Here are the best file recovery tools. These have been selected primarily based on my personal experience, features they offer, pricing and third-party reviews from other existing users.
In most cases, you can try each of these tools 100% free, without even signing up in some cases. Hence, this review is completely unbiased and can be verified on your own.
Even if you’re extremely tight on the budget, I’ve included a 100% free, open-source data recovery solution on this list. I suggest go through the fine-print so you get the best possible option for you.
Best File Recovery Tools | Date Recovery Tools
Here are the best options to get your data back:
Wondershare Recoverit
Website: https://recoverit.wondershare.com/
- Recover from any loss scenario.
- Supports nearly all storage devices
- Easy UI and interface
- Windows + Mac supported
- Forever free plan exists
- Repair corrupted video
- Data preview available
- 7-day refund policy (on the paid plan)
Recover Your Deleted Files with Recoverit
Recoverit is a product from Wondershare. Wondershare is one of the oldest and most reputed software companies for everyday utilities and software.
With Recoverit, the “cause of loss” doesn’t matter. It claims to be capable of loss recovery from 500+ scenarios. I’ve personally only used it in an accidental deletion scenario and on one other occasion when my PC completely crashed and won’t boot.
Yes, it’s capable of data recovery from disks which are completely inaccessible as well. There’s even a video repair feature for corrupted videos.
As far as devices go, everything that has a “storage” unit, including but not limited to computers, cameras, USB sticks, memory cards, music players, dashcams and so on is supported.
Data preview is available before recovery. The UI is extremely easy and simple to understand. There’s also a “completion bar” that’s often missing with other similar data recovery tools.
It’s compatible with both Windows and Mac devices. There’s a forever free plan, as well as a 7-day refund policy on the paid plans
EaseUs
Website: https://www.easeus.com/datarecoverywizardpro/data-recovery-service.html
100% free, forever.- Two scan modes
- Preview before recovery
- Photo repair
- Bootable recovery stick creation
- Pause and resume
- Manual recovery service available
- 30-day moneyback guarantee.
EaseUs is easily one of the top file recovery tools on the planet. I first used it nearly half a decade back, when it had half of its current features and it still got me my data (some of it) back. The current EaseUs is a beast of a tool in terms of features and recovery power.
Don’t take my word for it. It has a 100% forever free version for you to try.
As for features, it’s capable of recovering data regardless of how the loss occurred. Accidental deletion, formatting the disk, “RAW” recovery, virus infection and even recovery from NAS.
Nearly all files and formats including photos, videos, emails, audio files, compressed files and everything in between can be recovered.
There are two modes to work with. The normal/quick mode is faster but less effective. It only recovers surface-level files. The “Advanced” scan is comparatively slower but recovers some of the deepest and hardest files.
Data can also be previewed before you recover them. Helps save space on your disk and avoid recovering data you don’t need.
It also has the very rare “pause and resume” feature. You can pause scans mid-way and pick them up later.
It’s also capable of “repairing” corrupt photos and media on your device. The paid plan also lets you create a bootable USB which acts as a recovery point in case your system is corrupted or won’t boot.
It’s also one of the only companies offering a “manual” data recovery service. Meaning ,experts can be hired to get your data back!
You can either download the free version, or, get the premium version for a free trial. There’s also a 30-day moneyback guarantee just in case you aren’t satisfied..
Stellar Data Recovery
Website: https://www.stellarinfo.com/free-data-recovery.php
- Free 1 GB recovery
- Bootable USB sticks
- Dual-scan modes
- Recover from most devices/loss-cases
- Previews & selective recovery
- Corruption repair for photos and videos.
Stellar is one of the more feature-rich and advanced file recovery tools on this list. To establish trust and prove creditability, it offers 1GB of free data recovery!
As far as devices go, it supports nearly everything. The same goes for loss-case scenarios as well as file-types. If you lost any kind of digital data, even from BitLocker (if you have the decryption key) can be recovered.
After a scan, files can be previewed and selectively recovered. It also has a corruption repair feature for photos and videos.
The overall UI is pretty modern, simple and welcoming. Dual scan modes too are available. And finally, bootable USB recovery sticks too can be created.
FonePaw
Website: https://www.fonepaw.com/data-recovery/
- Most file types & loss scenarios covered.
- Previews available
- Selective recovery
- 30-day moneyback policy
- Dual scan modes
- Free download
Another one of the file recovery tools that gets you your files back. As is expected, it’s capable of recovering nearly every file type. The official number is 1000+ but this basically means that (almost) all file types can be recovered without boundaries.
Most file loss scenarios are covered as well. Dual-scan modes too are available, one is fast while the other scans more thoroughly and is slower.
File previews are available prior to recovery. You choose which files to recover and which to exclude, “recover all” isn’t mandatory.
You can download the tool for free. Paid plans also have a 30-day refund policy.
Recuva
Website: https://www.ccleaner.com/recuva
- Forever free version
- Portable version available
- “Search within file” feature
- Dual scan modes
- Previews available
Recuva is a product from CCleaner. I’m confident most of you remember CCleaner. It was one of the first cleaning apps available for Android devices about a decade back, wasn’t it?
Let me be honest, I’m not a fan of its UI. It just feels outdated and a bit slow. However, as far as its data recovery capabilities go, they’re still pretty impressive.
One of its most impressive features is its portable version. You don’t need to “install” it in order to use it. Simply download the executable file and run it directly, even from USB sticks and other removable devices.
Then, it has this “search within file” feature. In other words, you can search for text strings and other content “inside” documents (not just the file name).
There’s a standard as well as a “deep scan” download mode available. Majority of the loss-case scenarios as well as devices are supported. Previews too are supported.
There’s a forever free version as well as a paid version that offers more features.
iBeesoft Data Recovery Software
Website: https://www.ibeesoft.com/data-recovery-software/data-recovery.html
- All major devices supported.
- Most loss-scenarios covered
- Special SSD and NTFS recovery features
- Preview before recovery
- Selective recovery
- Corruption repair
iBeesoft is comparatively a less-popular player in the data recovery game, however, it still has a proven track record.
For starters, you get most of your files back, from most of the devices on the planet. All the loss-scenarios that the tools mentioned above cover, are covered by iBeesoft as well.
It also has a special feature which increases chances of data recovery from SSDs and NTFS file systems. There’s also a corruption repair feature which repairs corrupt files and data.
All major and minor file types are supported and can be recovered. Finally, the files can be previewed before recovery and selective recovery too is supported.
There’s no free version. A trial version exists but it only allows scanning your drive. The files can’t be actually recovered (saved on your disk) without the paid plan.
AnyRecover
Website: https://www.anyrecover.com/
- Most devices & loss-scenarios recoverable
- 1000+ file types supported
- Free version available (200 MB)
- File previews
- Pause-resume scans
The name “Any”recover basically hints at the fact that it too can recover data from any scenario and device. It has listed accidental deletion, formatted storage, lost partition, RAW recovery, crash recovery as some of the possible recoverable loss-scenarios.
The company also says it’s capable of recovering 1,000+ file-types. The company has listed dozens of photo, video, emails, & documents types as recoverable.
It does support pausing/resuming scans which is pretty desirable. Selective recovery too is available. Scans and previews are available, as well as free.
There’s a forever free version which allows recovery up to 200MB. The paid version obviously is unlimited.
It’s available for both Windows and Mac.
Honourable Mentions:
These are some of the other file recovery tools that totally deserve a mention on this list. The only reason I’m bundling them up is because they offer almost the same features as the above options and this will save you some time.
- DiskGenius: This tool too supports almost all loss-scenarios and devices. File previews available. There’s a 30-day moneyback guarantee on the paid plan.
- Test Disk: It’s a very basic, open-source and completely free file undelete software you can get your hands on. It’s not extremely feature-rich but does get data back from a few loss-case scenarios. Windows, Mac, Linux, DOS, SunOS and some others are supported.
Final words:
EaseUs and Recoverit are the best contenders for the top position.
This is primarily based on speed, recovery success rate, and overall available features.
Obviously, the other tools will get you your data as well. However, not all of these are as fast or as feature-rich as EaseUs or Recoverit.
The best part is, most of these offer a 100% free version, or at least a limited trial. This will let you find the best of these file recovery tools for you on your own, without spending any money. Go give these a try then?
