Top Free Data Recovery Tools of 2024

Restore lost or accidentally deleted documents, photos, audio and video files. Recover various types of data from your hard drive, smartphone, tablet, USB drive, memory cards, and other storage devices. Choose to retrieve an entire drive or only selected files.

Special features  
Preview files  
Supports data storage devices  
Recovers various types of files  
Supported OS  
Back up drives, shred files, restore directory structures
Yes
Hard and removable drives
Media files, emails
Windows 98, 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, 7
Recover files from damaged drives, restore directory structures
Yes
Hard drives, memory cards, iPod, DVD, CD, Blu-ray discs
Media files, documents, emails, archives
Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8
Pause/resume scans, perform partition recovery, back up drives, restore directory structures
Images
System disks, external drives, memory cards, USB drives
Media, documents, archives
Mac, Windows XP, 2003, Vista, Server 2008, 7, 8, 10
See the level of recoverability, use the portable version
No
Local drives, USB drives, digital cameras, memory cards, MP3 players
Media files, emails, documents, archives
Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP
Perform partition recovery, use the portable version
Images, emails, documents
Local drives, USB drives, digital cameras, memory cards, MP3 players
Media files, documents, emails, archives, EXE, HTML
Mac, Windows 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, Server 2008, 7, 8, 10

Special features

Back up drives, shred files, restore directory structures

Recover files from damaged drives, restore directory structures

Pause/resume scans, perform partition recovery, back up drives, restore directory structures

See the level of recoverability, use the portable version

Perform partition recovery, use the portable version

Preview files

Yes

Yes

Images

No

Images, emails, documents

Supports data storage devices

Hard and removable drives

Hard drives, memory cards, iPod, DVD, CD, Blu-ray discs

System disks, external drives, memory cards, USB drives

Local drives, USB drives, digital cameras, memory cards, MP3 players

Local drives, USB drives, digital cameras, memory cards, MP3 players

Recovers various types of files

Media files, emails

Media files, documents, emails, archives

Media, documents, archives

Media files, emails, documents, archives

Media files, documents, emails, archives, EXE, HTML

Supported OS

Windows 98, 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, 7

Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8

Mac, Windows XP, 2003, Vista, Server 2008, 7, 8, 10

Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP

Mac, Windows 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, Server 2008, 7, 8, 10

UndeleteMyFiles
UndeleteMyFiles
7 (78%) 2 (22%)
Download
UndeleteMyFiles scans your entire hard drive in search for deleted files and displays a list of data with names, formats, sizes, dates of modification for each of files. Choose the items you want to extract, browse files using the tree view mode and preview them. Recover your media files as well as emails, erase sensitive data without any chance of recovery, and create a backup image of your whole drive before retrieving particular files to make sure new data won't replace any important deleted files. Download this tool for free to use it on your Windows PC.
Screenshot
Main window
Features
  • Two-step multimedia files restoration.
  • Comes with a short wizard to recover files.
  • Permanently deletes files.
  • Creates an images of a system disc.
  • Retrieves emails.
  • Tree and Detailed view modes.
Advantages
  • Recovers directory structures.
  • Creates a system backup for file restoration.
  • Two view modes to navigate deleted items.
  • Multiple filters to search for deleted files.
  • File shredder option.
Disadvantages
  • Doesn't show the recoverability state of the files.
  • No portable version.
Official website:
seriousbit.com
Recuva Data Recovery
Recuva Data Recovery
3 (60%) 2 (40%)
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Recuva restores data from hard drives, DVD, CD, and Blu-ray discs, memory cards, internal and external drives. The tool searches for unreferenced data, and recovers images, music, movies, documents, emails, and even lost or deleted directory structures. Get back your data from damaged or newly formatted drives, shred sensitive files to erase beyond recovery, and perform a deep scan to find the traces of hard-to-extract data. The tool is available for Windows PC, it's free of charge but you can buy the Pro version with the extended functionality for $12.50.
Screenshot
Main Window
Features
  • Deep scan mode.
  • File shredder.
  • Preview option.
  • Works with damaged and formatted data.
  • Supports FAT and NTFS systems.
  • Indicates the level of difficulty in recovering data with various colors.
Advantages
  • Portable option.
  • Restores from multiple file storage disks.
  • Recovers difficult-to-restore files from your system.
  • Extracts files from formatted hard disks.
  • Deletes files beyond recovery.
Disadvantages
  • Deep scanning takes quite some time.
  • No help files.
  • Occasionally misnames files.
Official website:
piriform.com
Disk Drill
Disk Drill
4 (67%) 2 (33%)
Download
Scan the hard drive of your PC as well as external drives, USB devices, memory cards, and other storage solutions. View a list of recoverable files, organized by type, and preview photos before starting a recovery. Choose from quick or full scan options, pause and resume the scanning process, recover lost or deleted partitions, and create backups of entire drives. It's free to use and is available for Windows and Mac.
Screenshot
Main Window
Features
  • Works with NTFS, FAT32, EXT, HFS+ and other file systems.
  • Recovers data from system disks and external devices.
  • Allows you to pause, stop, or resume the scanning process.
  • Supports recovery of lost and damaged partitions.
  • Creates backups as mountable ISO, IMG or DMG image files.
  • Offers quick scan and deep scan options.
Advantages
  • Sorts the files to recover by category for easier viewing.
  • Filters the results by size or date.
  • Preview option.
  • Recovers data from various file systems.
  • Offers several scanning modes.
  • Pauses and resumes the scanning process.
Disadvantages
  • Doesn't scan a particular folder or file type.
  • Lacks the thumbnail preview option.
  • The free version offers only 500MB of data recovery.
  • Doesn't show how recoverable a file is.
  • No portable option.
Official website:
cleverfiles.com
Wise Data Recovery
Wise Data Recovery
3 (60%) 2 (40%)
Download
This tool scans your PC, USB drives, memory cards, digital cameras, mobile phones, MP3 players, and other removable devices and shows a list of recoverable files with Good, Poor, Very Poor, or Lost marks. Undelete files that you lost due to a system crash, accidental deletion, or from a formatted drive. Apply various filters to search for particular types of files. It's free and works on Windows PC.
Screenshot
Main Window
Features
  • Portable option.
  • Multiple search filters.
  • Supports FAT, exFAT, and NTFS disks.
  • Works with local drives, USB drives, cameras, memory cards, and other removable media devices.
  • Shows whether a file has a good or poor chance to be recovered.
Advantages
  • Recovers several files at ones.
  • Shows the recoverability level of data.
  • Advanced search tool.
  • Comes with a portable version.
Disadvantages
  • No deep scan option.
  • Doesn't preserve the original folder structure when recovering files.
  • Lacks the preview option.
Official website:
wisecleaner.com
EASEUS Data Recovery Wizard Free Edition
EASEUS Data Recovery Wizard Free Edition
2 (100%) 0 (0%)
Download
It comes with the Quick scan mode to receive fast results and the Deep scan mode to get back as much data as possible. Recover audio and video files, photos, emails, document, archives, and other file types in multiple formats and preview them. Restore data from unrecognized partitions or lost due to hard drive corruption or a virus attack. It's free of charge and is available for Mac and Windows.
Screenshot
Main window
Features
  • Two scan modes.
  • Works with FAT, exFAT, NTFS, NTFS5, ext2/ext3, HFS+, ReFS systems.
  • Supports the recovery of media files, documents, emails, archives.
  • Exports and imports scanning results.
  • Choose files to recover.
  • Browse the folders just like in Explorer.
Advantages
  • Supports a wide range of file formats.
  • Works with multiple storage devices.
  • Preview option.
  • Recovers files from lost partitions.
Disadvantages
  • The free version recovers only 500MB data or 2GB if your share the program on social platforms.
  • No option to scan individual folders.
  • Allows you to preview only 100 MB file size.
  • No preview for video and audio files.
Official website:
easeus.com

Conclusion

Disk Drill gets the highest score among all the reviewed data restoration solutions. The program offers several scanning modes, recovers a wide range of multimedia file types from multiple file systems, and allows you to pause and resume the scanning process. We recommend using this tool when you require to recover your important data. What recovery programs are your favorite and why? Tell us and we'll add them to our comparison list.

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