How to remove scratches from a disc. How to remove scratches from a CD or remove scratches from a DVD

How to remove scratches from a CD or remove scratches from a DVD?

    Readme, definitely throw it away. Recording on them is done with high-precision laser equipment, but only such equipment will be able to read the information, and even then not in full, the damage (scratches) is mechanical. What can you do at home? Polish it :)

    For removing scratches from disk You will need Colgate toothpaste and wipes.

    • apply the paste to the disc
    • leave to dry for five minutes
    • wash the disk
    • dry by wiping with a dry cloth.

    Video. Repairing scratched disk

  • I polish it using sandpaper, put a disk instead of a stone, take a piece of soft material, spread a little GOY paste with a fine abrasive on a cloth, and polish it carefully, do not overheat and do not touch the aluminum-coated side, otherwise you will ruin the disk.

    You can remove scratches on a DVD or CD using available materials.

    First, wipe the disc with a cloth soaked in warm water and dry it thoroughly.

    Experts warn, but also claim that you can polish a scratched disc with toothpaste.

    Apply a little toothpaste to a lint-free cloth.

    Then we take it and gently wipe the scratches with a cloth from the center to the edges (like the spokes of a wheel).

    Do not press too hard on the fabric when sanding.

    After finishing the CD scratch removal process or DVD discs, the abrasive material is washed off with warm water and the disc is allowed to dry again.

    The disc can be carefully polished several times until the scratches disappear.

    Improper polishing may damage the disc. Therefore, I recommend that you first practice on a medium with not very valuable information.

    Have you tried using a banana to remove scratches from a disc? First use the toothpaste method, then after removing the toothpaste (slightly dried) with a napkin, take a peeled banana and rub the disk in a circular motion, then use the same movements with the inside of the peel, then use a damp napkin for monitors. Ready.

    It’s been a while since I saw an interesting Toshiba dealer at a friend’s place, of course I don’t remember the model. So he even read discs that had burst halfway, to the point of a hole. But only musical ones. And the scratched ones were a piece of cake for him to read. He gave some unrealistically large sum for it. Try inserting discs into other computers, if you succeed, copy them immediately. This is from personal experience. The computer at home refused to read many discs, but the worker managed to cope with almost all of them.

    I heard that it is impossible to polish it, that all these ideas are meaningless and do not affect readability in any way, unless they can make it even worse.

    But I’ve already heard a couple of times that you can briefly restore the readability of a disc by briefly heating it over a fire! I wonder if there might be something to this? Personal experience I haven’t done it yet, but I’ll try it someday.

    In general, disc players and recorders differ greatly in quality and capabilities. Moreover, I already had it so that the scratched disk did not want to be read on the latest equipment, and having tried to read it in a completely ordinary, old disk drive, I was very successful. Of course, I copied it faster, but old disk drive I kept it just in case :)

    To remove scratches from discs, try this one way. Take a three-sided nail polish called buff, oil and a soft cloth. Clean the disc from grease and other contaminants. First you need to clean the largest scratches with the rough side of the buff. Then we process the disc with the middle part of the buff. Then we apply oil to the disc and clean it with the smallest side of the buff. Wipe off any remaining grease with a cloth. Then the disc should be placed in the freezer for about 40 minutes.

    After all the steps taken, try reading the disk using a program for recovering broken disks, for example: RecoveryToolboxForCD.

    You need to try special programs that help read information from scratched disks. You also need to try reading information from the scratched disk onto different computers, this sometimes helps. But if the disc is scratched too much, it’s unlikely that it will help.

    Perhaps you can polish the disk with something in order to read the information recorded on it. But it's best to use special programs, which are designed to read information from damaged, heavily scratched disks. These programs are both paid and free, for example, Unstoppable Copier 5.2.

    Disk definitely won't be readable if scratches or damage very significant and deep. Typically small scratches CD or DVD discs do not affect their readability by the drive. Very often the reason for unreadability disks is the presence on the reverse side disk fingerprints or other greasy stains.

    Therefore, do not rush to throw away scratched unreadable disc. You should wipe the back side first disk soft cloth and try again read disk on drive.

The CD may be scratched from being dropped or handled roughly. Dirt and scratches on the surface of discs lead to reading errors or generally interfere with disc playback, because any defects on the surface of the disc prevent the drive's laser beam from reading information normally. Fingerprints and other dirt can be easily removed from the surface of the disc, but scratches are much more difficult to deal with. In addition to the fact that scratches prevent the laser from reading information from the disk, if they are deep, there is a possibility that they will damage the reflective coating of the disk where the information is stored. If the metal layer is not damaged, but only the polycarbonate coating is damaged, then perhaps this disc can be restored.

Cleaning discs from scratches

First, clean the disc so that all scratches are visible. To do this, wash the disc with soap and dry it with a soft towel (do not scratch the disc when you wipe it). Light stains can also be cleaned with a damp soft cloth. Start wiping the disc from the center to the edge. In some cases, this is enough for the disc to start playing again.

Next, you need to carefully examine the clean disk under good lighting. Disc playback may be affected by scratches that are parallel to the edge of the disc. Scratches that go from the edge of the disc to the center, as a rule, do not cause problems.

Place the disc label side down on a flat surface. The surface should not be very rough, because the disc has a very thin layer of protective varnish on top, which can also be damaged.

To remove scratches from a disc, you need to carefully polish the protective coating on it using a soft cloth and a mild abrasive substance. You can use furniture polish or white toothpaste. You should not use the cloth that you used to clean the disc from dirt, because there could be residual dirt on it that could scratch the disc even more. For scratches, toothpaste will do, and for deeper scratches, it will be better to use polish, but when polishing, you should not use too much force, because you can scratch the disc.

You need to put a little polish or toothpaste on a cotton swab, polishing will be much more difficult if you apply a lot of polish. Lightly rub the swab onto the scratch until it disappears. Polish the disc from its center to the edge. Then clean it with glass cleaner or alcohol and a clean cloth. After the disc has dried, try playing it again; if it still does not play, then repeat the procedure.

You can also use car or furniture wax for larger scratches. Apply wax to the entire disc and polish it with a lint-free cloth. Wax does not remove scratches, but fills in gaps.

Stores also sell special polishing kits for restoring damaged or scratched CDs.

The disk is 100% damaged and nothing can save it if the scratch is very deep and the data layer is damaged.

The working surface of optical discs is easily damaged - the protective layer becomes scratched even with not too intensive use. Deep defects often lead to the impossibility of extracting information from damaged media. Next, we will tell you how to restore a scratched disc by polishing using toothpaste, GOI paste, and also consider some “harmful” tips from the CD Resuscitation Network.

Rules for working with damaged optical discs

Let us say right away that an unreadable media with deep scratches can be restored in this way, at best, only partially. Moreover, you will have to act extremely carefully, otherwise the surface can be completely damaged. It would be better to first practice on old unnecessary media before restoring a disk with valuable information - this way you can evaluate the effectiveness of the method and, as they say, get better at it.

And do not try to immediately resort to using the method described below when a reading error occurs - check the disk on another computer - often it is the DVD drive that causes the problems. In addition, there are a lot of applications that allow you to extract maximum information from scratched blanks thanks to a modified reading algorithm. One effective solution is Durable Copy.

It is advisable to use the program to work with discs that have already been restored by polishing, because we have already noted that heavily damaged media can never be restored 100%.

How to polish a blank with toothpaste at home

The most affordable and safest way to polish is with toothpaste:


The movements during the polishing process should not be too intense so that the surface does not heat up quickly. There is no need to put pressure on the blank either. After 15-20 minutes, rinse the disc thoroughly in warm water. Its surface may become matte due to the appearance of many microscopic scratches, but deep damage will become much less noticeable, which should have a better effect on the readability of the disc.

Dry the optical drive, try inserting it into the DVD drive. If your goal is to retrieve photos, important documents, etc., use Durable Copy or similar app. Surely this time there will be noticeably more copied intact information.

If necessary, restoring the working surface using the method described above can be repeated, but it makes sense to carry it out for no more than an hour. As practice shows, polishing with paste for too long causes the opposite effect - there is less readable data on the media.

Professional polishing method

For truly valuable and expensive disks, such artisanal methods should no longer be used. To obtain an acceptable result, the polycarbonate base will need to be polished with fine abrasive GOI paste (sold in hardware stores) using an electric drill with a grinding attachment:


If you don’t have a power tool, polishing with GOI paste can also be done manually, but a positive result is far from guaranteed, and the process can take a long time.

How not to restore optical discs

You can often read a lot on the Internet alternative ways restoration of scratched compacts. For example, sometimes it is recommended to polish simply with soft or denim cloth. It is clear that you cannot polish the surface with non-abrasive materials. It will simply overheat and the media will no longer be recoverable.

Another extreme option (real advice from “experts” on the Internet) is polishing with fine-grained sandpaper. This method can immediately ruin the surface without even making an effort. The same applies to heating the disk in the microwave, under table lamp and so on.

Another popular tip from the Internet is to cover the scratch with “green paint” or even completely treat the surface of the compact with it.

Despite the emergence of a number of portable media used to store large amounts of information, CDs are still considered one of the most durable and reliable in this group. They are less prone to causeless breakdowns, but are not protected from physical impacts and, as a result, mechanical damage. A couple of scratches on the surface of a CD are enough for the media to stop working correctly or be readable altogether, “burying” a significant part of the data important to the user.

But there is no need to despair: there is still a chance to repair the equipment. For this purpose, there are special commercial kits available for sale and a lot of advice on the Internet designed to help restore the original state of the disk.

CD/DVD preparation

Before removing scratches from a disc, its surface should be cleaned of dust and fingerprints, since dirt could be the root cause of the breakdown.

This can be done in several ways:

  1. Using non-abrasive products.
  2. Wipe heavily soiled media carefully with a soft cloth.
  3. Hold under running slightly warm water.

After shaking off the water from the CD, you need to dry it by placing it on a paper towel without getting wet. This is done in order to understand the extent of the damage: if the depth of the damage reaches the metal layer, the media cannot be saved on its own.

Removing defects on the CD/DVD surface

It is possible to cope with this task at home, the main thing is to know how. It is easy to remove scratches from a disc; various household products are used for this - from Vaseline to toothpaste.

Waxing with polish, car wax or other creamy texture works well when the polycarbonate coating shows signs of heavy wear. In this case, the carrier is covered with one of the listed products, the excess of which is then removed with a lint-free cloth. This method will help temporarily, since it does not help remove defects, but only fills in abrasions. After successfully using it, you should do backup copy information from a damaged CD, the further use of which remains in doubt.

The following method (how to remove scratches from a disc with toothpaste) is very simple. It consists of polishing the top layer of the CD, thinning it and thereby reducing the depth of damage. You should resort to it at the very last moment, if more gentle options do not work.

It is advisable to use a paste based on baking soda as it is the most effective. The substance is applied to a smooth cloth (a napkin for glasses is suitable) and with its help it is distributed over the scratch perpendicular to the digital tracks. This will protect the media from the appearance of new, more dangerous flaws.

It will take about 2-5 minutes to polish the disc in a similar way, then the paste is carefully washed off under warm water and the CD is allowed to dry in the open air on its own.

Both methods are equally effective in dealing with the task described (how to remove scratches from an Xbox disk).

Damage to Xbox CD

If you find a defect on a disc for a game console, you should make sure that it is not the culprit of the problem. Xbox sometimes has a similar flaw, and if it was purchased recently, there is a chance that the unusable media will be replaced with a new one by technical support.

If exchange and compensation for damage are not possible, then the main methods for removing scratches from an Xbox 360 disk are those already described using toothpaste or polish.

Caring for portable media

The best way to solve a problem is to prevent it from occurring. To delay the confrontation with the question of how to remove scratches from a disk, you should provide it with proper operating conditions:

  • Heavy dirt must be cleaned with specialized means, using gentle movements in the direction from the central hole to the edge of the CD. Under no circumstances should you wipe the surface of the disk in a circle - this creates a risk of data loss.
  • The media should be stored away from direct sunlight in a CD/DVD folder. This method will provide fragile disks with the proper level of security and take up minimal space.
  • To remove media from an optical drive, hold it by its edges or inner ring.

By following these instructions, the user will protect himself from unexpected loss of information and may never face the problem of how to remove scratches from a disk.

The problem of scratched CDs from which information cannot be read is familiar to almost everyone who has encountered them.

There can be many reasons for scratches on the protective varnish coating of a disc, but the main one is that the disc is not handled very carefully. The fact is that the protective layer of a CD is extremely thin, so simply placing it on a table with a work surface may be enough for scratches to appear.


Removing shallow scratches from a CD is not easy, but it is possible. Of course, it will be like a sweepstakes, but with a careful approach and some experience, you can fix the disc in 90% of cases. First you need to carefully examine the surface of the disc to identify scratches. The least dangerous are transverse scratches, which are directed from the edge of the disk to its center. As a rule, they do not have much influence on the process of reading information. Longitudinal scratches are much more dangerous in this regard, so you will need to work much longer to eliminate them. Such scratches, which are directed along the tracks, can damage the recorded information even at small sizes.

To remove scratches from the disc, you need to carefully polish the protective coating. Simple toothpaste diluted with water, as well as goyim paste dissolved in white spirit, are suitable materials for this. The toothpaste must be of high quality, without large abrasive particles. Since these substances do not dissolve completely, so that new scratches do not appear on the disc during polishing, the procedure must be carried out easily, without using excessive force.

The polishing process is performed with a small piece of soft cloth. Movements should be directed from the edge of the disk to the center, that is, perpendicular to the tracks. The disc itself must lie on a soft and flat surface, otherwise the working layer may be damaged. You should not even try to remove scratches from the disc by lubricating it with glycerin or oil. If these substances get on the drive head, it may completely fail. It is best to practice on an old, unnecessary disc before you start polishing a CD, otherwise even a small mistake can completely ruin the desired CD.

A successfully restored CD containing your favorite movie, music or gambling game can last for some time. But it is best to rewrite its contents onto another medium after such polishing of scratches.


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