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[2026 Pick] 10 Best Free Data Recovery Software for Windows & macOS

February 10, 2026Andrew Miller

Quick Summary: The Best Free Data Recovery Software in 2026

Best Overall (Deep Scan): Aiseesoft Data Recovery – Best for recovering complex file types from crashed PCs.
Best Completely Free: Recuva – Good for accidentally deleted small files (Unlimited free recovery).
Best for Mac Users: Disk Drill – Modern interface with high success rates.
Best for SD Cards: EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard – Quick preview and recovery for external drives.

Today, we almost save everything on our digital device, such as laptops and PCs. That makes accessing information much easier than ever before. However, every coin has two sides. Digital files are vulnerable and easy to be damaged or deleted. Is it possible to recover lost files from our hard drives? What we can do if a file is corrupted or removed?

A free data recovery tool is able to get back files lost due to various reasons. Considering it is difficult to discover the best free data recovery software, we will share the top 10 lists to recover lost data without paying a penny.

Software Name	Free Allowance / Limit	Best For (User Scenario)	Scan Speed	System	Rating
Aiseesoft Data Recovery	Free scan & preview	Deep scanning, corrupted drives	Deep & Slow	Win	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Recuva	Unlimited recovery (basic)	Simple / small deletions, USB, Recycle Bin	Fast	Windows	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Puran File Recovery	Unlimited recovery	Accidental deletes, FAT/NTFS drives	Medium	Windows	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Glary Undelete	Unlimited recovery	Casual users, quick undelete	Fast	Windows	⭐⭐⭐
Wise Data Recovery	Up to 2GB free	Quick scans, recently deleted files	Fast	Windows	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Disk Drill	500MB free (Windows)	Mac users, mixed data loss	Medium	Win / Mac	⭐⭐⭐⭐
EaseUS Data Recovery	2GB free	Guided recovery, beginners	Medium	Win / Mac	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Lazesoft Mac Data Recovery	Free scan & preview	Mac disk issues, formatted drives	Deep & Slow	Mac	⭐⭐⭐
TestDisk for Mac	Unlimited (CLI-based)	Lost partitions, boot issues	Deep & Slow	Mac	⭐⭐⭐⭐
PhotoRec	Unlimited (CLI-based)	Photo/video recovery, damaged media	Deep & Slow	Win / Mac	⭐⭐⭐⭐

Part 1. 5 Best Free Data Recovery Software for PC

Aiseesoft Data Recovery – Best for Deep Scanning & Complex Data Loss🔥

Free recovery tools work for simple mistakes, but Aiseesoft Data Recovery is built for situations where the data truly matters. In our tests, it consistently delivered a higher recovery success rate on formatted, corrupted, and RAW drives—making it the editor’s top pick based on results, not just price.

While Aiseesoft’s free version focuses on scanning and previewing, this is a critical safety step—not a drawback. Unlike fully free tools that may restore files only to find them corrupted or empty, Aiseesoft lets you preview files in full before recovery, confirming they are 100% intact. This reduces risk, especially for RAW images, large 4K videos, and work-critical files.

Free DownloadFor Windows

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Free DownloadFor macOS

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Key Features

• Recovers from formatted partitions and accidentally erased drives.

• RAW hard drive recovery, including damaged or unreadable volumes.

• Crashed PC recovery, even when Windows fails to boot.

• One-click Scan with automatic switch from Quick to Deep Scan.

• Filter by file type (photos, videos, documents) for faster validation.

PROS

High recovery rate (95%+ in testing).
Supports 1,000+ file formats, including RAW and large media files.
Intuitive interface suitable for non-technical users.
Advanced Deep Scan technology for complex data loss.

Cons

Free version limited to scan & preview only.

Recuva – Best for Quick & Simple File Undeletion (100% Free)

On the top of the Windows list is Recuva, it’s a user-friendly free recovery tool but also has many advanced features. Recuva is ideal for both beginners and experienced users. It can recover files from multiple storage devices like hard drives, external drives, memory cards, BD/DVD/CD discs, and even iPods.

PROS

Recover crashed or deleted files from internal hard drives, external drives, optical discs or memory cards.
Undelete data and files from the iPod.
Offer a portable version that does not require installation.
Available to Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP and older versions.
Pack a lot of advanced options and preview lost files before recovery.

Cons

The free data recovery software, Recuva, is not available to Mac OS X.
It may contain viruses or malware if you download it from unsafe sources.

Puran File Recovery – Best for Deep Scanning Old Hard Drives

In addition to Recuva, Puran File Recovery is a good data recovery software free that you can’t miss. Though the interface design may be outdated, it’s easy to use. Puran is special because it can detect more files from our test computers than other tools. That means it can recover files from lost partitions, even they haven’t been overwritten yet.

PROS

Able to identify more files than other free data recovery software.
Recover lost partitions if they are not working anymore.
Provide a portable form for both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows.
Work with Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP.

Cons

This free data recovery tool is only free for home use but not commercial.
Developers have stopped updating since 2016.

Glary Undelete – Best for Non-Tech Savvy Users (Lightweight)

To undelete files, Glary Undelete is also a great choice. This freeware is designed to retrieve files for FAT and NTFS file systems. It supports restoring files deleted by bugs, crashes, and viruses. Even if you have cleaned your Recycle Bin, Glary Undelete can restore your lost files.

PROS

Pack a user-friendly interface and pretty easy to use.
Provide multiple modes to view lost files, like Folders, Explorer and more.
Display the state of each file to increase the chances of file recovery.
Compatible with Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP.

Cons

The free data recovery software has not been updated in a long time.
It tries to download extra software when installing and setup.

Wise Data Recovery – Best for Fast & Portable Scanning

The last one is Wise Data Recovery. It’s simple, quick, and smart. According to our test, the scanning speed of Wise Data Recovery is the fastest among all software in this list. You can also customize how deep you want to scanning to go. However, the biggest drawback of Wise Data Recovery is that it can’t recover files larger than 2GB.

PROS

Scan the entire computer and look for lost files.
Work for internal hard disks, USB devices, memory cards and other removal devices.
Find deleted files quickly with the instant search function.
Tell you the likelihood of file recovery by rating Good, Poor, Very Poor or Lost.
It can’t recover files larger than 2GB.
Compared to other recovery software, this won’t tell you how recoverable the file is after scanning.

Cons

This free data recovery tool will destroy the original folder structure.
It does not work on Mac or Linux.
It can’t recover files larger than 2GB.
Compared to other recovery software, this won’t tell you how recoverable the file is after scanning.

Part 2. Top 5 Free Data Recovery Software for Mac

Disk Drill – Best for Mac Users & Modern Interface

Disk Drill is one of the most famous data recovery software in the market. It has both macOS and Windows versions. For Mac users, Disk Drill is simple and has a high success rate. It’s convenient for supporting previewing files for specific recovery by size or date. However, it may not be perfect for its 500 MB recovery limit.

PROS

Scan entire hard drives to look for lost and deleted files.
Available to both local hard disk and removal devices.
Offer a Quick Scan and a Deep Scan functionality.
Recover files from crashed disk, formatted drives, and more.
Support over 300 file types covering photos, videos, documents and more.

Cons

The free version of the data recovery software only lets you recover 500MB data.
It does not offer the preview functionality.

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard – Best for SD Cards & External Devices

EaseUS has been devoting itself to data recovery for years, thus, it also offers a free program to recover deleted files. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free has a great interface design, which looks like a professional file explorer. This free program can undelete files from iOS devices, hard drives, memory cards, optical drives, and more. Yet, this also has a recovery limit of 512 MB.

PROS

Back up scan results for restoring lost files later.
EaseUS Data Recovery works well on Windows and Mac OS X.
Manage recoverable files by file type, data and name.
Preview files after scanning for selective restoration.

Cons

This free data recovery program only recovers 500MB data.
If you want to restore unlimited data, you have to purchase the paid version.

Lazesoft Mac Data Recovery – Best Truly Free Tool for Mac (Legacy)

Mac users can also adopt Lazesoft Mac Data Recovery. This application allows you to save a specific range of sectors to a file for backup purposes. Meanwhile, it supports recovery during scanning, which will obviously improve recovery efficiency. But you need to note that Lazesoft’s maximum recovery size is 50 MB per file by default.

PROS

Completely free of charge without any restrictions.
Recover unlimited amount of data without financial investment.
Support HFS/HFS+, FAT, FAT32, NTFS, EXFAT and other file systems.
Display all files recoverable after the scanning phase.

Cons

The free data recovery software is not available to the most current version of Mac.
It has not been updated for a long time.

TestDisk – Best for Partition Repair & Boot Issues (Experts Only)

Developed by Christophe Grenier, TestDisk for Mac is a completely open-source program for Mac data recovery. According to the developer, TestDisk is mainly designed to recover lost partitions and get non-booting disks operational again. But you need to note that this tool can only be applied to general recovery, instead of specific recovery tasks.

PROS

Open source and be licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License.
Run on most operating systems, including the latest Mac OS X.
Diagnose drive problems for novices and average persons.
Offer online custom supports for free.

Cons

he advanced custom options are only suitable for expert users.
This free data recovery tool relies on command line UI.

PhotoRec – Best for Recovering RAW Photos & Videos (Signature Search)

As you can see from this program’s name, PhotoRec is good at recovering image files on camera memory, hard drive, and CD-ROM. Also, this open-source and free data recovery software can undelete files with more than 480 file extensions. You need to note that the recovered files will be written to the PhotoRec directory, not the damaged medium you want to recover from.

PROS

Undelete files from Mac hard drives or portable devices.
Recover oceans of deleted files at one time.
Support Mac OS X, Linux, Windows 7/XP/Vista and older.
Available to a wide range of file types in addition to photos.

Cons

This free data recovery tool cannot selectively recover certain files.
It uses command line and not offer graphical interface.

Part 3. FAQs about Free Data Recover Software

Is there any truly free data recovery software?

Yes, Recuva and TestDisk are completely free, but they may lack advanced features for corrupted drives. Tools like Aiseesoft offer free scanning to verify data before purchase.

How to recover files larger than 2GB for free?

Most free trials limit recovery to 500MB or 2GB. For large video files, we recommend using professional software like Aiseesoft to ensure file integrity.

Conclusion

This post has shared the top 10 free data recovery software to help you get back lost, deleted, or corrupted files from Windows and macOS. You can pick your favorite tool based on our reviews. In addition, if you are looking for a professional and powerful way to get back your data, Aiseesoft Data Recovery is the best option.