Tuesday 2 August 2016

Free Data Recovery Software Tools

Many free data recovery programs exist that can help recover your accidentally deleted files. These file recovery programs can help you recover, or "undelete" files on your computer.
Files you have deleted are often still present on your hard drive (or USB drive, or media card, smartphone, etc.) and can be recovered using free data recovery software.
Important: Data recovery software is just one way to go. See How to Recover Deleted Files for a complete tutorial, including how to avoid common pitfalls during the file recovery process.
Undelete files you thought were gone forever with any one of these freeware data recovery tools:
Screenshot of Recuva v1.52.1086 in Windows 7 - © Piriform Ltd
Recuva v1.52.1086. © Piriform Ltd

1.  Recuva

Recuva is the very best free data recovery software tool available, hands down. It's very easy to use but has many optional advanced features as well.
Recuva can recover files from hard drives, external drives (USB drives, etc.), BD/DVD/CD discs, and memory cards. Recuva can even undelete files from your iPod!
Undeleting a file with Recuva is as easy as deleting one! I highly recommend that you try Recuva first if you need to recover a file.
Recuva v1.53.1087 Review and Free Download
Recuva will undelete files in Windows 10, Windows 8 & 8.1, 7, Vista, XP, Server 2008/2003, and older Windows versions like 2000, NT, ME and 98. 64-bit Windows versions are also supported. There is also a 64-bit version Recuva available.
Piriform provides both an installable and a portable version of Recuva. I tested file recovery with Recuva v1.53.1087 using their portable version in Windows 8.1. More »
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Screenshot of Puran File Recovery in Windows 8 - © Puran Software
Puran File Recovery v1.2. © Puran Software

2.  Puran File Recovery

Puran File Recovery is one of the better free data recovery programs I've seen. It's very easy to use, will scan any drive that Windows sees, and has a lot of advanced options if you need them.
One particular thing to note - Puran File Recovery identified more files on my test machine than most other tools so be sure to give this one a shot in addition to Recuva if it didn't find what you were looking for.
Puran File Recovery will even recover lost partitions if they haven't been overwritten yet.
Puran File Recovery v1.2.1 Review and Free Download
Puran File Recovery works with Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP. It's also available in portable form for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows, so it doesn't require installation. More »
Screenshot of Disk Drill v1.0.0.186 in Windows 7 - © CleverFiles
Disk Drill v1.0.0.186. © CleverFiles

3.  Disk Drill

Disk Drill is an excellent free data recovery program not only because of its features but also due to the very simple design, making it almost impossible to get confused.
The Disk Drill website says it can recover data from "virtually any storage device," such as internal and external hard drives, USB devices, memory cards, and iPods.
Disk Drill can also preview image files before recovering them, pause scans and resume them later, perform partition recovery, back up an entire drive, filter files by date or size, run a quick scan versus a full scan for faster results, and save scan results so you can easily import them again to recovery deleted files at a later time.
Disk Drill v1.0.188 Review & Free Download
Disk Drill works with Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP, as well as Mac OS X. More »
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Screenshot of Glary Undelete v5 in Windows 7 - © Glarysoft Ltd.
Glary Undelete v5.0. © Glarysoft Ltd.

4.  Glary Undelete

Glary Undelete is an excellent free file recovery program. It's very easy to use and has one of the better user interfaces that I've seen.
The biggest advantages in Glary Undelete include the easy "Folders" view, a Windows Explorer-style view of recoverable files, and a prominent "State" indication for each file, suggesting how likely a successful file recovery will be.
One disadvantage of Glary Undelete is that installation is required before you can use it and it asks you to install a toolbar, which you can of course decline. Aside from those facts, Glary Undelete is top notch.
Glary Undelete can recover files from hard drives and any removable media you might have including memory cards, USB drives, etc.
Glary Undelete v5.0 Review and Free Download
Glary Undelete is said to work in Windows 7, Vista, and XP, but it also works fine in Windows 10, Windows 8, and versions older than Windows XP. I tested Glary Undelete v5.0 in Windows 7. More »
Pandora Recovery Free File Recovery - © Pandora Corp
Pandora Recovery. © Pandora Corp

5.  Pandora Recovery

Pandora Recovery is another excellent free file recovery software program. It's super easy to use and has the best wizard to help you undelete files that I've seen in any file recovery app.
A more advanced "Surface Scan" is available in Pandora Recovery that should recover more files than the standard search as long as they are of a popular format.
Pandora Recovery will undelete files from hard drives, memory cards, etc. Nearly anything that stores files that you can also connect to your PC should be supported.
You will need to install Pandora Recovery to your hard drive which is a major reason I haven't ranked it higher than some other file recovery tools.
Pandora Recovery v2.2.1 Review and Free Download
Pandora Recovery lists support for Windows Vista, XP, Server 2003, and 2000 but it worked perfectly well for me in Windows 10, 8, and 7. More »
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Screenshot of SoftPerfect File Recovery in Windows 7 - © SoftPerfect Research
SoftPerfect File Recovery. © SoftPerfect Research

6.  SoftPerfect File Recovery

SoftPerfect File Recovery is another superb file undelete program. It's very easy to search for recoverable files. Anyone should be able to use this program with very little trouble.
SoftPerfect File Recovery will undelete files from hard drives, memory cards, etc. Any device on your PC that stores data (except for your CD/DVD drive) should be supported.
SoftPerfect File Recovery is a small, 500 KB, standalone file making the program very portable. Feel free to run File Recovery from a USB drive or floppy disk. Scroll down a bit on the download page to find it.
SoftPerfect File Recovery v1.2 Review & Free Download
Windows 8, 7, Vista, XP, Server 2008 & 2003, 2000, NT, ME, 98, and 95 are all supported. According to SoftPerfect, 64-bit versions of Windows operating systems are also supported.
I tested SoftPerfect File Recovery v1.2 in Windows 10 without any issues. More »
Screenshot of EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard v9.8 in Windows 7
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard v9.8.

7.  EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is another great file undelete program. Recovering files is very easy to do with just a few clicks.
My favorite aspect of EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is that the user interface is structured much like Windows Explorer. While that may not be everyone's ideal way to display files, it's a very familiar interface that most people are comfortable with.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard will undelete files from hard drives, optical drives, memory cards, and pretty much anything else that Windows sees as a storage device. It also does partition recovery!
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard v10.5 Review & Free Download
Please know that Data Recovery Wizard will only recover a total of 2 GB of data before you'll need to upgrade. I almost didn't include this program because of that limitation but since most situations call for undeleting much less than that, I'll let it slide.
Data Recovery Wizard supports Mac and Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP, as well as Windows Server 2012, 2008, and 2003. 
Screenshot of Wise Data Recovery in Windows - © WiseCleaner.com 
Wise Data Recovery. © WiseCleaner.com
8.  Wise Data Recovery
Wise Data Recovery is a free undelete program that's really simple to use.
The program installed very quickly and scanned my PC in record time. Wise Data Recovery can scan various USB devices like memory cards and other removal devices.
An instant search function makes it really quick and easy to search for deleted files that Wise Data Recovery has found. A Recoverability column shows the likelihood of a file being recovered with Good, Poor, Very Poor, or Lost. Just right-click to restore a file.
Wise Data Recovery v3.84.201 Review & Free Download
Wise Data Recovery works with Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP. There's also a portable version available. 

9.  Restoration

The Restoration data recovery program is similar to the other free undelete apps on this list.
The thing I like most about Restoration is how incredibly simple it is to recover files. There are no cryptic buttons or complicated file recovery procedures - everything you need is on one, easy to understand program window.
Restoration can recover files from hard drives, memory cards, USB drives, and other external drives.
Like some of the other popular data recovery tools on this list, Restoration is small and does not need to be installed, giving it the flexibility to be run from a floppy disk or USB drive.
Restoration v3.2.13 Review & Free Download
Restoration is said to support Windows Vista, XP, 2000, NT, ME, 98, and 95. I successfully tested it with Windows 10 and Windows 7, and didn't run in to any problems. However, v3.2.13 didn't work for me in Windows 8. 
FreeUndelete File Recovery - © Recoveronix Ltd
FreeUndelete. © Recoveronix Ltd

10.  FreeUndelete

FreeUndelete is self explanatory - it's free and it undeletes files! FreeUndelete is another great file recovery tool, very similar to other undelete utilities around this rank in my list.
The major advantage of FreeUndelete is its easy to use interface and "folder drill down" functionality (i.e. files available for recovery are not shown in a big, unmanageable listing).
FreeUndelete will recover files from hard drives, memory cards, and other similar storage devices in, or connected to, your PC.

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