Data recovery software makes it simple and easy to undelete files and folders on your Windows PC.
Data loss, whether due to accidental deletion or hardware failure, is normally a stressful experience. While we recommend making regular backups of your most important data, unfortunately, accidents can happen. Thankfully, if you have accidentally deleted a file, there’s a possibility of recovering it using data recovery software. When a file on a hard drive is deleted, the data itself is actually still present. What is actually removed is the master file table reference, which is essentially a map to where the data is stored on the drive. The space is then marked as free, ready for new data to be written. If you work fast, it is possible to undelete files that have been accidentally deleted – provided you work quickly. Here are our top three data recovery software programs for Windows.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard
This is a powerful data recovery tool, capable of recovering accidentally deleted files, as well as data that has been corrupted. EaseUS is incredibly easy to use, and can recover pretty much anything, from corrupt files to accidentally-deleted partitions, or just regular files and folders. Able to recover data from PCs, laptops, external hard drives, USB flash drives, and more, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is available as a free version, with two premium versions available at a cost. The free version of this data recovery software allows users to recover 2GB of data, and offers a preview of files before recovery. The Pro version allows users to recover unlimited data for $99.95 a year, with a limit of one PC per license. Finally, the Technician version, targeted at businesses, offers free remote assistance. This version is available for $299 a year, but allows installation on multiple PCs.
Disk Drill
We’ve written about data recovery with Disk Drill before, and for good reason; it’s a complete data recovery solution with an intuitive UI. Designed to recover data from hard disk drives, solid-state drives, USB flash drives, SD cards, and smartphones, Disk Drill was original a Mac-exclusive data recovery tool, before a Windows version was developed. Disk Drill can recover all manner of files, including video, audio, images, documents, and archives, with supported file types including .avi, .mp4, .wmv, .mp3, .aif, .wma, .jpeg, .psd, .png, .docx, .pdf, .zip and .rar. After installing the software, you select the location and recovery method you require, and Disk Drill will then begin scanning for lost data; there is a Deep Scan feature for files that prove particularly tricky to recover. Once the scan has completed, you can select the files you want to recover. The free version of Disk Drill allows 500MB of data to be recovered, which is fine if you’re only looking to recover a few documents or photos, but won’t be enough for much more. The Pro version is $89.99 for a lifetime license, and allows for unlimited data recovery for one user. The Enterprise version, targeted at businesses, costs $499.00 for a lifetime license, and can be used by 10 users.
Stellar Data Recovery
Stellar Data Recovery is a powerful tool, allowing data recovery from a variety of devices, similar to the other two options. This data recovery software comes with multiple scan options, allowing you to tailor the scan depending on your requirements, avoiding the need for a full scan. There are also advanced search capabilities, allowing you to quickly find your most important data that you want to recover. Other features include corrupt video and photo repair, encrypted drive recovery, RAID recovery, and creating a bootable recovery media. Stellar Data Recovery has six plans available, going up to $299 a year; we’re going to focus here on the Free, Standard and Professional versions of the software. The free version allows up to 1GB of data to be recovered, while the Standard version is $49.99 a year, offering unlimited data recovery. The Profession version is $79.99 per year, and offers free technical support in addition to unlimited recovery.