Jatin Bisht
Picture this-you’re organizing some files in your computer, making folders, and putting things where they belong. While doing this, you suddenly realize that out of your clumsiness, you delete an important file. You go on the internet and google how to recover deleted files. That search brings you here, in this article on free data recovery software.
You’ve stumbled upon the right website, let me say. Here we’ll tell you which are the best free data recovery software, how to download them, and tips on what to do and what not to.
Most of the data recovery programs do what they’re meant to-recover file. But, you will soon find out that to use them, you need to buy their product to restore your data fully.
This is a nasty trick that some developers employ. Here, we will take a look at all the software that you need to recover the data you need without busting your bank.
Top Free Data Recovery Software For Mac & Windows
1. Disk Drill
Disk Drill is undoubtedly the most flexible and tailorable software in this list of free data recovery software. Due to this, Disk Drill has gathered a very overwhelming reputation for itself in the IT industry. It is a piece of cake for first-time-users, and at the same time, advanced pros also love the additional tools it provides. Disk Drill is developed by CleverFiles and can scan both your external and internal storage drives. It is one of those data recovery software, free to download.
Its data recovery process is spotless and unmatched. It has an optimal 95% recovery rate from a formatted disk or a lost partition. For images, it has an even higher recovery rate of 99%.
They also have very well-formed support services available through their website.
The free version is available in many variants, which can accommodate users with any requirement. Their most popular selection is the Basic package, which allows up to 500MB of data per computer.
2. Recuva
This is a data recovery software for Windows 7 and also a data recovery software for windows 10. It is a free data recovery software, made especially for windows computers. You can easily search and restore problem files by using its deep scan option. Recuva searches your drive for traces of deleted data. If you want to get back the files that you accidentally deleted from the Windows Recycle Bin or your USB stick or SD card, Recuva is the first software you should try.
It is an entirely 100% free unlimited data recovery software. There is no PRO version available. Hence, it is listed at the top of this list of free data recovery software.
The only disadvantage is that mac users cannot use this program as it is meant only for the Windows OS.
3. PhotoRec
Our search for the best free data recovery software goes on, and next in this list is PhotoRec. It is another open-source, free unlimited data recovery software which can be used to recover files in any system by restoring the lost data. PhotoRec works excellently on any OS, namely a Windows, Linux, or even a Mac. It operates in read-only mode for data safety during the restoration process.
Don’t be fooled by the name, and it can do much more than recovering photos. It can recover more than 500 different formats of files. But still, it does exceptionally well with images.
Another great part of this software is that it is open-source and hence is upgraded very frequently.
One of the cons of this software is that it is not very user-friendly as it uses a command-line tool interface.
4. Undelete 360
This is another freeware software that does the same thing as the others do-recovers your files. The special feature of this application is that it is compatible with most older windows. It also has a very windows-like interface.
This may be a pro or a con for some as some may like the windows resemblance, and some won’t.
Undelete 360 can restore files that were too large for your Recycle Bin or have been erased by the use of the Cut command. It can restore files from your internal storage as well as an external storage device you have connected.
This software, although, doesn’t come with very good technical support. So, amateur users are left out to figure things on their own.
5. Puran File Recovery
This is also another one of these powerful free data recovery software. Puran File Recovery works great to rescue data from virtually any storage medium. It supports ten different languages, and all utilities are completely free.
It also supports a deep search for you to search for your deleted file quickly and easily. You can also preview files before restoring them.
A disadvantage of this software would be that it is not intuitive at all and may be difficult to use for novices. Also, this is only available in Windows.
6. MiniTool Power Data Recovery
If you have ever lost a complete partition or a drive, you can understand the pain. This can happen if you have accidentally deleted a partition, overwritten one, or it may happen due to unfinished format procedures, etc. If this is the case, MiniTool Power Data Recovery can help. As the name suggests, it is a small downloadable file. Its functionality is pretty simple.
One fault of this software is that it is sluggish and is a little bit unresponsive once you start scanning a partition. Nonetheless, it is very efficient in recovering whole partitions or drives. The free version of this software is MiniTool Free Edition and has a 1GB data limit.
7. UnDeleteMyFiles Pro
Although it has a “pro” at the end of its name, this is a completely free data recovery software and also offers some advanced features usually found in paid versions of apps. It can be used for any purpose- be it commercial or personal use.
UnDeleteMyFiles Pro also has a Mail Recovery Wizard useful for recovering deleted emails.
The best part about this software is that its simple, easy-to-use, and quite intuitive. It also has a file preview option, which is very useful.
The only con that we could think of is that it doesn’t have a deep scan.
8. EaseUs Data Recovery Wizard
EaseUs is a free file recovery software with its Data Recovery Wizard. This special tool or “Wizard” allows you to recover data from an accidentally formatted drive or partition. It can also easily perform recovery of your Windows Recycle Bin and can be used in many types of external drives.
You can recover files of many formats- be it photos, documents, etc. You can recover 500MB of data free with the free version which can be extended to 2GB if you share your progress in social media.
The main con of this software is that it limits tools for the free version. The free version also limits the available technical support. So, you are basically on your own with the free version.
9. Glary Undelete
This is also a great free data recovery software. Glary Undelete also resembles “Recuva” in the way that it recovers items from FAT and NTFS disks.
It is quite simple to use, to the relief of novices. You can also see tutorial videos like this one. It is also less capable of recovering files from a hard disk crash or a formatted partition.
It is quick to download and install. It has a very useful preview capability to help you see which file you want to recover. In the cons comes the only Windows functionality. Mac users can’t from this software.
Things to remember:
Before you go and install some of the software mentioned above, check out these practical data recovery tips to increase your chances of recovering the data. Saving additional data to the disk drive in question could overwrite your deleted data, making it difficult to restore your lost information.
- Immediately stop using the computer or device (be it SD card, Flash Drive, etc.)
- Do not install the free data recovery software on the drive you want to recover the files from.
- Once you are ready to recover the lost files, save them on a different volume this time.
Conclusion
All in all, these are the best free software that can help you with recovering all the lost data in your system or storage.
