- This is where file recovery software can come into their own, and while there are some expensive paid plans, we're going to list the best of the free file recovery software here. Disk Drill is.
- This great free data recovery software for Windows aims to recover files or scan deep to restore data from the damaged hard disk drive before fixing hdd issues. Recoverable file Loss Situations The reasons for data loss are diverse, among which some lead to temporary file loss, while some bring permanently data loss.
- Free File Recovery Software Windows
- 100% Free Sd Recovery Software
- Best Windows File Recovery Software
- Windows Phone File Recovery Software
You've Lost a File, Now What?
Nothing can make you feel more helpless than trying to rescue a file from a failing PC, Mac, or external drive. Maybe it's the trove of family photos that suddenly can't be found in its folder, or the important documents you scanned and saved as PDFs to a now-failing hard drive. Whatever the case, you'll do anything--anything—to get those files back. Relax; you don't have to offer up your firstborn or a kidney to do so. A Data recovery utility may be just the solution you need to get you out of the pickle you find yourself in.
Recuva ® Recover your deleted files quickly and easily. Accidentally deleted an important file? Lost files after a computer crash? No problem - Recuva recovers files from your Windows computer, recycle bin, digital camera card, or MP3 player! The free data recovery software can recover accidentally deleted files as well as data from damaged or formatted hard drives. It can recover data from your hard drive, USB drives, memory cards, and other storage devices.
What Can Data Recovery Software Can Do?
Data recovery software can be almost miraculously useful in some situations, and entirely useless in others. The best of the file-recovery apps that we reviewed make it effortless to recover files from traditional spinning hard drives, flash drives, SD cards, and other forms of portable storage, including your phone. They can also retrieve some or all of the data that you otherwise can't access on a failing CD or DVD disk. What they can't do—because no consumer-level software can do it—is recover a file that you deleted from the solid-state drive (SSD) that's probably in your laptop if you bought it in the past year or so, and possibly in your desktop if it's also of recent vintage. For SSD data recovery, you'll need to send your disk to a recovery lab; more on that below. Many of the apps we reviewed have both Windows and Mac versions, and they may be priced slightly differently.
Where data recovery software is most useful is when you mistakenly formatted a thumb drive or a media card without remembering to grab the files already stored there, or if you mistakenly deleted files from your phone. This is the kind of mishap that can happen to anyone. Advanced users often get overeager about emptying the Recycle Bin, and want to get back files they didn't intend to delete forever. If you're using a traditional spinning hard drive, the best recovery software can restore those lost files. A few advanced users—you know who you are—have even deleted whole disk partitions by mistake when performing housekeeping on their hard disks. Again, with a traditional spinning hard drive, recovery software can bring it back in one piece.
All these apps offer to recover lost or deleted files. Some include the ability to make a disk image (or full clone) of a drive so that you can try to recover files from the image or clone instead of from the disk itself. This is an essential feature if you're trying to recover files from a disk that's physically failing, and may continue to fail if your recovery software keeps trying to read from it.
Some data recovery apps also include the opposite of file recovery—permanent file deletion. When you want to make sure that no one can retrieve your data, you can tell these apps to overwrite the data with enough random bytes to make the original data unreadable. Keep in mind that government agencies have tools that can retrieve data from almost anything, but these apps make it impractical even for expert thieves to recover private information from stolen or discarded disk drives.
Where Software Fails, Labs May Succeed
Several of the data recovery apps we reviewed come from companies that offer laboratory-based data recovery services—always at a high price. If you can't recover data from your drive with an app, then you can consider getting it recovered by an in-lab service. All of these services claim to recover data even from SSDs. We haven't tested these claims, but all these services won't charge you unless they actually retrieve your data, so it may be worth looking into them in case of real emergencies. Those services—Kroll, Prosoft, and Seagate—that offer mail-in recovery labs are noted in the table above, and you can read about the details of the particular offerings in the full reviews of those services.
A Caveat About SSDs
One failing that bothered us in all these apps—including our top picks—is that they didn't even warn us that we couldn't recover files from an SSD. It's easy for an app to tell whether a drive uses spinning-platter or SSD technology, and easy to tell whether TRIM technology is active in a drive. All of the software we reviewed, both on the Mac and PC, misleadingly told us that they were able to recover deleted files from SSDs—and then disappointed us by providing corrupt and unusable files instead of the ones we wanted. We hope that the next generation of data recovery software is redesigned to make it clear that we can't hope for file recovery on SSDs unless the deleted files are safely in the Recycle Bin—where, of course, they're easy to find without using recovery software.
The reason that data recovery software can't recover data from SSDs is simple. Virtually all current SSDs use so-called TRIM technology that increases efficiency and disk life by clearing disk sectors that are not being used. One result of this is that the data can't be recovered by software, even if the file system retains its record of the sectors where the data used to be. With traditional spinning hard drives and USB flash drives, file recovery is relatively simple. Recovery software can find the location of a file's data even if you've emptied the Recycle Bin, often even if you've reformatted the disk. But once a file is deleted from an SSD, and the Recycle Bin has been emptied, there's no hope of ever getting that file back again, unless you have a backup somewhere.
Which Data Recovery Software Do You Need?
We found two Editors' Choice data recovery apps for Windows: Kroll Ontrack EasyRecovery and Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery. Ontrack was the best performer in our tests, very slightly outclassing Stellar Phoenix in the number of files it recovered, but Stellar Phoenix has by far the best interface of anything we tried. On the Mac side Alsoft DiskWarrior is an Editors' Choice, for its ability to rebuild entire Mac directories. Prosoft Data Rescue is an excellent choice for getting back the odd document or spreadsheet that you accidentally deleted from your Mac.
![Best windows file recovery software Best windows file recovery software](/uploads/1/2/6/2/126211267/481478450.png)
Lost data can cause financial problems and emotional heartache. You probably have hundreds of photos and sound files that you can't bear to lose. A reliable backup system is the best option, but data recovery software is the second-best, and sometimes the only, choice available. Look into our suggestions now, so you'll be ready if disaster strikes.
Once you've got your files back, you'll want to regularly back up your work. Our roundups of the Best External Hard Drives, the Best Backup Software, and the Best Cloud Backup Services are good places to start.
Best Data Recovery Software Featured in This Roundup:
Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery Review
MSRP: $99.00Pros: Recovers files from all media. Preview feature lets you know in advance which files can be recovered. Includes disk-testing and cloning functions.Cons: Lists as recoverable too many files that are not. No automatic display of deleted files list. Poor multi-monitor support.Bottom Line: Stellar Data Recovery Premium recovers lost data files from all media, and it lets you know in advance which files are recoverable. However, this utility is too often unable to deliver on its recovery promises.Read ReviewProsoft Data Rescue (for Mac) Review
MSRP: $99.00Pros: Excellent file recovery. Integrated chat button, available call center, and physical recovery lab. Generous licensing.Cons: Without advanced filtering, it can be difficult to sift through results. Hides some valuable features.Bottom Line: After fifteen years in the business, Prosoft Data Rescue continues to offer one of the most powerful and accessible tools for data recovery.Read ReviewAlsoft DiskWarrior (for Mac) Review
MSRP: $119.00Pros: Repairs and rebuilds Mac directories to improve system reliability and performance. Useful hardware and maintenance tools. Effective for traditional hard disk and solid-state drives. Easy to use. Affordable.Cons: The OS X Recovery partition complicates booting into the utility.Bottom Line: While other data recovery utilities can scan disks to recover lost or deleted files, DiskWarrior is unrivaled in its ability to repair and rebuild the Mac directory.Read ReviewProsoft Data Rescue PC4 Review
MSRP: $69.00Pros: High-powered file recovery. Fast and efficient scanning. Saves file-scan data for use in later sessions.Cons: Over-complex, under-informative interface. Option to create disk-copy clones rather than faster, more manageable disk images. Licensed to five drives only.Bottom Line: Prosoft Data Rescue is among the best when it comes to raws Platinum edition. Would benefit from advanced filtering. License transfer is onerous. Ineffective for recovering files on solid-state hard drives.Bottom Line: While it doesn't provide the most sophisticated tools for filtering recovery results, Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery offers an easy on-ramp to Mac data recovery.Read ReviewCleverFiles Disk Drill Pro (for Mac) Review
MSRP: $89.00Pros: Excellent file recovery with best-in-class file signature support. Superb filtering. Unique features, including data protection and iOS recovery. Affordable.Cons: Ineffective for recovering files on solid-state drives. Some features less useful than others.Bottom Line: If you have Mac with a traditional hard drive, Disk Drill Pro offers one of the most advanced data recovery utilities available.Read ReviewKroll Ontrack EasyRecovery Review
MSRP: $79.00Pros: Impressively fast, extremely thorough data recovery. Rich in technically advanced options. Includes secure-delete feature. Backed up by Ontrack's mail-in disk recovery.Cons: Unclear interface. Lacks built-in previewer. No option to create a disk image from a failing disk.Bottom Line: Kroll Ontrack EasyRecovery is the most powerful, thorough data recovery software we've tested, and it's blazing fast, too. Its only real drawback is a sometimes-daunting interface.Read ReviewRecuva Review
MSRP: $0.00Pros: Low price. Free version available. Beautifully clear interface design. Preview screen.Cons: Can't recover as many files as high-priced rivals.Bottom Line: Recuva is attractively priced and easy to use, though it can't dig in quite as deeply as higher-priced data recovery software.Read ReviewSeagate Premium File Recovery Suite (for Mac) Review
MSRP: $99.00Pros: Good results. Fast scanning. Parallel Mac/Windows experience. Available in-house data recovery lab and insurance policies (Rescue Plans). No learning curve.Cons: Some glitches with STX server during testing. Stingy licensing. Ineffective for recovering files on solid-state hard drives.Bottom Line: While it's not as feature-rich as some competing tools, Seagate Premium File Recovery Suite provides a simple, fast, and capable utility backed by one of the largest names in data recovery.Read ReviewSeagate Premium Recovery Suite Review
MSRP: $79.99Pros: Spacious, clear interface. Thumbnail previews for recovered files. Direct link to Seagate's in-lab recovery service.Cons: Restrictive license. Recovered fewer files than competitive products. Lacks CD/DVD recovery option. No disk-image creation. Lacks secure-delete feature.Bottom Line: Seagate is a major player in the disk drive industry, but its Premium Recovery Suite consumer-level data recovery software has a very restrictive licensing model.Read Review
Free File Recovery Software Windows
Losing your valuable data can be your worst nightmare coming true. There can be various situations wherein you lose your data, it could be due to system failure, corrupted hardware, and files you deleted accidentally. If you have created a backup for your files, then you needn’t worry, but what if you have no backup? Tried all other measures but in vain? Then, you need to get a file recovery software for Windows.
It will help you retrieve your files. The data recovery tools search for traces of deleted files on your computer and bring back your invaluable data.
Note: If you have lost your data, it is advised not to perform the copy, move and cut operations on the drive, as the deleted data could be overwritten and therefore becomes hard to recover.
Is there any Free Software to Recover Deleted Files?
Yes, there is a tool which can you recover deleted files for free for first 24 hours, i.e. Advanced Disk Recovery. Advanced Disk Recovery can help you recover permanently deleted files on your computer in no time, provided the files are not being overwritten.
12 Best Free File Recovery Software for Windows To Recover Deleted Data
There are a lot of recovery software for PC available in the market. We will discuss the best data recovery software for Windows 10, 8, 7.
1. Advanced Disk Recovery (Free Tool)
Want to get back your permanently deleted files from your hard drive or removable drive, then your search is over. Advanced Disk Recovery is one of the free file recovery software which can swiftly get back your lost files. To know more about this recovery software, let’s check out the features:
![Windows 10 best file recovery software Windows 10 best file recovery software](/uploads/1/2/6/2/126211267/390782539.png)
- With a simple interface, it makes easy for the distressful user to get its data back.
- Be it small txt file or a video, photo or any other document, the tool can recover it all.
- Comes with two types of scans: Quick and Deep Scan, for you to choose as per your needs.
This free professional data recovery software for Windows 10 allows you to suspend a search (Deep Scan) for some time and save it. You can resume the session whenever you want. This premium tool is completely free for the first 24 hours.
2. Stellar Data Recovery Professional
One of the best file recovery software, Stellar Data Recovery Professional enables you to recover your data from laptops, computers, external hard drives and more effortlessly. To know more about this recovery tool, let us discuss the features in detail:
- The tool recovers any and all types of files by using the file signature.
- After the scan, it shows all the deleted files in a tree view so that you can preview the files that you want to recover.
- This recovery software can retrieve data from corrupt, scratched or partially burnt optical media along with the original name and folder structure of recovered data.
This amazing tool allows you to create an image of an entire disk, logical partitions in the hard disk or other removable drives, which helps a speedy recovery.
3. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Professional
Lost files after an update or upgrade, or accidentally deleted files, don’t worry, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Professional can help you with that. This recovery tool for Windows 10 quickly brings back your deleted data. Let’s check out the features:
- Allows you to recover all types of files, be it office documents, videos, photos, emails, text files and more.
- Retrieves deleted files even from formatted, corrupted, crashed or even infected hard drive.
- Recovers deleted files even from emptied the Recycle Bin.
The file recovery software can restore your data from raw or inaccessible/raw partition or disk. The tool will get your deleted files in just three simple steps.
4. Recuva
Lost files or deleted them accidentally? Not to worry, Recuva will help you get your files back in no time. Be it your PC, digital camera, recycle bin or an MP3 player, you can restore your files, provided they have not been overwritten. Let’s take a look at the features of Recuva:
- Recovers pictures, documents, music, videos and other file types from your hard disk or removable disk.
- Recovers files from damaged or recently formatted drives.
- With advanced deep mode, it searches your drives for traces of the deleted files.
Recuva is a tool which keeps your files gone for good. With secure overwrite feature which uses industry and military standard technique to delete, it can be done.
5. Wise Data Recovery
Wise Data Recovery is the best professional file recovery software which undeletes photos, documents, emails, videos, and more from your hard drive, and removable drivers. It supports to retrieve data from FAT, exFAT, and NTFS disk. Let’s know more about it
- Allows you to choose the file types that you want to recover before starting the scanning process.
- Along with the scan for lost files, it also tells you the possibilities to undelete the lost files.
- The file recovery software comes in a portable version, which means, you don’t have to install it to get back your deleted files.
This tool is light on resources and is available all versions of Windows from XP to Windows 10.
6. MiniTool Power Data Recovery
A great way to get permanently deleted is by using file recovery software. What is a better tool than MiniTool Power Data Recovery! It can recover files from HDD, SSD along with external hard drives. Let’s know more about it:
- Recovers files types of all kinds including word doc, images, PDFs, notes, emails, XML and more.
- Restores permanently deleted files from formatted or corrupted hard drives.
- Get back files lost even after OS crash or virus invasion.
This file recovery software can also retrieve data corrupted or lost in logical errors and physical damage of a hard drive. Recovers files in just three simple steps.
7. Freeundelete
Yet another deleted files recovery software, Freeundelete successfully can restore files from your Windows system including the recycle bin. Also, the files recovered are saved in a different location to make sure the deleted files are not overwritten. Let’s know more about FreeUndelete
- Restores files from NTFS,including file systems FAT32, FAT16 or FAT12.
- Supports Windows XP, Windows 7, 2000, NT4, Windows 2003 server, Windows 2008 Server.
- The tool is easy to use and has a simple interface.
Freeundelete is available for free if you want this tool for personal use. You can download and install it in a removable drive and run to get back your files.
8. Disk Drill
Disk Drill is one of the professional data recovery software which allows you to undelete your files even from emptied Recycle Bin. All you need is to remember not to perform any operations on the drive from where you have deleted files. Let’s take a look at the features of Disk Drill:
100% Free Sd Recovery Software
- Be it recovering deleted documents such as word, pptx, or excel, photos, gifs, audios or videos and more, the tool can handle it.
- Supports file systems including FAT, NTFS, HFS+ and ExFAT file systems.
- Comes with powerful Quick scan and Deep scan, lost partition search, catalog rebuild along with other file recovery algorithm.
With Recovery Vault data protection and restoration mechanism, the tool ensures that you never lose data again. It keeps records of deleted files and marks & saves invisible copies of the files in case you want to recover data.
9. ADRC Recovery Tool
ADRC Recovery tool is a file recovery software which supports a huge variety of file systems and drives. The tool comes with a simple intuitive interface, making it easy to use. Let’s know more about ADRC Recovery Tool:
- Comes with recovery functions with minimum complexities so that people can recover data with ease.
- Allows you to undelete files, restore a backup image, disk image backup, copy files from hard disk with bad sectors, backup, disk cloning and restore your boot parameters.
- Create and write disk image files to and from hard drives and removable drives
This data recovery software for Windows 10 restores files from disk even with physical damage.
10. PC Inspector File Recovery
PC Inspector File Recovery is a data recovery software for PC which supports file systems including FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS. It can recover photos, videos, audios, and documents. Let’s take a look at the features of this software:
- Retrieves files with original time and stamp.
- Locates partitions automatically, even when the boot sector of FAT is damaged or deleted.
- Recovers files, even if a header entry is not available.
This file recovery software is free to download and install, that means you get your files back without any cost.
11. SoftPerfect File Recovery
Another best recovery software for PC, SoftPerfect File Recovery is a free and simple tool which can help you get back your lost files in no time. It is a portable software, therefore, no installation needed. Let’s know about this tool:
- Simple, free to use tool
- Supports compressed and encrypted volumes, file systems such as FAT32, FAT16,FAT12, NTFS, and NTFS5.
- Works on all versions of Windows, be it Windows XP or Windows 10.
The data recovery tool is capable of retrieving your data from hard drives, flash drives, SD cards, floppy disk, and other storage device.
12. Glary Undelete
Glary Undelete is a recovery software for Windows 10 which is capable of undelete files from hard disks, memory card, SD card, flash drive and more. To know more about Glary Undelete, let’s check out its features:
- Supports various file systems including EFS, FAT, NTFS, FAT, irrespective of it being fragmented or encrypted.
- Allows you to filter results according to name, size, creation date and more.
- The tool is free, powerful and simple to use solution
Gary Undelete shows possibilities of recovering data while scanning the disk.
Our Take:
Well, each of the mentioned file recovery tools is one of its kind. But when it comes to choosing the best for you, you must go for Advanced Disk Recovery tool to recover your deleted files back. It quickly undeletes files from laptops, computers, external hard drives, and removable devices, irrespective of the file type.
Best Windows File Recovery Software
So, this is the list of best file recovery software for Windows, choose any of the tools to recover files from computers, hard disk, or removable storage device.
Windows Phone File Recovery Software
Which software would you like to choose to undelete files? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.