Disk Drill is one of the finest data recovery applications for Windows and Mac because it can easily recover lost or deleted data from any internal or external storage device, independent of file system.

Disk Drill, created by CleverFiles' data recovery experts, is the finest solution for both professional and casual home users, offering an extraordinarily refined experience and best-in-class data recovery outcomes. Using its powerful scanning algorithms, the current version of the program can recover data in over 400 file types from a range of storage media and file systems.

Data recovery using Disk Drill is a simple method that does not need any specialized skills. Directly inside Disk Drill, you may filter scan results to discover a specific file and preview it before recovery. You can halt the scan and continue it later if you need to shut down your computer.

Disk Drill's free version can recover up to 500 MB of data (for Windows) and offers greater data safety with its Recovery Vault and Drive backup capabilities. Because they share the same refined user interface, each of these functions are just as simple to use as the data recovery section of Disk Drill.Users who want limitless data recovery may upgrade to Disk Drill PRO for $89.00 and use it on up to three PCs. Lifetime upgrades are available for $29 and may be used to successfully recover data even on future versions of Windows and macOS.

Despite the term "PRO" in its name, the commercial edition of Disk Drill is just as simple to use as the free version, so even naïve home users with no professional expertise should not be put off by it.

Pros

• Supports hundreds of file formats
• Powerful recovery capabilities
• Lost partition search
• Data protection and backup features
• Intuitive user interface
• Recovers up to 500 MB of data for free (Windows)
• Ability to mount scan results as a folder

Cons

• No phone support
• Average scan speed

Versions / Licensing:

• Disk Drill Basic: Free
• Disk Drill Pro: $89
• Disk Drill Enterprise: $499

System requirements: Windows 7 SP1+, 44 MB of storage space / Mac OS X 10.8.5+, 22 MB of storage space

Supported languages: English, Arabic, German, Spanish, French, Turkish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Dutch, Polish, Brazilian, Portuguese, European Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Chinese, Hindi

Supported file systems: NTFS, NTFS5, FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, exFAT, EXT3/EXT4, HFS, HFS+, APFS

Download: https://www.cleverfiles.com/data-recovery-software.html

PhotoRec is a strong file recovery program that supports a broad range of systems. Whether you have a digital camera or a conventional hard disk, PhotoRec has you covered as long as you know how to utilize it.

You would imagine that PhotoRec can only recover picture file types based on its name, however that is not the case. In truth, this open-source data recovery program is capable of recovering over 480 file extensions (about 300 file families) from hard drives, memory cards, CD-ROMs, USB flash drives, and other storage devices.

PhotoRec's text-only user interface is notorious for frightening inexperienced users away, but we found the data recovery procedure to be rather self-explanatory. Sure, novices may benefit from additional guidance, but that's what the official material is for.

PhotoRec's performance is comparable to that of several commercial data recovery software products. It employs a non-destructive data recovery mechanism that prohibits it from writing to the same storage device from which the user is attempting to recover data. In certain circumstances, PhotoRec can effectively recover fragmented files that have been strewn all over the place.

Pros:

• Compatible with all major operating systems
• Recovers about 300 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

Versions / Licensing: Free and open-source

System requirements: Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP, Windows Server 2016/2012/2008/2003 / Any recent version of macOS / Linux kernel 2.6.18 or later

Supported languages: English, Catalan, Chinese, Czech, French, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish

Supported file systems: FAT, NTFS, exFAT, ext2/ext3/ext4 filesystem, HFS

Download: https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec

Wondershare is one of the greatest data recovery tools in its price range, and it works flawlessly with a variety of storage devices such as camcorders, hard drives, memory sticks, and USB flash drives.

The firm behind this data recovery software has been in business for many years and has gained the trust of millions of home users as well as many major corporations. Recoverit is the company's main data recovery solution, and it supports over 1,000 file types as well as all regularly used file systems such as NTFS, FAT, HFS+, and APFS.

Recoverit, like all other Wondershare software programs, is extremely simple to use, with only three basic steps required to restore our files. We were able to evaluate recovered files before obtaining them with a single click during the last phase.

The only drawback is that Wondershare Recoverit's free edition can only recover up to 100 MB of data. That's not much when you realize that a single high-resolution image captured with a contemporary smartphone may easily exceed 5 MB.

Pros:

• Supports many file formats
• Sleek design and great usability
• Compatible with Windows and Mac files systems

Cons:

• Can recover only up to 100 MB of data
• Preview feature limited to a handful of file formats
• Many duplicates in scan results

Versions / Licensing:

• Wondershare Recoverit Essential: $59.95 a year
• Wondershare Recoverit Standard: $69.95 a year
• Wondershare Recoverit Advanced: $79.95 a year

System requirements: Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, XP (either 32-bit or 64-bit) or Windows Server 2016, 2012, 2008, 2003 / macOS 10.9- 10.15

Supported languages: English, Japanese, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Dutch, Korean

Supported file systems: NTFS, FAT32, FAT16, exFAT, APFS, encrypted APFS, HFS+, encrypted HFS, HFSX

Download: https://recoverit.wondershare.com/

Recuva is a tiny freeware tool that allows you to recover photos, music, documents, movies, and other sorts of items from your hard drive, memory cards, floppy disks, iPod or MP3 player, or USB sticks.

We prefer Recuva because of its inexpensive pricing, simple interface, and convenience of use, however it only recovered two-thirds of the lost files on my test drive, which may not be sufficient in a crisis. Still, downloading the free version and giving it a go can't harm. It's enough if it discovers the files you're looking for. Otherwise, one of our top selections, Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery ($79.99 at Stellar) —best for non-technical users—or Ontrack EasyRecovery, with its unrivaled performance but occasionally obscure UI, is in order.

Once you've recovered as many of your missing files as possible (ideally all of them), your next priority should almost definitely be to ensure that you never lose another file again. Of course, nothing is ever sure, but backup software may go a long way toward safeguarding you. You should also consider backing up your data to the cloud for further protection, so that even a calamity that kills all of your local gear does not wipe away your data. You'll want an online backup service for this extra peace of mind.

Pros:

• Low price
• Free version available
• Beautifully clear interface design
• Preview screen

Cons:

• Can’t recover as many files as high-priced rivals

Versions / Licensing:

• Recuva Free: $0
• Recuva Pro: $19.95

System requirements: Windows 10, 8.1, 7, Vista, and XP

Supported languages: Albanian, Arabic, Armenian, Azeri, Bosnian, Brazilian Portuguese, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, Georgian, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese.

Supported file systems: FAT, exFAT, and NTFS

Download: https://www.ccleaner.com/recuva

Data Rescue 6 is all about simplicity, but its exorbitant price makes it too expensive for most home users, who, paradoxically, would benefit most from its clean and simple user interface.

Data Rescue 6 is a somewhat perplexing data recovery software application because its clean and simple user interface (the main screen features only three large buttons with colorful icons and detailed descriptions) suggests that its target audience is regular home users, but its steep price tag and website tell a very different story.

A single license (which may be used on an infinite number of systems by one user) costs $399.00 per year. That is more than double the price of most rival data recovery software products for a lifetime license.

If you can afford to pay such a high price for Data Rescue 6, you may expect faster scan and recovery times, enhanced RAID recovery, and new disk utilities for byte-to-byte disk copies and safe file deletion.

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

Versions / Licensing:

• Data Rescue 6 Demo: Free
• Data Rescue 6 Standard: starts at $19 (pay for the files you want to recover)
• Data Rescue 6 Pro: $399 per year

System requirements: Windows 7 or later or macOS 10.12 or later, secondary storage location, internet connection

Supported languages: English

Supported file systems: FAT, FAT32, exFAT, ext2, ext3, HFS+, APFS, and NTFS

Download: https://prosofteng.squarespace.com/professional-data-recovery

This comprehensive data recovery software solution is aimed at more advanced users who will appreciate its wide options and strong capabilities.

Whereas most data recovery tools on the market are aimed at normal home users, R-Studio is primarily aimed at experts who are already familiar with the ins and outs of data recovery. It supports all frequently used file systems and partition layout techniques, and it can even manage damaged or deleted partitions.

Instead of guiding customers through the recovery process step by step, R-Studio allows them to launch several data recovery operations in independent tabs at the same time. Files recovered may be sorted according on their extensions, creation time, modification time, access time, and other factors. Many supported file formats may be previewed, and you can inspect files using the built-in hex editor to check their integrity or conduct partial recovery.

Make sure you obtain the correct version of R-Studio when purchasing it. The cheapest version of R-Studio ($49.99) can only recover data from the FAT, exFAT, and Ext2/3/4 file systems. The $79.99 version is required to recover data from NTFS, ReFS, HFS+, APFS, HFS, and UFS.

Pros:

• Advanced features for data recovery processionals
• Available as a bootable ISO image
• Disk sanitization feature

Cons:

• Not suitable for non-technical users
• Doesn’t display results during scan
• Can preview only a few file formats

Versions / Licensing:

• R-Studio FAT: $49.99
• R-Studio NTFS: $59.99
• R-Studio: $79.99
• R-Studio Network: $179.99
• R-Studio Technician: $899.00

System requirements: Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP/2000 or Windows Server 2019/2016/2012/2008/2003 / Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard or newer / Any kernel 2.6+ Linux distribution capable of installing .rpm or .deb packages

Supported languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Russian, Portuguese, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, and Japanese

Supported file systems: NTFS/ReFS, FAT/exFAT, Ext2/Ext3/Ext4, HFS+/APFS/ HFS/UFS

Download: https://www.r-studio.com/

DiskGenius is an all-in-one data recovery and partition management software designed for both professionals and home users. You may use it to cure a variety of annoying disk problems and try it for free before purchasing one of the two premium versions.

Partition and data loss issues frequently coexist, which is why the developers of DiskGenius decided to create an all-in-one data recovery and partition management solution that allows you to recover lost data from deletion, formatting, RAW drive, partition loss, OS crash, and a variety of other data loss scenarios.

While the DiskGenius user interface is nothing to write home about, the actual data recovery process is straightforward and only requires three steps. You begin by selecting a partition or disk, then scan for lost data, and lastly, preview all identified files and pick those you wish to recover.

DiskGenius has various extra capabilities that even much more costly competitors do not, such as the ability to recover data straight from VMware, Virtual Box, or Microsoft Virtual PC images. It also has a hex editor, which aids in the examination of raw disk data, although typical users are unlikely to utilize this tool.

Pros:

• Combines data recovery and partition management

• Is able to virtualize Windows into a VMware virtual machine
• Disk cloning functionality
• 30-day money-back guarantee
• Free version available

Cons:

• Doesn’t have the most intuitive user interface
• Jack of all trades but master of none

Versions / Licensing:

• DiskGenius Free: $0
• DiskGenius Standard: $69.90
• DiskGenius Professional: $99.90

System requirements: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10, Small Business Server 2011/2003/2008, Windows home server 2011, and Windows Server 2003/2008/2012/2016 (both 32bit and 64bit)

Supported languages: English, Japanese

Supported file systems: NTFS, FAT32, FAT16, exFAT, EXT2, EXT3, and EXT4

Download: https://www.diskgenius.com/

Stellar Data Recovery is a professional-grade data recovery program for Windows and Mac that can recover data from fully broken and unbootable computers that many lesser tools of its sort would consider unrecoverable.

This data recovery program, formerly known as Stellar Phoenix Data Recovery, supports NTFS, exFAT, and FAT (FAT16/FAT32) formatted hard drives, SSDs, USB flash drives, memory cards (including SD cards, Micro SD cards, CF cards, and so on), and other regularly used storage media.

Professional ($79.99 for one year or $99 for a lifetime license) and Premium ($99.99 for one year or $149 for a lifetime license) are the two versions available for professional use. The previous version is marginally less expensive since it lacks video and picture recovery features.

With the exception of the lack of recovery functionality, the two versions are similar and equally simple to use. Files recovered can be categorized by type or presented in a tree view, which is beneficial for identifying a specific folder.

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

Versions / Licensing:

• Stellar Data Recovery Free: $0
• Stellar Data Recovery Standard: $49.99
• Stellar Data Recovery Professional: $79.99
• Stellar Data Recovery Premium: $99.99
• Stellar Data Recovery Technician: $199
• Stellar Data Recovery Toolkit: $299

System requirements: Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista & XP / macOS Catalina 10.15, Mojave 10.14, High Sierra 10.13, 10.12, 10.11, 10.10, 10.9, 10.8 & 10.7

Supported languages: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish

Supported file systems: NTFS, exFAT, FAT(FAT16/FAT32), HFS, HFS+, ext2, ext3, ext4

Download: https://www.stellarinfo.com/

TestDisk is a wonderful solution to many severe data loss circumstances, designed to recover deleted partitions and make non-booting drives bootable again, but its text-only user interface keeps it out of reach for many people.

If you've inadvertently and permanently erased a critical file and are frantic to recover it, TestDisk isn't the tool for you. This open-source data recovery solution focuses on whole file systems and partitions rather than individual files. It can rebuild partition tables, boot sectors, and perform a variety of additional tasks to restore access to deleted files.

True, TestDisk can undelete files from the FAT, exFAT, NTFS, and xt2/ext3/ext4 file systems, but this feature is hidden in the advanced menu, where most normal users never go. Furthermore, restoring individual files using TestDisk is incredibly time-consuming since you cannot examine data before to recovery.

Despite its flaws, such as the absence of a user-friendly graphical interface, TestDisk remains one of the finest data recovery software options for Windows, Mac, Linux, and a variety of other operating systems.

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

Versions / Licensing: Free and open-source

System requirements: Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP, Windows Server 2016/2012/2008/2003 / Any recent version of macOS / Linux kernel 2.6.18 or later

Supported languages: English, Catalan, Chinese, Czech, French, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish

Supported file systems: FAT, exFAT, NTFS, and xt2/ext3/ext4

Download: https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download

EaseUS has received a lot of favorable comments from a wide range of users, and our experience with its data recovery capabilities has been similarly positive, so it merits a spot on our list.

EaseUS Data Recovery is a tried-and-true data recovery program for Windows and Mac. Its creators have succeeded in making the complex process of data recovery easy and accessible to everybody. There are no menus with multiple layers and options that necessitate a lengthy manual to understand.

When you launch this software application for data recovery, you're prompted to choose a place to scan, such as your hard disk or USB flash drive. You can also choose a specific folder, such as the Recycle Bin. Then, just press the Scan button and wait for EaseUS Data Recovery to locate your data.

If you're on a tight budget, you may obtain EaseUS Data Recovery for just one month. However, we urge that you purchase a lifetime subscription for $149.95 in order to receive limitless free updates.

Pros:

• Reliable data recovery performance
• Lets users sort and filter delete files
• Makes data recovery accessible to anyone

Cons:

• Includes unrecoverable files alongside recoverable files
• Previews only files that are smaller than 100 MB
• Doesn’t accurately display remaining scan time

Versions / Licensing:

• EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free: $0
• EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro: $69.95 a month
• EaseUS: Data Recovery Wizard Technician: $299.00 a year

System requirements: Windows 2000 or newer / macOS 10.15 ~ 10.9

Supported languages: English, German, Japanese, French, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Chinese (Traditional), Chinese (Simplified), Swedish, Danish, Korean, Russian, Norwegian, Polish, Hungarian, Arabic, Turkish, Indonesian

Supported file systems: FAT (FAT12, FAT16, FAT32), exFAT, NTFS, NTFS5, ext2/ext3, HFS+, ReFS

Download: https://www.easeus.com/