If you're using a traditional spinning hard drive, the best recovery software can restore those lost files. Advanced users often get overeager about emptying the Recycle Bin, and want to get back files they didn't intend to delete forever. This is the kind of mishap that can happen to anyone. Where data recovery software is most useful is when you mistakenly formatted a thumb drive or a media card without remembering to grab the files already stored there, or if you mistakenly deleted files from your phone. Many of the apps we reviewed have both Windows and Mac versions, and they may be priced slightly differently. For SSD data recovery, you'll need to send your disk to a recovery lab more on that below. What they can't do-because no consumer-level software can do it-is recover a file that you deleted from the solid-state drive (SSD) that's probably in your laptop if you bought it in the past year or so, and possibly in your desktop if it's also of recent vintage. They can also retrieve some or all of the data that you otherwise can't access on a failing CD or DVD disk. The best of the file-recovery apps that we reviewed make it effortless to recover files from traditional spinning hard drives, flash drives, SD cards, and other forms of portable storage, including your phone. What Can Data Recovery Software Can Do?ĭata recovery software can be almost miraculously useful in some situations, and entirely useless in others. A Data recovery utility may be just the solution you need to get you out of the pickle you find yourself in. Relax you don't have to offer up your firstborn or a kidney to do so.

Whatever the case, you'll do anything- anything-to get those files back. Maybe it's the trove of family photos that suddenly can't be found in its folder, or the important documents you scanned and saved as PDFs to a now-failing hard drive. Nothing can make you feel more helpless than trying to rescue a file from a failing PC, Mac, or external drive.

(Opens in a new window) You've Lost a File, Now What? Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions.

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