Recover Deleted Vmdk From Vmware Datastore May 2026

# List datastores and find your target df -h | grep "datastore_name" cd /vmfs/volumes/datastore_name/VM_name/ List all files (including hidden/deleted markers) ls -la

Deleted VMDK recovery on VMFS is a race against the disk’s free block allocator. Stop writes. Scan fast. Recover to another location. Then buy a proper backup solution.

Disclaimer: This guide is for emergency data recovery only. It requires SSH access to the ESXi host and command-line proficiency. VMware does not guarantee file undeletion. If the datastore space (zeroed/thick) has been overwritten, recovery is impossible. The Anatomy of the Disaster A VMDK (Virtual Machine Disk) is deleted from a VMFS (Virtual Machine File System) datastore via the vSphere Client or CLI. Unlike an NTFS or EXT4 "Trash Bin," VMFS-5/6 performs a metadata wipe but often leaves the raw data blocks intact until overwritten.