5 Best Free File Recovery Software for Windows 10, 11 [2024]

What is the best free file recovery software for Windows 10/11? Read and check these 5 free data recovery software for Windows 10/11 in this post.

Penny

By Penny / Updated on January 3, 2024

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What is the best free file recovery software?

Today, people usually save their data on hard drives or cloud backups. Apart from that, you may also store your essential data on your USB or other electronic devices.

However, if you encounter the malfunction of a storage device, logical failure of storage devices, or accidental deletion, you may lose your files and folders.

Thankfully, many file recovery software and services make it possible to recover deleted files and folders on your computer.

Because deleted files might still be on your hard disk drives before overwriting, let’s have a closer look at the 5 data recovery software.

hard-drive-file-recovery

5 best free file recovery software for Windows 10 & 11

We have picked 5 eligible apps based on the consideration of usability, capability, compatibility, and speed. Detailed info on every free data recovery software in Windows 10/11 will be offered in the following sections.

Let's see the ranking and comparison first.

  1. MyRecover Free
  2. Recoverit
  3. Recuva
  4. PhotoRec
  5. Windows File Recovery

Check comparison

Software Easy GUI Recovery Rate Speed Compatibility Price Total Score
MyRecover High 2–40 min Windows 11/10/8/7/Server Freemium ★★★★★
Recoverit High 2–50 min Windows & Mac Freemium ★★★★☆
Recuva Relatively high 2-60 min+ Windows Freemium ★★★★☆
PhotoRec Relatively low 30-60 min+ Windows /Mac/Linux/DOS Freeware ★★★☆☆
Windows File Recovery Relatively high 15-60 min+ Only Windows 10 and above Freeware ★★☆☆☆

1. MyRecover

Supported by AOMEI Tech and its sophisticated team, MyRecover is reliable in data recovery.

It possesses advanced scanning tech and unique features applied to all-inclusive data loss situations. Using this app, all users can recover deleted/lost files from SSD/HDD/USB/SD card, etc., without difficulties.

It allows users to recover files for free at 30 MB/try, with no upper limit.

myrecover-recover-deleted-files

Pros:

  • It offers good coverage of 200+ types of data: MS Office files, Videos, Photos, Emails, Webpages, and Compressed files.
  • Offer Quick Scan & Deep Scan to search for deleted and lost files on hard drives in high speed & recovery rate. 
  • Available on Windows 11/10/8/7 and Windows Server. 
  • Apply to comprehensive data loss situations: deletion, disk formatting, system crash, viruses, etc.

Cons:

  • Lacks support for Mac and Linux.
  • How to recover deleted files effortlessly using MyRecover?

How to recover deleted files effortlessly using MyRecover?

Step 1. Download MyRecover on the computer, then run it.

Download SoftwareWin 11/10/8/7/Server
Secure Download

Step 2.  After loading the disk, select a disk/partition that includes your needed files. Then click "Start Scan".

select-a-partition-to-scan

Step 3. The combined scanning method of Quick Scan and Deep Scan will scan all the deleted/lost files. While scanning, just sort/search/filter/preview/select files to recover as you like.

  • Sort: sort the scanned files by Date updated, Size, Path, Type, etc.
  • Filter: Use the Type/Date modified/Size filters to narrow down the list of detected files; for example, you can display all images modified in the last 30 days and sizes between 1 MB and 512 MB.
  • Search: Enter filenames or extensions in the search box to locate the desired files.
  • Preview: display thumbnails of photos in a clear preview before recovery.
  • Recover: After previewing, just choose the files to restore.

scan-lost-data

Step 4. Locate a new location to save your recovered data, and click "Recover x files" to begin the recovery process. 

recover-lost-data

2. Recoverit

Recoverit is freemium that allows users to recover data from Windows and Mac. In its Premium version, it offers some unique features like corrupted video repair.

Also, it allows users to recover data for free for 100 MB in total.

recoverit

Pros:

  • Support 1,000 recoverable data types.
  • Recovery speed is relatively high.
  • Provide advanced features like corrupted photo recovery and bootable disk in Premium version.

Cons:

  • Only support 100 MB in total of free data recovery.
  • Pop-up adds.

3. Recuva

Recuva supports data recovery from Windows PC/cameras/MP3 players. It provides a Recuva Wizard to guide users. With this clear and easy guide, users can easily choose what & where to scan and recover.

recuva-interface

Pros:

  • Its quick scan is fast.
  • A simple and clear guide makes it easy to use.
  • Recover files from damaged hard disks as well.

Cons:

  • Full scan takes too long.
  • Sometimes the filenames and paths will be lost.

4. PhotoRec

PhotoRec is a multi-platform open free data recovery software for Windows, Mac, Linux, Sun Solaris, etc. It features data recovery from severely damaged file systems.

Yet, it provides no intuitive and easy user interface. All operation has to be done with keyboards. In addition, users have to decide the file system, source drive, scanning mode, and destination drive on their own, which is challenging.

Many users need help with learning how to use PhotoRec to recover files.

photorec

Pros:

  • Available on Windows/Linux/Mac OS/DOS/Sun Solaris, etc.
  • Support FAT/NTFS/exFAT/ext2/3/4, etc.

Cons:

  • No GUI.
  • Difficult to learn and use.
  • Filenames and directories will be lost.

5. Windows File Recovery

Windows File Recovery is a command-line software program from Microsoft without a graphical user interface.

It is now available for Windows 10 2004 and later, which can recover files from a local hard disk drive (HDD), USB flash drive, or memory card such as an SD card.

You can recover MP3 files, MP4 videos, PDF documents, JPG images, and typical office documents like Word, Excel, and PPT. However, recovery from cloud storage and network file sharing is disabled. 

Since there is no intuitive user interface, many users have problems and need to learn how to use Windows File Recovery to recover deleted files.

winfr-interface

Pros:

  • Support data recovery from corrupted hard drives.

Cons:

  • No GUI.
  • Difficult operation and command lines.
  • Only support Windows 10 and above.
  • Cannot keep filenames and directories.

FAQ

Wrapping up

This post introduces 5 types of the best free file recovery software for Windows 10/11. Among all the eligible apps, MyRecover will be the best choice for you since it is advanced, efficient, and easy to use.

As mentioned above, we can retrieve the deleted data before overwriting it. It turns out it is necessary to make regular backups. AOMEI Backupper, this free Windows backup software provides basic and advanced features to ensure data safety. You can also retrieve deleted files easily. That sounds great! Why not have a try?

Penny
Penny · Editor
Penny works as an editor at AOMEI Technology, while she's a tester and editor for AOMEI Data Recovery Tools. She enjoys helping users with data recovery issues on Windows and iPhones using simple and practical solutions. Outside of work, she has a strong affection for pets, particularly giant pandas.