How to Recover an FTW File

FTW is a file used by the Family Tree Maker program. This program allows you to record and track family ancestors as well as current members of your family. If you accidentally delete one of these files, you can recover the file using some recovery software that's available to try out for free on the Internet.

Instructions

1. Download and install recovery software like Pandora, File Scavenger or Partition Wizard.

2. Open a program like Pandora. It will prompt you to check your recycling bin for the file. Click on the button to open your recycling bin. If you find your file there, right-click on it and select "Restore."

3. Continue with the recovery program if you can't find the file in your recycling bin. Select a hard drive to try recovery procedures on and click the button to begin scanning. The drive will usually be "C."

4. Open your Family Tree Maker folder in the recovery program, since this is where your file is most likely to be.

5. Right-click on the FTW file you wish to recover. Select the recovery option and then choose a folder where the file will be recovered. Click "OK" to recover the file.

Tips & Warnings

• Some files may be overwritten and are therefore unrecoverable: it will say the file has been overwritten underneath the file's name in the recovery program if this is the case.

References

• File-extensions: FTW
• Family Tree Maker

Resources

• Cnet: Partition Wizard
• Cnet: Pandora
• Cnet: File Scavenger