Recovering deleted files from your computer can be a frustrating experience, whether it's due to hardware failure, software corruption, accidental deletion, or computer viruses. When faced with data loss, the first thing that may come to mind is to find a data recovery program that can help you efficiently and safely retrieve all your lost data.
In reality, there are only a few completely free data recovery programs available for Windows users to recover or "undelete" their accidentally deleted files. On the other hand, most paid file recovery software offers a free version but with some limitations.
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- Security: The first thing we considered was ensuring that users would not install software infected with malware or scams.
- Popularity: A program's popularity often indicates its quality.
- Features: We looked for data recovery programs that include most of the essential features for reliably recovering deleted or lost files, such as the ability to recover data from formatted and damaged devices, preview before recovery, filtering specific files, etc.
- File size limit for free recovery: Undoubtedly, the number of files users can recover for free is an important aspect.
User reviews: We made sure to choose programs that received positive reviews from users.
File Recovery Programs for Computers
1- Recuva
Recuva is a 100% free data recovery program for Windows computers. You can use Recuva to undelete files from your hard drive, recycle bin, digital camera card, and USB flash drive. The free Recuva file recovery program works well on Windows 10, 8.1, 7, Vista, and XP.
Although Recuva also comes with a paid Pro version and Pro Bundle, the free version has no file size limits, but it hasn't been updated in a long time and is not compatible with the newly released Windows 11.
Pros
- No file size limits in the free version.
- Reasonable price for the pro version.
Cons
- The program lacks many features compared to competitors.
- The program takes a long time to scan the hard drive or devices.
2- Recoverit Data Recovery
One of the best programs on this list, it is a highly-rated and reliable data recovery tool for Windows 10/11, and it also works well on Windows 8/7/Vista/XP.
The program supports recovering over 1000 types of deleted or lost files from your computer, laptop, hard drive, USB flash drive, SD card, and other devices. It can handle all data loss scenarios such as accidental deletion, hardware damage, or virus attacks, etc.
This fantastic free program can rescue your data from the black screen of death on Windows 10 or the blue screen of death or any other computer crash scenario by creating bootable USB media.
This program features enhanced recovery and repair, which sets Recoverit apart from its competitors. Recovered video files may be corrupted or unplayable when using other software to recover lost videos. Recoverit has developed a patented technology to recover video file fragments, automatically scanning, assembling, and matching video parts, allowing you to recover complete videos without damage.
The program offers filtering and recovery during scanning, enabling you to quickly find the file you want among many data files, so there's no need to wait for the entire scan process, and previewing is also possible.
Pros
- Intuitive interface.
- Easy to use.
- You can recover data with high quality and precision.
Cons
- Only supports recovering 100 MB of data in the free version.
- The program offers limited phone support.
- The paid version is somewhat expensive.
3- Puran File Recovery
Puran File Recovery is one of the best free file recovery tools for Windows 10/6/7/XP/Vista, but it is only for home users, not for businesses, and it hasn't been updated since 2016.
Pros
- Can recover deleted files from file systems such as NTFS and FAT12/16/32.
- Supports deep scan and full scan options for searching.
- You can preview recovered files.
- The program is completely free.
- Users can check the recoverability of files effectively.
Cons
- Lacks many features compared to competitors.
- Free for home use only, not for commercial use.
- Has not been updated since 2016 and is not compatible with Windows 11.
4- Stellar Free Data Recovery
The Stellar Free data recovery program is considered one of the most powerful data recovery software for PCs (Windows and Mac). The program can recover data from any device: hard drives/laptops, USB drives, Micro SD cards, etc. You can use it to recover data from emptied recycle bins, RAW partitions, or formatted or damaged drives.
Pros
- The program can undelete lost email files like Microsoft Outlook (PST and DBX) and many other file types such as images, videos, audio, and documents.
- Excellent data recovery, thanks to the program's powerful advanced tools.
- Stellar Free Data Recovery can quickly recover files from drives.
- Stellar Free Data Recovery is user-friendly.
- Very good customer service with live chat.
- Effective and fast scanning.
Cons
- The recovery process is slow.
- The free version only supports recovering 1 GB of data.
- The paid version is slightly more expensive than other programs.
5- Disk Drill Free Data Recovery
Initially, Disk Drill was designed for Mac data recovery, and later the Windows version was released in 2016. The free Disk Drill data recovery program for Windows has almost the same features as the Mac version, easily allowing you to undelete files in Windows 11/10 from any storage devices like computer hard drives, external hard drives, SD cards, USB drives, digital cameras, and more.
Pros
- User-friendly with features.
- Supports both quick and deep scanning.
- Supports a wide range of file types and storage media.
Cons
- The free version only allows recovering 500 MB of data.
- The paid version is quite expensive.
- Recovery results are mixed.
In this article, we discussed how to recover deleted files from your computer, along with a list of the top 5 standout programs. As you can see, these programs are free and suitable for computers running Windows 11/10. All these applications are easy to understand and user-friendly, so you can evaluate each data recovery program based on the information provided above and choose the one that suits your needs for recovering your files and documents. We hope the information shared is sufficient for you to make the right decision. Please share in the comments your favorite program for recovering deleted files from your computer based on your personal experience.
