QNAP recommends using NAS migration when possible to preserve your data and configuration by moving your drives to a compatible new QNAP NAS.
Solution
- Check NAS migration compatibility:
- Visit the QNAP NAS Migration page for compatible models.
- Choose a new QNAP NAS that supports migration from your existing NAS.
- Perform migration:
- Power off the old NAS and carefully remove all hard drives, keeping their order unchanged.
- Install the drives in the same order in the new QNAP NAS.
- Power on the new NAS and log in as an administrator.
- Check system logs. Important: If you see "The firmware versions of the system built-in flash and hardware are not consistent", go to Control Panel > Firmware Update and update the firmware.
- After migration, your files and configuration should be available as before.
Important: Do not initialize or format the drives in Windows, as this will erase your data. If you are uncertain about your RAID configuration or migration compatibility, contact QNAP support for guidance.
Limitations
- Windows cannot read EXT4 or ZFS file systems by default.
- If your NAS used RAID, data may be distributed across multiple drives, making recovery more complex.
- Directly connecting a single drive from a RAID array may not provide access to your data.
- Modifying drives can risk data loss. Avoid writing to the drives.
- NAS migration is only supported between specific models. Check compatibility before proceeding.
Further Reading
For further assistance, ask other users and QNAP experts in the community. Go to QNAP Community
