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Free Image Format ConversionFormatting a disk is very easy, and many people complain that they formatted their hard drive by mistake. If you have had the same experience, you can recover a formatted hard drive by following the methods below.
How to Recover Data from a Formatted Hard Drive
Most of us have been there. You format your hard drive, only to realize that there was some valuable data on it. Panic might set in when you realize you've lost all your data. Don't worry. It's possible to retrieve files after formatting the hard drive.
Actually, when you format a hard drive, the operating system only deletes the file directory so that you can't find them. The data on the disk is not really erased. That means the data is possible to be recovered after formatting. If you formatted your hard drive by accident, stay calm! You can get back your lost files via the following two methods.
- Important
- Data cannot be recovered if it has been overwritten.
Part 1: How to Recover Files from Formatted Hard Drive for Free
The solution can easily restore formatted data without requiring any technical skills. All you need is the powerful Data Recovery Wizard tool, an excellent piece of free data recovery software. With just three steps, it can recover files from a formatted hard drive, USB drive, SD card, or memory stick.
It works on all versions of Windows, including Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP. To learn more about this HDD recovery software, you can check out the "Top Formatted Hard Drive Data Recovery Software" section.
How to Recover a Formatted Hard Drive for Free:
A step-by-step guide on how to recover files from a formatted hard drive:
Note: To ensure a higher chance of data recovery, install the data recovery tool on a different disk, not the formatted one.
Step 1. Launch tools Partition Recovery Wizard. Select the formatted hard drive partition and click "Scan".
Step 2: The formatting hard drive recovery software will start scanning all lost data and files. After the scan, click on “Filter” to filter specific file types and quickly locate the required files. Or click on “Search for Files or Folders” to select the data you want to recover.
Step 3: Preview the scanned files, select the ones you want to recover, and click “Restore.” Choose a new location to save your files, then click “OK.”
If you're a Mac user, you can also use the tool to recover formatted hard drive on Mac.
Part 2: Top 10 HDD Formatting Data Recovery Software
If you forgot to back up your files before formatting the hard drive, then the only way to recover them is by using a data recovery software. There are plenty of data recovery tools that can delve into the depths of your lost universe and retrieve those scrolls of knowledge. Here, I've listed the 10 best free data recovery software for Windows 10.
Top Tool #1: Data Recovery Wizard (Windows and Mac)
Tool Data Recovery software can fully restore lost files, photos, documents, and videos after deletion, formatting, partition loss, system crash, or virus attack. It's your go-to solution for a quick yet comprehensive file recovery.
Advantages
- Supports all file systems, including FAT, exFAT, NTFS, NTFS5, ext2/ext3, HFS+, and ReFS.
- Effectively recovers lost or deleted files, photos, audio, music, and emails from formatted hard drives.
- Recovers files from the Recycle Bin, hard drives, memory cards, flash drives, digital cameras, camcorders, and more.
- Repairs corrupted JPEG/JPG photos and MP4/MOV camera videos.
Disadvantage
- 2 GB of free storage space restored
Second place: Recuva (Windows)
< a href="https://www.ccleaner.com/recuva" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Recuva is a tool that can quickly recover deleted, formatted, or lost data. It can restore lost or deleted photos, videos, audio files, documents, and more from hard drive disks, USB devices, or other storage media.
Advantages
- Fast downloads and installation. The portable version can run straight from a flash drive.
- User-friendly. Intuitive for everyone, with both simple and advanced options.
- Deep Scan feature finds more files, though it may take longer.
Disadvantages
- Free versions do not come with technical support.
Third place: Disk Drill (for Windows and Mac)
Disk Drill can recover files on both Windows and Mac. It offers more advanced features for recovering archived, hidden, compressed, or encrypted files.
Advantages
- Deep scan feature available after quick scan.
- Supports all file systems, including FAT, NTFS, HFS+, and EXT4.
- Able to recover any undamaged storage device.
Disadvantage
- • Only 500 MB of data can be recovered for free.
4th Place: OnTrack EasyRecovery (for Windows and Mac)
Developed by leading data recovery provider Ontrack, Ontrack EasyRecovery is user-friendly and powerful, handling virtually all types of shared data loss scenarios.
Advantages
- Potent interface
- Abundant features
- Straightforward file organization
Disadvantages
- Free recovery of up to 1 GB of data
- Personal information required for software download
#5: R-Studio (Windows, Mac, Linux)
R-Studio is the most comprehensive data recovery solution for recovering files from NTFS, NTFS5, ReFS, FAT12/16/32, exFAT, HFS/HFS+, and AFP file systems. In addition to being compatible with all 32-bit Windows versions, R-Studio also supports 64-bit Windows and utilizes all physical memory, greatly enhancing scanning performance, especially on large disks.
Advantages
- Supports data recovery from various data loss scenarios
- Specially designed for data recovery from network drives
- Enables creating image files and recovering files from the image files
Disadvantages
- Unable to restore files larger than 256 KB for free.
- The interface is somewhat outdated and relatively complex.
6\. TestDisk Data Recovery (Windows, Mac, Linux)
[TestDisk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TestDisk) is a free and open-source file-recovery program that works great and runs on almost every operating system. It can recover deleted or lost partitions, make damaged disks bootable again, and do much more.
Advantages
- It's free, open-source, and secure.
- It can repair partition tables and recover deleted partitions.
- It can recover data from problematic partitions caused by software failures, certain types of viruses, or human errors.
Disadvantages
- It's inconvenient for average users.
#7 Puran Data Recovery (Windows)
Puran Data Recovery is another powerful and free data recovery utility. Puran File Recovery does a great job of recovering data from hard drives, USB flash drives, and SD cards.
Advantages
- Features deep scan and full scan options for more powerful searches.
- Allows previewing of highlighted files.
- Supports drag and drop functionality.
- Completely free of charge.
Disadvantages
- Inability to preview results
- Unintuitive user interface
8. Glary Undelete (for Windows)
Glary Undelete, a sister program to Recuva, is a powerful partition recovery tool designed to restore compressed, fragmented, and encrypted files on NTFS. It automatically arranges results by each file's name, size, and creation date.
Advantages
Support for multiple file systems, such as NTFS + EFS, FAT, and NTFS.
- Great for recovering deleted items from the Recycle Bin or external storage devices.
- Preview feature helps you locate the files you want to recover.
Disadvantages
- - It has a dated interface.
- It might overwhelm you with the number of junk files it finds and lists.
#9 Wise Data Recovery (Windows)
With Wise Data Recovery, you can easily and quickly get back deleted photos, documents, videos, emails, and more. This free data recovery software enables you to restore formatted hard drive data with just a few simple steps.
Advantages
- Lightweight and space-saving
- Fast scanning speed
Disadvantages
- • The free version does not support deep scanning and RAW recovery.
10. Recover My Files (Windows)
Recover My Files can recover files you accidentally deleted from your computer, Recycle Bin, flash drive, digital camera, or memory card. When you launch the program, you'll see two tabs: "Recover Files" and "Recover Drives." To get back your deleted items, stay on the "Recover Files" tab, select the hard drive, and start the search.
Advantages
- Fast, simple, and user-friendly.
- Supports preview for specific file types.
Disadvantages
Conclusions
With the help of these practical data recovery tools, you can recover files from a formatted hard drive for free. Choose the best file recovery software based on your needs.
"Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Formatted HDD Recovery Software"
Can you undo format? How to recover data from formatted hard drive? You can find all the answers here.
How can I recover files from a formatted hard drive for free?
Step 1: Choose a Partition
Step 2: Choose the file you need.
Step 3: Recover the file to a safe location.
Can I undo a format?
Sorry, you can't. If you want to unformat, the answer is no. You can, however, make it easy to restore all lost data and move it back to the formatted drive. That's what we mean by unformat.
Can files be recovered after quick formatting?
Normally, files are not permanently removed from the drive after formatting, so there is still a chance to recover lost data after quick formatting as long as the original data is not overwritten. To recover lost data after quick formatting, you need professional format recovery software to assist you.
Can a wiped hard drive be recovered?
It depends on how you wiped the disk. If you just deleted files or formatted the hard drive, it can be easily recovered. If you overwrote the disk with zeros using special tools, all data will be destroyed. To prevent overwritten files, it's best to stop using the hard drive.