Uninstalling SQL Server instance, I lost my user database

Question

IT admin has uninstalled the test SQL Server instance. It had a huge real time test data. I want to know if

1. Uninstalling an instance deletes the database?
2. Is there way to recover the lost database?

Answer 1

Not necessarily. As long as the .mdf file is still on the disk, you can attach it to a new instance.

Answer 2

If the .mdf files are still out there, you should be able to just reattach to the live instance.