Download 10 FREE Data Recovery software for PC
We all have lost important data and files at some point in our lives. Either it was accidentally deleted or due to hardware failure or even virus could have done it. Whatever the reason it may be, all we need is the data back. Today we will discuss the best and free data recovery software with download links for your PC. Some of the software are for windows while some are for mac and few are available for both the platforms.
You can also recover data from your Android device with special apps available on the PlayStore.
But before we jump to our list of free data recovery software lets understand how these software recover your deleted files.
How does data recovery software recover deleted files?
When you delete a file you don’t actually delete the file, you just delete its path to the file. Didn’t understand? Ok, let’s understand it this way. When you delete a file the file is still there just the path or the location of the file is removed from your sight. You actually mark the deleted file location as “Re-writable” or replaceable after you hit the “Delete” button. As long as the data has not been replaced by a new file the old file is still there intact.
That’s why it is highly recommended that if you lose data remove the storage device or keep the device shut down until you recover your data with some data recovery software. By this, you ensure that no new data whether it is system generated or user-generated or both doesn’t replace the old file. If the old file has been replaced then even the most advanced data recovery software will not be able to restore or recover the old file.
FREE Data recovery software for PC
Here is the list of best and free data recovery software.
- Recuva
- Steller data recovery
- Diskdrill
- TestDisk
- Photorec
- Puran file recovery
- PC Inspector
- Wise data recovery
- EaseUS data recovery
- Undelete 360
Now let’s discuss each one in detail with their pros and cons.
Recuva – No1 Free data recovery software
Recuva is undoubtedly the No1 free data recovery software for PC (Windows). This tool has the ability to undelete or restore files from hard drive, external drives, memory cards, CDs and DVDs. There are custom settings to set so you don’t have to look for a specific file from thousands of deleted files. Like you can scan for a particular type of files and search for a specified location. Recuva also shows the health of each file which shows the chances of a file to recover intact.
If you know the location of the deleted file then you can navigate to the folder, right-click on it and scan it to look for all deleted files from that particular folder. This is very unique and useful feature.
Availability – Windows only.
Also Read – FREE temporary number for OTP verification
Stellar data recovery
This is another (FREE + Paid) popular data recovery software and works efficiently. The UI is clean and simple and you won’t have to look for any tutorial use it. The on-screen instructions are enough clean and helpful for you to use it without any hiccups.
It can recover data from hard disks, USB drives, memory cards, and smartphones. It sounds like a perfect data recovery tool but the free version only lets you recover data upto 1GB. Stellar data recovery also has the pro version which lets you recover unlimited data from all storage devices. But for most people, it is sufficient, if not then you always have the option to go for the paid version.
Availability – Windows and Mac
Download Stellar data recovery
Disk Drill
Earlier known as Pandora recovery is now known as Disk Drill. This tool is extremely powerful and can recover deleted files quickly. Free things are never complete that’s why this software limits your data recovery size upto 500MB only. You can buy the pro version to remove these restrictions and use the tool to its full capability.
It will show all the deleted files and retains the original file name so you can easily search them. In our testing, we found that the average scanning time was a bit high compared to other free data recovery tools but it was able to recover all the sample files deleted during the testing.
Availability – Windows and Mac
TestDisk
No free data recovery software list is complete without the TestDisk name in it. This is an open-source free data software to undelete files. This was also the first data recovery tool I used to undelete my accidentally deleted memory card and I was able to restore almost file at that time.
Some users may find it weird at first sight as it has a command-line interface, no GUI. But that doesn’t make it for experts; you get proper instructions on the screen list of all storage devices (partitioned drives also). You just have to select the drive and start the scan with deep scan feature also available. As mentioned above this is open-source software so you don’t have any restrictions to use it.
Availability – Windows, Mac, and Linux
Photorec
This is another open-source project very much similar to the above TestDisk but has both GUI and command-line interface which makes it easier for both newbies and advanced users to work. And don’t get confused by its name, it can recover files of more than 400 file formats. Pro users use it with TestDisk for advanced data recovery as TestDisk can even recover lost partitions.
Availability – Windows, Mac, and Linux
Download Photorec data recovery software
Puran file Recovery
This data recovery software undeletes files like a pro and the best part is it is totally free for personal and non-commercial use. You get the preview option to see a thumbnail of the deleted file. You can even categorize different file formats together like photos, videos, mp3, etc. it makes searching files easy.
It has two option deep scan (scans only free space) and full scan (scans entire drive). The software is available in more than 10 languages.
Availability – Windows only
PC Inspector
It is totally free data recovery software and it doesn’t even have the pro version of the tool. It can recover data even from damaged hard drives and can also recover lost partitions. It recovers files with original dates and times. Many users have reported that it freezes sometimes during the process but in our case, it worked fine.
Availability – Windows only
Wise data recovery
Another freeware to our list and it was also editor’s choice for many tech sites. This tool can compete with some of the paid tools in the market. It also shows the health of scanned files and it shows data in tree-like structure so you can easily locate files. Like all other free data recovery software, you get the preview of the scanned files so you can recognize each file and recover it.
It can scan almost everything from hard drives to USB drives to smartphones almost everything which has a storage device.
Availability – Windows only
EaseUS Data recovery wizard
This one is very popular and chances are you are not hearing this for the first time. This software works amazingly and recovers almost every file. The Deep scan is a bit slow but that’s obvious and it also warns you before installing that you don’t install it on the drive you want to scan as the software files can replace the old files.
The free version of the software only lets you restore data upto 2GB only. To restore unlimited data of course you need to go for the pro version.
Availability – Windows and Mac
Also Read – How to detect if your Android is hacked?
Undelete 360
Here comes another freeware but it doesn’t mean it lags or not worth it. It worked absolutely fine and you can scan all types of storage devices with this free data recovery tool. It can also recover files of applications and one thing we liked about this freeware is that its algorithm is efficient and fast.
Availability – Windows only
These were some best and free data recovery software to undelete files on your computer or external drives. The recovery rate varies with all the data recovery software but most of them showed the files we were looking for. Do you use any other data recovery software which we missed here? Tell us in the comment section below.
