Depending on the severity of the loss, you can employ different recovery strategies. 1. Manual Reconstruction of Descriptor Files

: Allows you to upload a VMFS file or scan a disk to preview and save recovered data to a physical drive . Step 4: Recovery Procedure via Windows

: Before attempting deep recovery, check the vSphere Client to see if any Snapshots are available. Reverting to a snapshot is the fastest "undelete" method. Recovery Methods for VMFS

These tools scan the raw VMFS partition, find deleted file headers (e.g., VMDK descriptor, flat VMDK), and rebuild the file.

: These tools scan for the underlying file system (like NTFS or EXT) inside the VMFS blocks. They often allow you to preview files before committing to a full recovery. Recover deleted vmdk files? | VMware vSphere

The moment you realize a deletion has occurred, you must minimize further data overwriting.

Before moving to complex recovery tools, verify if you can restore from recent snapshots or backups.

Recovering deleted files or virtual machines from a VMware VMFS (Virtual Machine File System) datastore is a high-stakes process because VMware does not have a native "Recycle Bin" or built-in "undelete" command .

Check if a snapshot was taken prior to the deletion. You may be able to revert or consolidate to recover the state.

To perform a "VMFS undelete," you can use specialized data recovery tools and techniques. Here are some general steps: