Top 5 Free Data Recovery Programs

Files can be lost from your computer or other devices for different scenarios, such as deletion, formatting, virus attack or system error. Once files are lost, there are 3 solutions for you to retrieve them:

Recover lost files from preview backup if you have;

Recover deleted data from Recycle Bin (Windows PC) or Trash (Mac) if they haven’t been totally emptied;

Get data recovery software.

In our experience, the first two solutions are not as useful as we expect in most occasions. Normally, we’re likely to find a data recovery program for help. But since data recovery programs in the internet are so complicated that it’s always hard for us to select the most useful and reliable one. What’s even worse, most of data recovery programs are paid software. The free or trial versions of them only offer you limited recovery functions. This is really misery.

Is there a data recovery program that is powerful but free? The list of free data recovery programs is properly prepared here. We have picked 5 powerful data recovery freeware for you to choose from in this article.

Top 5: Recuva
Top 4: Undelete 360
Top 3: Pandora Recovery
Top 2: Wise Data Recovery
Top 1: Puran File Recovery

Recuva is a famous free data recovery program specially designed for Windows. You can use its Wizard mode or manual mode to restore lost data from your device.

The Wizard mode let you customize search type to “All Files”, “Picture”, “Music”, “Documents”, “Video”, “Compressed” or “Emails”. Then you can set the search location to everywhere on your computer.

Pros

1 Powerful wizard mode with detailed guide;

2 Detailed states of found files will be shown in the window: recoverable or unrecoverable;

3 There is a handy version for you to install it on a usb drive or an external hard drive;

4 It’s totally free, and there’s no functional difference between free version and paid pro version;

4 All Windows OS supported: Windows 8, Windows, Windows 2008 Server, Windows Vista, Windows XP , Windows 2003 Server.

Cons

1 Not all original file names are available. You can only view some of original found file names;

2 Files are not sorted in file types in manual mode;

3 You can only preview some of pictures.

Get Recuva

Undelete 360 is a user-friendly and useful utility that suits for all versions of Windows and Windows file systems. It effectively recovers files lost due to many reasons like intentional or unintentional deletion, software or hardware failure, Trojan infection, or even unexpected system shutdown. You can sort found file by “Type” or “Folder”. You can tell how damaged the file is according to “Status” column in the window.

There is a paid professional version of the program. You can’t use “Filter” option, as well as sort file in “Folder” category, the free version is still a reliable and powerful data recovery tool for you to restore your lost data.

Pros

1 Amazingly fast scanning speed

2 Clear states of found files are displayed. All found files will be noticed in red “Overwritten” and green ‘Very Good” status.

Cons

1 Many functions in the window are not available, such as “Wipe Files”, “Group By Folder” and “File Preview”. You need to upgrade to professional version to activate them.

2 Not all files are listed with original names. Sometimes it would be hard for you to get what you really want to retrieve.

Get Undeleted 360

Pandora Recovery is a free data recovery software that recovers lost files from NTFS and FAT-formatted volumes. With it, you can recover pictures, videos, audio files or documents.

What makes it so special is that you can browse the hierarchy of existing and deleted files, or you can use search functionality to find a deleted file if you remember file name, file size, file creation date, or file last accessed date after scanning. You can preview both image file types and text file types before recovering them.

Pros

1 Offers different scanning options: “Browse scan” and “Surface scan”;

2 Wizard Mode with detailed instructions is available;

3 Recovers Archived, Hidden, Encrypted, Compressed files

4 Quick Viewer allows you to preview image file types and text file types;

5 Nicely-designed searching features

Cons:

1 Files are not sorted in file types. You need to use “Search” function frequently to get what you want;

2 The utility doesn’t support all file types;

3 The interface is not very clear that it might be a little bit difficult for newbie to use it.

Get Pandora Recovery

Wise Data Recovery is a tiny and fast free data recovery program that runs on Windows PC. The really clean interface of the utility helps you to recover deleted pictures, videos or audio files within several simple clicks. The program's clean menu makes it rather simple to find and select the exact file you want to recover.

Pros:

1 This is a tiny utility with easy-to-use interface and fast scanning speed;

2 The recoverability of found file will be clearly displayed in "Good", "Poor", "Very Poor", or "Lost" status;

3 Last modified time of lost data will be displayed in the program window.

Cons:

1 You’ll not be able to preview found files;

2 Found data is listed in physical directory other than in “Folder” or “File Type” categories.

Get Wise Data Recovery

Puran File Recovery is a utility helps you to retrieve important work documents, photos, videos or music from both local drive on your computer or external storage devices. It offers you with 3 scanning methods: Quick Scan, Deep Scan and Full Scan. After scanning, you can sort files in file types such as “Pictures”, “Music”, “Documents”, etc. You’ll also be able to save recovered files with their path structure intact. In all, Puran File Recovery’s clear interface helps you to recover all lost data with ease.

Pros:

1 3 powerful scanning features are available: Quick Scan, Deep Scan and Full Scan;

2 You can customize the scanning according to your wish;

3 Easy search box helps you find what you need quickly.

Cons:

1 Found files are not sorted in “Folder”. You can only view them in “File Type”

Get Puran File Recovery

Conclusion:

All free data recovery programs in this list are reliable, and they’re good enough for normal data recovery requirement. Now that you have so many free data recovery programs in option, it’s time for you to select the most suitable to restore your deleted files now!

Wondershare Data Recovery: Another Wonderful Choice for You

If free utilities in this list don’t help you or you happen to `have a Mac, you can also take Wondershare Data Recovery as a try.

This program recovers all lost files from your computer or storage media including memory card, external hard drive, memory card, usb drive and so on. The enhanced recovery technology of the program shows you 3 powerful recovery modes, which you can’t get from free programs:

Lost File Recovery - Recover formatted and deleted files with their original file names and paths.

partition recovery - Retrieve corrupted or lost partitions, with all data intact.

Raw Recovery - Deep scan your device and reclaim data even when the file system is corrupted.

The program provides you with a free version, which allows you to scan your Windows PC or Mac for lost files at no cost. If your lost files are found and recoverable, you can purchase the full version ($39.95) to recover them.