The best free data recovery software we recommend using | Digital Trends (2024)

If you've recently lost files on a storage drive, you might be able to get them back with free data recovery software. It's all too easy to accidentally delete files when you select more than one at a time. Malware attacks and drive malfunctions can also cause data loss.

While that information might be inaccessible to Windows or macOS, data recovery apps perform deep scans and have advanced methods of restoring files. Even free solutions can help you get your data back from hard disk drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), and external USB drives.

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard

Best data recovery for SSDs

I reviewed EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro, the paid version, and was impressed by its ability to restore all my HDD files and even some from my SSD. SSD recovery is much more difficult.

EaseUS also offers a free app that includes the same features but lacks live support and restricts the amount of data you can restore. After you've recovered files that total a combined size of 500MB, EaseUS will prompt you to share the app on social media to unlock another 1.5GB worth of files.

That sounds like a reasonable request for free use of one of the best data recovery apps available for Windows and macOS.

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Recuva

Best unlimited data recovery

Recuva is a free data recovery app for Windows that lets you restore all your files with no limitations on the size, number, or type of data. It works with HDDs, SSDs, and external drives.

I reviewed the subscription version, Recuva Professional, which can also access drives for virtual machines. I found it to work best for HDDs, but it also found a lost partition on a thumb drive. It's not as good as some other data recovery software, missing a few files in my HDD tests and restoring none of my SSD files.

The free Recuva app is just as fast and easy to use as the paid version. If you need help with data recovery, it's worth upgrading to Recuva Professional since it only costs $25 for a full year and lets you email support with about a one-day response time.

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Stellar Data Recovery

Best photo and video recovery tools

Stellar Data Recovery is the free version of this advanced data recovery software. It includes the same features as the Standard subscription plan that can restore lost HDD files with ease. The free app limits data recovery to 1GB, but that might be all you need.

In my review of Stellar Data Recovery Premium, it restored all my HDD files. If you like the look of the free app, upgrading to a paid subscription removes the 1GB recovery cap and provides advanced photo and video repair tools.

Stellar Data Recovery couldn't restore any SSD files, but that's a common problem. While SSDs are faster than HDDs, the potential to lose files forever means hard drives will continue to be useful for backing up data.

Stellar offers a free app for Windows and macOS.

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Disk Drill

Best lifetime data recovery software

Disk Drill has a unique feature called the Recovery Vault. If it's installed prior to your data loss, it can help restore files that might otherwise be unrecoverable.

The Recovery Vault isn't a complete backup. It saves a small piece of metadata for each file you delete. While that feature only helps with future data loss, Disk Drill can often recover files without that extra metadata.

Disk Drill for Windows can recover 500MB of data for free. After that, you have to buy the app. The Mac version is more restrictive, only letting you scan to find lost files, but requiring payment before you can restore any files.

The price sounds high at $89, but it's a one-time payment that includes apps for both Windows and macOS. A lifetime upgrade option adds $19 to the cost.

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Wise Data Recovery

Best multi-computer data recovery app

Wise Data Recovery is a free app for Windows that lets you restore up to 2GB of files. That's a generous amount of data, but videos and large photos might use it up quickly. Wise says its free app works best with recently deleted files that it can find with a quick scan.

If you need more, the paid version does deep scans. A one computer subscription plan is affordable, starting at $40 per year. However, Wise Data Recovery Pro really stands out as a nice option if you want to use this app on more than one computer. It's only $10 more to add two more PCs.

The website shows a Mac version but notes it's made by Stellar, the data recovery app mentioned above.

Download Wise Data Recovery

Frequently Asked Questions

If the free apps mentioned above don't work or you've restored as many files as you can for free, it's time to check out premium services with unlimited data recovery and more advanced features. Paid solutions can get data from computers that can't boot up, restore files from lost partitions, access RAID arrays, and repair damaged photos and videos.

Our guides to the best data recovery software for Windows PCs and the best data recovery apps for your Mac and MacBook will help you find the tools you need at an affordable price.