Top 10 Best Free Data Recovery Software [Expert Review]

The best free data recovery software can help you get back deleted files and documents. Losing data is a common occurrence, and when it does happen, any of these data recovery apps could come in handy.

In 2022, we've listed the best free data recovery software for you. To get the most out of these tools, you need to know how to install and operate software on your computer. So, without further ado, let's get started!

Top 10 Best Free Data Recovery Software for Windows

Without further ado, let's get straight to the point. Here are some of the best data recovery software for Windows that are not only efficient but also help you restore your lost files quickly. Let's take a detailed look at them.

1. Data Recovery Wizard Free Tool 2. Recuva 3. TestDisk 4. PhotoRec 5. Windows File Recovery 6. Stellar Data Recovery Free 7. Disk Drill Data Recovery 8. Recover My Files 9. Data Rescue 6 10. Puran Data Recovery

Factors we consider in testing free data-recovery software include:

1. Tool: Data Recovery Wizard Free Edition

This free data recovery software from a professional software company can recover files from various storage media, including hard disks, USB drives, and external hard drives.

Compatibility: Windows, macOS

Free Limit: 2 GB of free data

Advantages:

- Reliable data recovery capability - Supports recovery of various file formats - Accommodates over 1000 different file types

Disadvantages:

• Includes both recoverable and non-recoverable files
• Requires a license purchase for full functionality

User Reviews:

It supports various external storage devices and easily recovers files from an empty Windows Recycle Bin. With this data recovery software, you can restore a wide range of deleted document, photo, and video formats.

You might be able to recover those files. Try a data recovery program. I've used them before and they can usually get almost anything back. — Jeremiah F. Stephens (@JeremySteph) October 15, 2021

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2. Recuva

The straightforward data-recovery app called Recuva can handle basic recovery tasks, such as retrieving recently deleted files, and it lets you recover unlimited data for free.

Compatibility: Windows

Free Limitations: Unlimited Free Recovery

Pros:

• Safely erase important data
• Preview files before restoring access to them
• Free version recovers any amount of data

Disadvantages:

- Its creator has abandoned it - Its ability to fetch new images is limited

User Reviews:

In our tests, the software was able to recover all sorts of files, including music, photographs, documents, and e-mails. In addition, the program includes a tool for securely erasing data using military-grade deletion protocols.

Have you tried Recuva? It worked well for me in the past. — Pua'n (@peanutsnake) March 9, 2023

3. TestDisk

You can use the companion data recovery program, TestDisk, which can recover lost or deleted partitions. This free software covers situations such as accidental deletion and virus attacks, and can also update the partition table, MFT (Master File Table), FAT tables, and NTFS boot sectors.

Compatibility: Windows, macOS

Free Limitations: Free software

Pros:

• Support for partitioned tables
• Data recovery from damaged or deleted files
• Recovery from a backup of the FAT32 boot sector

Disadvantages:

• Unreliable file system
• Command-line interface only

User Reviews: :

Users complain that the command-line tool, TestDisk, is difficult for non-technical people to use.

TestDisk, part of the GParted live image, is fantastic software. It runs in the terminal. Wow. — Danny (@Danny__D) March 14, 2023

4. PhotoRec

A free and open-source data recovery program, PhotoRec, can be used on virtually any operating system. As its name suggests, it's an excellent choice for those who want to recover deleted data without paying for it.

Compatibility: Windows, macOS, Linux

Free Limit: Unlimited data recovery

Pros:

• Software that runs simultaneously on multiple operating systems
• Support for over 300 file format families
• Free and open-source

Disadvantages:

• Restores all files without user's permission
• Not professional at all

User Review:

With PhotoRec, we continue our look at free recovery software. You can use it to restore files from any file system by recovering the stored data. It works in read-only mode to protect your data.

If you're not averse to using the command line, PhotoRec is a fantastic tool.

5. Windows File Recovery

Though Microsoft does provide a data-recovery tool, Windows File Recovery, it is far from user-friendly. A command-line utility, it requires you to enter all the operations you want to perform. Still, it's not too difficult to use.

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Compatibility: Windows

Free Limit: Unlimited data recovery

Pros:

• The following is a Microsoft-certified method
• The program supports both internal and external storage media, including SD cards
• There are many alternative options available

Disadvantages:

• Requires the Windows 10 or 11 operating system to run
• Performs tasks through the command line interface

User Reviews:

It's a command-line utility that helps you recover lost data from SD cards, flash drives, and local hard disks. With this tool, you can quickly search for files by name, extension, or even specific phrases within file paths to retrieve your data.

#Tech101

Update: Microsoft releases Windows File Recovery app

This new app can restore files with common extensions: JPEG, PDF, PNG, MPEG, Office files, MP3, MP4, and ZIP.

Supported devices: HDD, SSD, flash drives, and memory cards.

❌ Not recommended for beginners

✅ Follow me for step-by-step guides: pic.twitter.com/oNmeXmQZ7p

— AceOluwapelumi.ts ✨ (@theangelofpc) June 30, 2020

6. Starus Data Recovery Free Version

For individuals and organizations, Stellar Data Recovery is the ideal choice. It is compatible with a variety of devices, including laptops, desktops, servers, flash drives, and memory cards. It also offers 24/7 customer support. The product combines data recovery software, photo recovery software, iPhone recovery software, and video repair software all in one.

Compatibility: Windows, macOS

Free Limit: 1 GB of free data

Pros:

• It can be used to repair videos from DSLRs or any other mobile phone
• It can recover photo, video, and music files from SD, CF, and USB storage devices
• It can be used to recover lost data from your iPhone and iPad

Disadvantages:

• Cannot be used on a smartphone
• Requires files to be restored to a separate hard drive

User Reviews:

With just three simple steps, your data can be recovered! If you are looking for an easy way to recover data, your best bet is to use Stellar's free data recovery software.

It's a simple and forward-looking choice that also lets you build software for email recovery, data recovery, database repair, and file repair.

7. Hard Drive Drill Data Recovery

With Disk Drill, you can easily recover lost or deleted data from any internal or external storage device on your Windows or Mac computer, regardless of the file system.

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Compatibility: Windows, macOS,

Free Limit: 500MB of free storage for recovery

Pros:

- Supports hundreds of formats - Resilient in the face of setbacks - Free data recovery of up to 500 MB for lost or deleted files (Windows)

Disadvantages:

• No phone support
• Average scan speed

User Review: :

First-time users find downloading and installing Disk Drill easy. Both testers and less tech-savvy users have reported that Disk Drill is an easy-to-install, user-friendly, and intuitive program with wizard and GUI features that promote successful recovery.

8. Restore My Files

This tool lets you preview documents and images that Recover My Files finds on your computer. You'll need an activation key to save the files. You must back up your information to an external storage device, such as another hard drive, external USB drive, or network drive.

Compatibility: Windows

Free Limit: Unlimited data recovery

Pros:

• In other words, the process of reinstalling or restoring Windows
• This will make no changes to your trip
• Supports recovery of NTFS, HFS, FAT, and FAT32 file systems

Disadvantages:

• Purchase a license key to ensure data security.
• Data recovery takes too long.

User Reviews:

As long as “Recover My Files” supports the format you want to recover, its inability to handle other formats may be irrelevant to you. In any case, the tool's ease of use, thanks to its straightforward interface, will matter to you.

9. Data Rescue 6

And, while Data Rescue 6 aims to be user-friendly, its high price puts it out of reach for most home users, who might benefit the most from its clean, uncluttered interface.

Compatibility: Windows, macOS

Free Limit: Unlimited disk recovery

Pros:

• Provides an easy-to-navigate user interface
• Enables you to clone a healthy drive to one that might be failing
• Automatically detects the RAID configuration

Disadvantages:

• The multistep recovery process is too difficult to execute
• It is too expensive for beginners compared to other options

User Reviews:

With Data Rescue 6, you can expect faster scan and recovery speeds, improved RAID recovery, and more disk utilities for byte-for-byte disk copying and secure file deletion.

10. Proven Data Recovery

has three main operation modes. The "Find Lost Files" feature in Puran File Recovery enables the recovery of all data from damaged or deleted drives. A custom scan list (saved file signatures) can also be edited to improve accuracy in the recovery of severely damaged data.

Compatibility: Windows

Free Edition Limitations: 1 GB of data recovery

Pros:

• Default scan, causing no delay
• Perform a full disk scan
• Verify if the device has no available space

Disadvantages:

• No macOS version available
• Slight lagging during processing occasionally

User Reviews:

It's one of the best solutions we've found, very easy to use, and it will scan any disk that Windows sees and recover your data for free.

Which free data recovery software is best for me?

Here, we provide a comparative table of the best data recovery tools that can help you understand the actual features of these software.

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How to Recover Lost Data in Windows 10 for Free

The unparalleled free data recovery software is your best bet for quickly and completely restoring files from Windows and Mac computers. It covers over 100 real-life data loss scenarios, including deletion, formatting, RAW, etc. It can also fix corrupted image and video files and recover data erased from hard drives. Preview files before attempting to recover them.

• Quick scan and deep scan modes
• Support for a wide range of data formats recovery
• Learn how to recover deleted or corrupted files from various storage devices

You can follow these steps to recover lost data in Windows for free:

Note: To ensure a higher chance of successful data recovery, do not install the data recovery tool on the original disk where you lost your files; instead, install it on a different disk.

Step 1. Launch tools Data Recovery Wizard on your Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8 or Windows 7 PC. Select the disk partition or storage location where you lost data and click 'Scan'.

Step 2: The recovery software will start scanning the disk to find all lost and deleted files. Once done, click on “Filter” > “Type” to specify the type of lost file.

Select the type of data to recover

Step 3: Preview and recover the lost Windows files. You can double-click to preview the scanned files. Then, select the target data and click the "Recover" button to save them to another secure location on your computer or an external storage device.

Data Loss in Windows 10: Why Does It Happen?

There can be various reasons for data loss in Windows 10 or Windows 11. Here are some common ones:

• Due to negligence - human error
• You might have accidentally deleted some files
• Buggy updates
• Files downloaded from the internet that contain viruses
• A malware attack targeted at your computer

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In this article, we evaluate and compare the best options for retrieving lost or deleted files. Disk Drill, R-Studio, Recuva, tools, and Windows File Recovery all offer free software versions. PhotoRec and TestDisk are two applications that work in tandem. Both are free and count as open-source data recovery software. PhotoRec can recover various types of files.