Visibility in this ranking can be paid for. Payment gives a vendor more visibility, higher up on the review pages; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review. The largest vendors in data recovery software
cannot hold places 1 to 3. Places 1 to 3 go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category,
wherever the category has them; the established names follow from place 4 in their ranked order. How it works: placement disclosure ·
editorial process.
The 12 tools, reviewed
#1 PhotoRec and TestDisk
Open-source partition repair and file carving · France · cgsecurity.org
open source command line partition repair
TestDisk repairs lost partitions and boot sectors and can copy files from deleted FAT, exFAT, NTFS and ext partitions. PhotoRec ignores the file system and carves files by signature, so it still works on a reformatted card. Both are free under the GPL v2+, run on many operating systems, and have no recovery cap.
- Pricing: Open source. Free under the GNU General Public License v2 or later. Free plan: open source.
- Best for: Technical users on a budget
- Strengths: Partition table recovery; Boot sector repair; Undelete on FAT, exFAT, NTFS, ext2.
Where it falls short
Both tools are driven from a text menu, and PhotoRec returns generated file names in numbered folders, which is slow to sort on a large volume.
Wrong for
A non-technical office worker who wants a click-through wizard with previews, or a company that needs vendor support and a license it can cite.
Visit PhotoRec and TestDisk →
#2 UFS Explorer
Recovery family for drives, RAID and NAS · Ukraine · ufsexplorer.com
RAID technician perpetual license
UFS Explorer is a family of editions: Standard Recovery for single drives, RAID Recovery for NAS and arrays, Network RAID for arrays spread across machines, plus professional and technician lines. Licenses are perpetual and issued per operating system, and each edition has a free trial with no time limit. Prices are published in euros, which is rare here.
- Pricing: Per license. Standard Recovery from EUR 59.95, RAID Recovery from EUR 129.95, Network RAID from EUR 199.95, perpetual licenses. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Technicians and RAID or NAS work
- Strengths: Standard Recovery edition; RAID Recovery edition; Network RAID edition.
Where it falls short
The product line is wide and the edition names are confusing, so choosing the right one takes reading. A perpetual license per operating system means a mixed Windows and Mac shop buys twice.
Wrong for
A home user who deleted one folder and wants a quick wizard.
Visit UFS Explorer →
#3 R-Studio
Cross-platform recovery for many file systems · Canada · r-studio.com
cross-platform technician RAID
R-Studio states support for NTFS, ReFS, FAT and exFAT, HFS+ and APFS, XFS, UFS1/UFS2 and ext2 through ext4, and has versions for Windows, Mac and Linux. It supports raw file recovery next to file system based recovery and lists damaged RAID recovery. The publisher, R-Tools Technology, also gives away small free tools such as R-Undelete Home.
- Pricing: Per license. Listed from $49.99 on its own site, with a Technician edition and volume licensing by quote. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Mixed Windows, Mac and Linux estates
- Strengths: Windows, Mac and Linux versions; NTFS, ReFS, FAT, exFAT, HFS+, APFS; XFS, UFS and ext2/3/4.
Where it falls short
The interface is dense and assumes you know what a partition table is. I could not see a trial limit or a full price list on pages that render without a script, so check the buy page.
Wrong for
An office worker who wants one-click recovery.
Visit R-Studio →
#4 Disk Drill
Mac and Windows recovery with a clean wizard · United States · cleverfiles.com
Mac wizard consumer
Disk Drill presents recovery as a click-through scan with previews, and its Mac version is the one the vendor leads with. CleverFiles says it reconstructs more than 400 file types, scans internal and external drives, memory cards, RAID arrays and virtual disks, and handles iOS and Android devices. Data protection features can be switched on in advance.
- Pricing: Free tier + paid. Free download with a paid Pro upgrade; the vendor's own comparison table shows per-year prices, so check the order page. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Mac users with a one-off loss
- Strengths: macOS and Windows versions; iPhone, iPad and Android scanning; 400+ file types.
Where it falls short
The free download scans, but I did not find the free recovery allowance on the pages I could read. The vendor's own site carries comparison tables ranking Disk Drill first, which tells you little.
Wrong for
A technician who needs to work from disk images and bootable media in volume, or a buyer who wants a perpetual license.
Visit Disk Drill →
#5 Active@ File Recovery
Windows recovery with boot media · Canada · file-recovery.com
Windows bootable media published prices
Active@ File Recovery publishes a three-tier price list in dollars, with personal and corporate columns, which makes budgeting easy. The Ultimate edition includes WinPE and Linux-based boot media, so you can scan a machine that does not start. It reads FAT, exFAT, NTFS, ReFS, HFS+, UFS, XFS, JFS and ext volumes, and it supports non-damaged hardware RAID and software RAID.
- Pricing: Per license. Standard $29.95, Professional $44.95, Ultimate $69.95 for personal use; corporate $39.95, $64.95, $89.95. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Windows technicians wanting bootable media
- Strengths: Quick and deep scans; WinPE boot disk; Linux LiveCD.
Where it falls short
The program itself runs only on Windows and Windows Server. The demo caps recovered file size at 64 KB, so you cannot test a real restore.
Wrong for
Mac or Linux users, or anyone who wants to test a restore of a real file before paying.
Visit Active@ File Recovery →
#6 Data Rescue
Mac and Windows recovery from Prosoft · United States · prosofteng.com
Mac Windows small vendor
Prosoft Engineering sells Data Rescue 6 for both Mac and Windows from a store on its own site, and pairs it with Drive Genius, a disk utility. The vendor also lists hard drive and RAID recovery services, so a user who fails to recover alone has a next step with the same company.
- Pricing: Per license. Sold through the vendor store; prices were not readable on the pages I could fetch. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Mac users who prefer a small vendor
- Strengths: Data Rescue 6 for Mac; Data Rescue 6 for Windows; Drive Genius companion tool.
Where it falls short
The site footer I could read showed a 2023 copyright year, and the store page returned an error, so I could not confirm current pricing, trial limits or supported file systems. Documentation visible to a buyer is thin.
Wrong for
A buyer who needs a published price and a list of supported file systems before buying.
Visit Data Rescue →
#7 MiniTool Power Data Recovery
Recovery wizard with Free and paid editions · Canada · minitool.com
wizard Windows and Mac free edition
MiniTool Power Data Recovery recovers files from PCs, hard drives, SSDs, USB drives and memory cards in a conventional scan, preview and save flow, with a free edition and paid Personal and Business editions. The company also sells a partition manager and backup tools, and lists offices in Vancouver and Hong Kong.
- Pricing: Free tier + paid. Free, Personal and Business editions; paid prices are on the store page and were not readable here. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Home users and small offices
- Strengths: Free, Personal and Business editions; Recovery from PC, HDD, SSD, USB, SD; Mac version.
Where it falls short
Which office is the legal headquarters is not clear from the footer. Edition limits and prices sit behind the store, and the site is heavy with marketing quotes.
Wrong for
A technician with RAID, NAS or imaging work who needs disk images and array reconstruction.
Visit MiniTool Power Data Recovery →
wizard repair tools Windows and Mac
4DDiG is Tenorshare's recovery line, with separate Windows and Mac products, each labeled with a Free scan and a Pro tier. The brand also bundles video, photo, document and audio repair, which matters because recovered videos and large files are often damaged. For a user whose files come back corrupt, a repair tool under the same roof saves a second purchase.
- Pricing: Free tier + paid. Free scan with paid Pro licenses; plan prices were not readable on the pages I could fetch. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Consumers wanting recovery plus repair
- Strengths: Windows data recovery; Mac data recovery; WhatsApp and LINE recovery.
Where it falls short
Tenorshare sells many unrelated utilities and AI apps, so the recovery product shares a site with unrelated promotions. Prices, caps and a legal address were not readable, and the footer names only a Hong Kong limited company.
Wrong for
A buyer who wants a narrowly focused recovery vendor with published prices and documentation, such as Active@ or UFS Explorer.
Visit Tenorshare 4DDiG →
#9 Ontrack EasyRecovery
Software from a data recovery lab operator · United States · ontrack.com
lab services Windows and Mac photo recovery
Ontrack sells EasyRecovery for Windows, Mac, photos and iPhone, and states that the free version recovers up to 1 GB of data from files below 25 MB. Scans can be paused and resumed without rescanning.
- Pricing: Free tier + paid. Free version recovers up to 1 GB (for files under 25 MB); paid versions are sold per edition on the vendor's site. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Buyers who may need a lab afterwards
- Strengths: EasyRecovery for Windows; EasyRecovery for Mac; EasyRecovery for Photo.
Where it falls short
The free allowance is limited by file size as well as total size, so large files such as videos do not qualify. The site pushes lab services heavily, which can make the software feel like a sales funnel.
Wrong for
Someone who wants a purely local tool with no tie to a services business, or a technician needing RAID features.
Visit Ontrack EasyRecovery →
#10 EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard
Recovery wizard with Free, Pro, Technician · China · easeus.com
wizard Windows and Mac technician license
EaseUS sells Data Recovery Wizard for Windows and Mac, each with Free, Pro and Technician versions, and runs a line of related tools for phones, file repair, backup and partitioning. The Technician edition gives service providers a license meant for client work. Support includes live chat and a paid human service for urgent cases.
- Pricing: Free tier + paid. Free, Pro and Technician editions are listed; the prices I could see on the site were for other EaseUS products, so check the store. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Consumers wanting a familiar brand
- Strengths: Windows and Mac versions; Free, Pro and Technician editions; HDD, SSD, SD, USB recovery.
Where it falls short
The product pages carry coupons and upsells for other EaseUS products, and the store prices I read were for different tools.
Wrong for
Someone who wants a plain price and open documentation, or a technician needing disk images.
Visit EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard →
#11 Stellar Data Recovery
Windows and Mac recovery, plus repair tools · India · stellarinfo.com
established vendor technician toolkit repair tools
Stellar states it has 30 years in business, more than 3 million customers, more than 100 R&D engineers and customers in over 190 countries, all vendor-stated. The product list is broad: Windows and Mac recovery, photo and video repair, Technician toolkit editions, and recovery for virtual machines and tape.
- Pricing: Free tier + paid. Free download for each product; editions and prices sit on pages I could not read. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Buyers wanting an established vendor
- Strengths: Windows data recovery; Mac data recovery; Photo recovery.
Where it falls short
The numbers above are the vendor's own and not independently confirmed, and the catalog covers email conversion, erasure and database repair, so it is a generalist. Edition prices were not readable and several legal addresses online differ, so use the vendor's current notice.
Wrong for
A buyer wanting a small specialist with a short price list, or a Linux user.
Visit Stellar Data Recovery →
#12 Recuva
Windows undelete tool from the CCleaner family · United States · ccleaner.com
Windows free version undelete
Recuva recovers files from a Windows computer, the recycle bin, camera cards and MP3 players, and the vendor says it can read damaged or newly formatted drives. A deep scan mode digs for traces of deleted files, and a secure overwrite feature does the opposite, erasing files for good.
- Pricing: Free tier + paid. Free version and a Recuva Pro option; Pro price was not on the page I could fetch. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Windows users with a deleted file
- Strengths: Recycle bin recovery; Memory card recovery; Damaged or formatted drive recovery.
Where it falls short
Recuva is a small tool owned by a security-and-cleaning company, and the product page shows no list of supported file systems, no RAID or Mac support, and no changelog.
Wrong for
A Mac user, anyone recovering from a RAID or NAS, or a business that needs documented file system support.
Visit Recuva →
Questions and answers
What is the best data recovery software in 2026?
PhotoRec and TestDisk ranks first of 12, best for technical users on a budget. UFS Explorer is second (technicians and RAID or NAS work) and R-Studio third (mixed Windows, Mac and Linux estates). Places 1 to 3 go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands, wherever the category has them.
Can deleted files be recovered after the Recycle Bin is emptied?
Often yes, as long as the space has not been reused. Deleting a file normally removes the directory entry and marks the space free, but the content stays until new data overwrites it.
Is free data recovery software good enough?
For a single document or a handful of photos, sometimes. The free tiers cap what you can save: Ontrack states 1 GB for files under 25 MB, and Active@ caps its demo at 64 KB per file.
Does recovery software work on SSDs?
It can, with lower odds than on a hard disk. Modern SSDs and operating systems use TRIM to erase freed blocks in the background, so a deleted file may already be physically gone by the time you scan.
Can I recover data from a RAID array or NAS?
Yes, with tools that reconstruct the array from its member disks.
Is it safe to run recovery software on the drive that lost the data?
Installing it on that drive risks overwriting the files you want back. Install on a different disk, or use bootable media such as the WinPE and Linux media in Active@ Ultimate, and save recovered files to a third location.
What is the difference between a quick scan and a deep scan?
A quick scan reads the file system's own records of deleted files, so it is fast and returns original names and folders.
Do I need a different tool for Mac drives?
Possibly. Active@ File Recovery runs only on Windows, while R-Studio, Disk Drill, EaseUS, MiniTool, 4DDiG and Stellar offer macOS versions, and Prosoft sells Data Rescue for both Mac and Windows.
How does recovery software differ from backup software?
Recovery software works after the loss and tries to reconstruct what remains. Backup software keeps a separate copy beforehand, so restoring is deterministic rather than a gamble.
Can recovered files be corrupted?
Yes. If part of a file was overwritten, or if a deep scan reassembled fragments in the wrong order, the result may open with errors or not at all.
Are these tools legal to use on someone else's drive?
Owning the software does not authorize you to read data you have no right to access.
