Best rated data recovery software 2012

Our research points to Disk Drill as being among the best at recovering files from a deep scan. As it scans your disk on the sector level, Disk Drill locates and reconstructs lost files in over formats. It can find long-lost data that other recovery tools miss.

You can also give other solutions a try, such as Recuva and EaseUS. Is there any reliable data recovery software for Mac? Yes, there are several reliable hard drive recovery software solutions for Mac. PhotoRec is free software to recover deleted files. It features a command-line interface and may not be the best solution for inexperienced users. For more alternatives, check out our guide on choosing the best data recovery software for your Mac.

Robert brings over 30 years of experience in data storage, security, compliance, backup, and recovery to the HandyRecovery team. Several years ago, he turned his attention from hands-on technical roles to develop a career as a freelance writer concentrating on technology and its impact on society.

Areas of focus include the cloud, data recovery, artificial intelligence, and industrial automation. Andrey is a software engineer expert with extensive expertise in data recovery, computer forensics, and data litigation. Andrey brings over 12 years of experience in software development, database administration, and hardware repair to the team. Press ESC to close.

Table of Contents. Data Recovery Software Picker. Data Recovery Software Picker New The purpose of this form is to help you select the best data recovery software for your specific data loss situation. Please answer all questions as best as you can. The recommended software will be automatically displayed at the bottom after you check all the mandatory fields.

What kind of device do you need to recover? External storage device USB flash drive, memory card, etc. What is your mobile operating system? Which operating system do you use? How tech-savvy are you? How much money would you like to spend? As little as possible. My budget is flexible. Money isn't an issue for me. How did you lose your data? Accidental deletion. Malware attack. Software error. Hardware failure. Power outage. Physical damage.

We recommend:. Disk Drill Data Recovery. Disk Drill is a data recovery software application for Windows and macOS that delivers professional results while being easy to use. Disk Drill for Mac. Disk Drill for Mac is an Android data recovery software application capable of retrieving lost files from your device's internal memory root required or the SD card.

All devices running Android 2. PhotoRec is an open-source data recovery application that runs on just about any operating system. Just know that it doesn't have a graphical user interface. R-Studio is an multi-platform data recovery application geared toward IT professionals and data recovery centers. FoneLab Android Data Recovery.

FoneLab Android Data Recovery is an easy-to-use application that can recover lost photos, videos, music, contacts, and other data from all mobile devices running Android 4. FoneLab iPhone Data Recovery. FoneLab iPhone Data Recovery is an easy-to-use application that can recover lost photos, videos, music, contacts, and other data from all iOS devices and iOS versions, including iOS 14 and earlier.

Professional Data Decovery Services. Unfortunately, physically damaged storage devices can't be recovered without specialized equipment. Instead of attempting a DIY repair and making the situation even worse, we recommend you send your storage device to professionals. We're sorry to inform you that the solution you're looking for isn't available.

You can attempt to recover lost data from your Android's internal memory by following tutorials like this one or this one , but don't expect the process to be as straightforward as data recovery applications for macOS and Windows. Important : Want to help make our content better? You can vote for what you think is the best data recovery software below in this article.

Pros: Supports hundreds of file formats Powerful recovery capabilities Lost partition search Data protection and backup features Intuitive user interface Recovers up to MB of data for free Windows Ability to mount scan results as a folder.

Cons: No phone support Average scan speed. Interested in Disk Drill? Then read our full review. Pros: Compatible with all major operating systems Recovers about file families Support for many file systems.

Cons: Intimidating for beginners All files are automatically recovered during scan Unable to restore file names and folder structure. Read more about PhotoRec in our full review. Pros: Supports many file formats Sleek design and great usability Compatible with Windows and Mac files systems. Cons: Can recover only up to MB of data Preview feature limited to a handful of file formats Many duplicates in scan results.

Pros: Low price Free version available Beautifully clear interface design Preview screen. Follow this link to read an exhaustive Recuva review. Pros: Clean and simple interface Can duplicate a potentially failing drive onto a healthy drive Automatically determines a set of RAID configurations. Cons: Unnecessarily complicated multi-step recovery process Expensive. Interested in Data Rescue 6? Want to know more about R-Studio? Pros: Combines data recovery and partition management Is able to virtualize Windows into a VMware virtual machine Disk cloning functionality day money-back guarantee Free version available.

Pros: Support for a wide range of storage devices Easy to use Useful preview feature. Cons: Relatively expensive Slow scan and recovery speed Glitchy store device selection. Discover what our professional reviewer thinks of Stellar Data Recovery. Pros: Capable of recovering many different filesystems and partition schemes Broad operating system support Free and open source.

Cons: Lacks an intuitive graphical user interface — command-line only Repairs damaged partitions and file systems but not files. Then read our full review to know more about TestDisk. EaseUS isn't overstating the 'Wizard' part of this software's title — it really is 'wizard' in the sense of being good at something. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is straightforward to use, taking you step-by-step through the recovery process.

Run EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro quickly enough after disaster has occurred and it'll be able to resurrect just about everything, from inadvertently-deleted partitions to virus-ruined files. The full package is still one of the more affordable solutions we've seen for resurrecting crashed RAID setups — certain packages hide this functionality away in their premium versions. While there are definitely more advanced recovery packages out there, and certainly some cheaper ones, this is the one we'd keep on our shelf for those not-so-special occasions.

There are various pricing options, from monthly to yearly, or alternatively a Lifetime upgrades license. Upgrading to a paid license is a little expensive, but the vast number of features you get for that investment means that in reality it represents great value for money.

And, when you add to this the app's great performance, EaseUS's responsive customer support, and a tidy user interface, you have a clear winner. Disk Drill's website boasts that any lost data file type can be recovered, from almost any data loss scenario you can think of. Disk Drill's complete collection of features for every imaginable platform and scenario are impressive enough. It's ability to effortlessly mount and read a previously unmountable USB flash drive and to recover the data from it within a comparatively small timeframe proves that Disk Drill is a recovery tool that you should be considering.

Pricing for the PRO version isn't ideal for home users, sadly, but this aside, Disk Drill is an excellent recovery option for Windows. Read our full Disk Drill data recovery review.

Once the darling of free backup solutions for the home user, CrashPlan has since shifted its focus to the enterprise arena with its CrashPlan for Small Business offering. And CrashPlan is certainly a favourite around here — in fact our official company machines here at TechRadar all run Crashplan , and it's saved our bacon on more than one occasion. It's not quite the same as the traditional file recovery apps that we've covered in this article — it's a backup service first and foremost — but it's so comprehensive that it almost counts.

Crashplan, you see, stores absolutely everything. It chugs away in the background and makes full, detailed backups of your entire machine starting with the newest files first.

It then sifts everything into virtual buckets so you can get quick access to the files that matter most. Critically, though, Crashplan even stores files you've deleted. You can switch this feature off, but we wouldn't: your backups are fully encrypted, so even those deleted files will be safe from prying eyes, and you never know when you might need to retrieve that long-discarded or virus-removed file. Read our full CrashPlan review.

Ontrack EasyRecovery comes in a number of different options, all intended to help provide the complete recovery of data under a range of different data loss conditions. A free version allows you to recover up to 1GB, so isn't going to be particularly helpful except as for a tester for most people.

The Home edition allows for the recovery of files and folders that have been accidentally deleted, though it can also recover them after a virus infection. The Technician and Toolkit editions are even more powerful, allowing for lost or reformatted RAID volumes, but also come with commercial licensing for commercial use, working across Windows, Mac, and Linux systems. Prices rise accordingly for the level of data recovery required, and while some of the more advanced tiers don't come cheap, we can speak from experience in saying the cost can be worth it for a successful full data recovery.

Read our full OnTrack Data Recovery review. Although we've featured the best file recovery software and best file recovery services above, some home and personal users may find they offer more than they need and would rather not pay full price for unwanted features. Therefore we'll feature what we think are the best free file recovery software and service options. DMDE Free Edition — or, to give it its full title, DM Disk Editor and Data Recovery Software — helps you recover files from your hard drive that you have lost due to accidental deletion, hard drive problems, a virus attack or some other grave misfortune.

This is the free edition of a program for which there are paid-for versions , so it should come as no surprise that there are a few limitations — but none that should put you off. The program also goes beyond file recovery, giving you the option of search for and recovering drive and partitions that have, for one reason or another, become invisible to Windows. If you're feeling particularly adventurous, you can even venture into disk editing mode or reconstruct RAID configurations as part of your disaster recovery program.

Overall, if you can get past the unforgiving interface, this is an essential file recovery tool that could save you serious heartache. However, while a number of paid plans are available, there is also a free tier available. This enables users to retrieve deleted, lost, and unavailable objects from a hard drive, USB stick, or almost any other storage device.

All of the advanced data recovery tools are otherwise available. Overall, Stellar Data Recovery is a great file retrieval tool with powerful advanced options for business. In its simplest form, it enables anyone to retrieve lost data from a computer or external storage device. The only concern would be whether 1GB of free recovery is enough for your needs, but if that's the case then one of the paid tiers would definitely be worth considering as an alternative.

Recuva is a full recovery toolkit, dealing with deep scanning, retrieval of data from damaged drives, extracting files from removable devices and more. Although it does come with a paid-for version like the above, the free version is definitely worth checking out as an option. It's not the most comprehensive tool, but it's certainly powerful enough for the price, particularly given that the pro version also adds disk imaging tools for taking full backups of your drives.

Perhaps Recuva's most interesting feature is one that's contrary to its main aim: using its secure delete capability, you can completely obliterate files. Note that usually files are only ever truly deleted when they're overwritten by another occupying the same space on the drive — otherwise, it's merely the reference to their data in the OS that's removed. By overwriting each of their bits repeatedly with zeroes, even the most advanced data forensics tool won't be able to get them back.

Perfect for those highly questionable documents that absolutely need to stay deleted Read our full Recuva review. PC Inspector File Recovery goes further than many data recovery tools in that it will detect partitions that have been lost, even if the boot sector or file system has been damaged or deleted. This could be a real life-saver in an emergency, potentially helping you get data back even if your hard drive is not visible within Windows.