The 21 Best Free Data Recovery Software Tools of 2024

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. It's always my first recommendation for anyone who wants one of these tools.

It can recover files from hard drives, external drives (USB drives, etc.), BD/DVD/CD discs, and memory cards. This program can even undelete files from your iPod!

Undeleting a file is as easy as deleting one! I highly recommend that you try Recuva first if you need to recover a file.

This free app from Piriform will undelete files in Windows 11, 10, 8 & 8.1, 7, Vista, and XP. I tested file recovery with v1.53 on Windows 11.

Wise Data Recovery

Wise Data Recovery is a free undelete program that's really simple to use. I like that the program installed very quickly and scanned my PC in record time. It can check for deleted files on 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 the program has found, and there's both a quick and a full scan option depending on how deep of a scan you want to perform.

Most programs tell you how recoverable a file is before you attempt to undelete it. This program does not do that, so that's a bummer. It also prevents you from undeleting more than 2 GB of data.

This app is said to run on Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP, as well as macOS. The portable version of Wise Data Recovery is available through Softpedia.

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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 thing about this program is that the user interface is structured much like File 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, iOS devices, cameras, and pretty much anything else that Windows sees as a storage device. It also does partition recovery!

Please know that EaseUS' program will only recover a total of 512 MB of data before you'll need to upgrade (or up to 2 GB if you use the share button in the program to post about the software on social media).

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. That said, this program will only be useful a few times, or less if the file is big. Fortunately, there are nearly two dozen other options on this list!

Data Recovery Wizard supports macOS 14 through 10.9; Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7; and Windows Server 2022, 2019, 2016, 2012, 2008, and 2003.

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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.

According to their website, Disk Drill can recover data from "virtually any storage device," such as internal and external hard drives, USB devices, memory cards, and iPods. 

It has several useful features: preview 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.

Of course, my biggest complaint is the 500 MB recovery limit. That's quite small, especially if you have lots of stuff to retrieve.

The latest version works with 64-bit editions of Windows 11 and Windows 10, plus macOS 10.15 and newer. Earlier versions work with older operating systems like Windows 8 through XP.

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Windows File Recovery

Even Microsoft has a tool for data recovery, but it's not as easy to use as most of these other programs. This one runs over the command line, so you have to type out everything you want to do. It's still uncomplicated, though.

To undelete files this way, download and install Windows File Recovery and then search for it in the Start menu to open in. Once you're on a screen like you see above, you could enter a command like this to recover PNG images from your C drive's Downloads folder and copy them to the Images folder on a drive called E:

 winfr C: E:\Images /n \Users\jonfi\Downloads\*PNG

Only Windows 10 and Windows 11 users can download this tool.

Puran File Recovery

Puran File Recovery is one of the better options I've seen. I don't like that it's so outdated, but that doesn't affect its functionality. 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 is that 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.

This tool will even recover lost partitions if they haven't been overwritten yet.

It's said to work with Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP. It's also available in a portable form for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows, so it doesn't require installation.

Glarysoft File Recovery Free

Glarysoft File Recovery Free is a user-friendly file undelete program. There aren't a ton of options, and it doesn't compare to some of the choices ranked higher in this list, but it does work and is easy to use.

Choose a drive, scan for deleted files, and then pick out the ones you want to recover. You can undelete things even while the scan is still running, which is nice so you don't have to wait. Pausing the scan is also supported.

You can filter by file type, time deleted, size, and keywords. There's a setting you can adjust to pick which file extensions belong to which categories, such as ensuring that MP4s are listed as videos; you can add your own, too.

Unfortunately, you can't recover an unlimited number of files with this app because the free version caps you out at 2 GB. That should be enough for most people, however, especially if you don't use tools like this often and if your files are small.

It works with FAT, NTFS, and EFS file systems. I tested v1 in Windows 10.

iCare Data Recovery Free

iCare Data Recovery Free has two scan options, so you can pick between a quicker scan type that might not catch everything, and a deeper scan that takes longer to complete but will likely locate more deleted files.

One of this program's best features that, after using it, I wish was included in all of these file recovery tools, is the ability to preview text and image files. You can even browse deleted folders in thumbnail view to quickly see which files you want to undelete. Super helpful.

Several hundred file types are supported, so you can bet that iCare Data Recovery Free can probably recover anything you've deleted.

Windows users can download this program as a portable tool or a normal, installable program. It's said to work with Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7.

iBoysoft Data Recovery Free

Another free data recovery program is available from iBoysoft. This one is severely limited in the same ways some of these other tools are: it can recover only 1 GB of data, there isn't a portable option, and there's no way to tell ahead of time if the file you undelete will actually be usable.

iBoysoft Data Recovery Free starts off by having you select the hard drive to scan and then shows all the deleted files in a regular folder structure like you see above. You can browse through them much like you can in File Explorer, and easily select the files you want to restore.

Besides being able to filter the results by file extension and search by file name, the only other thing you can do before recovering a file is preview it, but only if it's smaller than 5 MB. I found this to be useful for images, but nothing else.

When you exit the results screen, you have the opportunity to save the results to an SR file that you can later reopen in iBoysoft Data Recovery Free to work out of the same list of deleted files. This is great so that you don't have to rescan the drive to continue sifting through the results.

When it comes to the 1 GB limitation, I really don't think it's a huge issue for more people, especially if you need to undelete just a few files or even a video or collection of music. But if you know there's a lot more you need to get back, don't even bother with this program and instead choose any of these other options that don't have that limitation.

You can install this tool on Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP.

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MiniTool Power Data Recovery

Unlike some file recovery programs from this list, this one needs to be installed to your computer before you're able to use it. This isn't the best way to work with this type of software because the installation may overwrite your deleted files and make them less likely to be recoverable.

Another downside to Power Data Recovery is that you can only recover 1 GB of data before you have to upgrade to a paid version. But again, like I said for the other apps in this list with that same limitation, it's really only a limitation if you need to uncover more than that. 1 GB is enough to uncover probably 300 normal-sized images.

However, I do like the fact that the program finds deleted files quickly and that you can recover files from both internal drives and USB devices, as well as easily undelete data from the desktop, Recycle Bin, or a specific folder.

Also, Power Data Recovery lets you search among the deleted data, recover more than one folder or file at once, export the list of deleted files to a text file, pause or stop the scan when you find what you need, and filter the files by name, extension, size, and/or date.

It's reportedly available for Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7. I tested it in Windows 11.

iBeesoft Data Recovery Free

Similar to some of the others in this list, this app is completely free to use, but you're limited to recovering just 2 GB of data. If you need to undelete a large video file, or lots of data, you're better off picking something else from this list. That, or pay for the full edition.

iBeesoft's file recovery program is super easy to use. The program itself is free from ads and simple to understand. The start screen has you choose a hard drive or folder to recovery files from, or you can pick the Desktop or Recycle Bin.

The website says that it supports over one thousand file types, so there's a good chance it includes all the normal files you're needing to undelete. It can recover deleted files from a wide variety of devices beyond your typical hard drive, including cameras, memory cards, and music players.

A few things worth mentioning that I like: the search tool is instant, you can sort the column headings to find the largest deleted files and to group file types (like to list all MP4s next to each other), and the settings let you define what to search for if not everything (e.g., Archives, Pictures, Video, Audio).

I tested data recovery with this program in Windows 11, and it worked just as advertised. It also works on Windows 10, 8, and 7. The Mac edition can only recover 200 MB of data.

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FreeUndelete

FreeUndelete is self-explanatory—it's free, and it undeletes files! It's very similar to other undelete utilities around this rank on this list.

The major advantage of FreeUndelete is it's 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.

The supported operating systems include Windows 7, XP, and some Windows Server versions. I tested it with Windows 10 and didn't have any issues, so it should work equally well with Windows 11, 8, and other versions.

CD Recovery Toolbox

CD Recovery Toolbox is a completely free and unique file recovery program. It's designed to recover files from damaged or corrupted optical drive discs—CD, DVD, Blu-Ray, HD DVD, etc.

According to the publisher, CD Recovery Toolbox should help recover files from discs that have been scratched, chipped, or have surface spotting.

One obvious con is the inability of this program to recover files from hard drives or portable media drives. However, it isn't designed to do that.

CD Recovery Toolbox works in Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP, Server 2003, 2000, NT, ME and 98. I tested it successfully in Windows 7.

ADRC Data Recovery Tools

ADRC Data Recovery Tools is another great, free file recovery program. File recovery with this program is uncomplicated and could probably be accomplished by the average computer user without any kind of documentation.

It should be able to undelete files from any non-CD/DVD storage device like memory cards and USB drives, as well as hard drives, of course.

Data Recovery Tools officially supports Windows XP, 2000, and 95, but I successfully tested data recovery with this program on Windows Vista and Windows 7. This is a standalone, 132 KB program, making it a very portable data recovery tool that will easily fit on any removable media you might have.

I also tested v1.1 in Windows 8 and 10, but was unable to get it to work.

Orion File Recovery Software

Orion File Recovery Software is a free file recovery program from NCH Software that's basically the same as most of the other programs in this list.

A nice wizard prompts you to scan for specific file types at the launch of the program, like documents, images, videos, music, or a custom file type. You can also scan the entire drive to search for all file types.

Orion File Recovery Software can scan any attached hard drive, whether internal or external, flash drives, and memory cards for deleted data. Then you can search through the files with an instant search function, while easily identifying the recovery potential of each file.

Surprisingly, this program also functions as a data destruction program, so you can scrub all the files it finds to make them unrecoverable for future scans.

My only complaint is that the setup tool tried to install other NCH Software programs along with the file undelete tool, but I was able to just deselect those options to not install them.

It should work fine in Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP.

Stellar Data Recovery Free Edition

This free data recovery tool from Stellar is easy to use because it walks you through a simple wizard where you select what and where to search for deleted files.

A unique feature in this program is the preview option you have while the scan is taking place. You can watch, in real time, which files the program finds before the scan completes.

Something else I like about Stellar's free file recovery program is that when you exit the results screen, you're given the option to save the list of deleted files so that you can resume recovering them later.

All that said, I've placed this program toward the bottom of the list because of its severe limitations. It's still usable if you need it, but don't count on recovering a whole lot of files for free.

It's available for Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7, as well as macOS 14 and older versions.

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BPlan Data Recovery

BPlan Data Recovery is a file recovery program like the others in this list. It may not look as nice as similar software, but it can recover many types of deleted files.

I found this program to be a bit difficult to navigate around. It was hard to know what I was doing because of the layout of the results. That said, it still managed to find and recover images, documents, videos, and other file types.

This program officially works in Windows 8, 7, and XP. I tested the latest version in Windows 7.

SoftPerfect File Recovery

SoftPerfect File Recovery makes it very easy to search for recoverable files. Anyone should be able to use this program with very little trouble.

It 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.

Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP, Server 2008 & 2003, 2000, NT, ME, 98, and 95 should all be able to run this program. According to the developer's website, 64-bit versions of Windows operating systems are also supported.

I tested v1.2 in Windows 10 without any issues.

PhotoRec

The free PhotoRec file recovery tool does the job, but it isn't nearly as easy to use as other programs in this list.

It's limited by its command-line interface and multiple step recovery process. However, my greatest problem with it is that it's very difficult to avoid recovering all deleted files at once, not just the one or two you're after.

It can get back deleted files from hard drives, optical drives, and memory cards. PhotoRec should be able to undelete files from any storage device on your PC.

If another tool hasn't worked, give this one a try. I just don't recommend making it your first pick.

I tested it in Windows 7, but since the minimum OS requirement is Vista, it should work equally well in Windows 11, 10, and 8. It also runs on Mac and Linux.

UndeleteMyFiles Pro

UndeleteMyFiles Pro is another free file recovery program. Don't let the name fool you—it's entirely free, even though it says "Pro."

Tree View and Detailed View are the two viewing perspectives you can choose from. You can also preview files, which sounds nice, but all it does is restores the data to a temporary folder and then opens it.

Emergency Disk Image is a handy feature included in UndeleteMyFiles Pro. It takes a snapshot of your entire computer, places all the data in one file, and then lets you work through that file to find deleted data that you want to restore. This is very handy because after the image file has been made, you don't need to worry that new data written to your hard drive will replace any important deleted files.

There's a nice search option in this program that lets you search by file location, type, size, and attributes.

Something I really didn't like is that the recovery process doesn't tell you if a file is in a good state of being recoverable, like most of the other software in this list.

I tested UndeleteMyFiles Pro on Windows 8 and XP, and it worked as advertised, so it should also work in other versions of Windows. However, I also tested v3.1 on Windows 10 and found that it didn't work as it should.