How to Recover Data from an Encrypted QNAP Volume

Some QNAP models allow for full volume encryption, where the user only sets a password and the QNAP device selects the encryption algorithm. Since QNAP is a Linux-based device, it uses standard Linux encryption technologies, specifically LUKS (Linux Unified Key Setup). If your QNAP volume was fully encrypted (not to be confused with encrypting individual folders), and you remember the password, ReclaiMe File Recovery is exactly what you need to recover your data.

Step-by-step QNAP recovery instructions

  1. Power off the QNAP device: Remove the disks, ensuring to label them according to their bay numbers. These labels will help you reinstate them in the correct order, preserving configuration integrity in case you choose to try other data recovery methods.
  2. Connect the disks to a computer: Ideally, use free SATA ports on the motherboard, but USB connections will also work.
  3. Download, install and run ReclaiMe File Recovery.
  4. Wait for the software to scan the disks: The program will search for all possible partition types, including Linux MD/LVM and QNAP volumes. Your encrypted QNAP volume should appear in the NAS volumes section, marked as [Encrypted].
    5. Encrypted QNAP volume in ReclaiMe
  5. Select the QNAP volume and click Start: The software will notify you that the volume is encrypted and prompt you to enter the password for decryption.
    6. Warning about QNAP encryption in ReclaiMe
  6. Enter your encryption password: Use the password you set when creating the volume in the QNAP control panel. If the password is correct, you will see a message indicating that the volume is unlocked.
    7. Enter password for ecnrypted QNAP volume in ReclaiMe Successful unlocking ecnrypted QNAP volume in ReclaiMe
  7. Wait for the initial scan to complete: Check the quality of the files like JPEG images or PDF documents using the Preview function.
    8. Preview recovered data from ecnrypted QNAP volume in ReclaiMe
  8. If satisfied with the quality: Purchase a license key and copy the recovered data to ANOTHER storage location. This could be another NAS or an external hard drive of the required size.

If you cannot determine which volume to scan on or the recovered data is not displayed correctly in the Preview, please contact us and we will do our best to help you.

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