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Best Data Recovery Software

Best Data Recovery Software

Are you looking for a reliable Windows, Mac, or mobile data recovery solution to recover lost files for yourself? Our expert-written reviews, side-by-side comparisons, and up-to-date lists of free versions and discount offers will help you find the most fitting program to restore those all-important files.

Best data recovery software of 2025

Thanks to their in-depth research and testing of different apps, our experts and users have found that the following apps are the best data recovery software of 2025:

Best data recovery software for PC

Editor's choice
Stellar Windows Data Recovery logo

Stellar Windows Data Recovery

Editor's rating:
Simple, straightforward design
Overall great ease of use
Recovery of over 200 file types
Effective deep scans for internal drives
Complete solution
Disk Drill for Windows logo

Disk Drill for Windows

Editor's rating:
Simple, straightforward user interface
Multiple customizable scanning options
Additional Recovery Vault protection
Free recovery of 500MB data
Beginners
Recuva logo

Recuva

Editor's rating:
Simplified scanning with built-in wizard
Multi-language interface
Displays file condition
Option to overwrite/destroy data

Other data recovery software for PC

Editor's choice

Stellar Windows Data Recovery

Editor's rating:
Starting price: $59.99/unit
Main features
  • Simple, straightforward design
  • Overall great ease of use
  • Recovery of over 200 file types
  • Effective deep scans for internal drives
  • Simple, straightforward design
  • Overall great ease of use
  • Recovery of over 200 file types
  • Effective deep scans for internal drives
  • Increased CPU usage during scans and recovery
  • Buggy windows display for multi-monitor users
  • Unlimited support only available for one year
Summary
View summary

If a piece of software could rectify the fear we’ve all felt after realizing an important file was deleted, then there’s no other way of looking at them: data recovery programs are real lifesavers. But these programs are worth absolutely nothing if users aren’t even able to use them due to overcomplication. Thankfully, Stellar Windows Data Recovery isn’t a complicated solution at all; its minimal design hides one of the most intuitive and straightforward data recovery tools on the market. Developed by the same India-based company behind Stellar Mac Data Recovery, this program is a multifaceted tool capable of restoring more than 200 file types, creating disc images, and finding lost disc partitions. Stellar’s solution also comes with the option to perform deep scans on the PC’s internal drives, with which everything can be effectively recovered with relative ease. And if that’s not enough, almost all Stellar products can be purchased with a lifetime license and are available for a 30-day risk-free trial to help you be certain that you are picking the best solution for your needs.

Special offers
View offers
Lifetime license for Stellar Professional and Premium
Stellar Platinum software bundle
20% student discount on Stellar Data Recovery
Free edition of Stellar Windows Data Recovery
30-day risk-free trial of Stellar paid products
Complete solution

Disk Drill for Windows

Editor's rating:
Starting price: $89/unit
Main features
  • Simple, straightforward user interface
  • Multiple customizable scanning options
  • Additional Recovery Vault protection
  • Free recovery of 500MB data
  • Simple, straightforward user interface
  • Multiple customizable scanning options
  • Additional Recovery Vault protection
  • Free recovery of 500MB data
  • Expensive base price
  • Pay-only lifetime upgrades
  • Limited customer support
Summary
View summary

When it comes to data recovery solutions, there is a clear pattern that this kind of software goes through: first comes the Windows version followed by the Mac equivalent. With Disk Drill, however, it was the other way around; while the Mac version dates back as far as 2011, Disk Drill wasn’t released for PC until 2015. Despite this, Disk Drill quickly became a market leader and is even now considered one of the best data recovery apps for very good reasons. Disk Drill’s simple and straightforward interface is one thing, but it’s a total powerhouse that crams in numerous impressive scanning and recovery functions. Disk Drill also comes with a clever Recovery Vault feature with which your most important folders receive extra protection against accidental deletion. And not only does Disk Drill have a free version – which even allows users to recover a limited amount of data – but its paid counterpart can be used on multiple computers for as long as you wish.

Special offers
View offers
50% off when upgrading disk drill version
50% discount on Disk Drill for macOS
50% price reduction for switching from competitor
20% off on Disk Drill organizational licenses
Beginners

Recuva

Editor's rating:
Starting price: $19.95/unit
Main features
  • Simplified scanning with built-in wizard
  • Multi-language interface
  • Displays file condition
  • Option to overwrite/destroy data
  • Simplified scanning with built-in wizard
  • Multi-language interface
  • Displays file condition
  • Option to overwrite/destroy data
  • Poor performance of default scans
  • Unusual appearance
  • Annual payment required for priority support
Summary
View summary

When people hear the name Piriform they usually associate it the company’s most popular product, CCleaner. However, Piriform – a subsidiary of Avast and founded in 2005 – has many other solutions up its sleeve for optimizing computer performance and, in the case of Recuva, even provides a tool for recovering lost data. With this software users can recover virtually any kind of file from anywhere, whether that is an internal or external data storage drive. Although the software’s audience is primarily people who aren’t put off by new interfaces and program suites, Recuva manages to cater towards less tech-savvy users as well thanks to easy-to-use extras like the display for file conditions or the option to perform scans via a simplified wizard interface. In addition to that, it also serves as a way of handily destroying files to remove unwanted items from PCs once and for all. And if that’s not convincing enough, Piriform also sports a free version with all of the most important features included, as well as a cheap paid version through which users can make use of priority customer service.

Special offers
View offers
Up to 25% off on Recuva Professional licenses
53% off on Piriform professional software bundle
17% bulk discount on Recuva Business
Recuva forever free edition
30-day risk-free trial of Recuva Professional

Since Windows always hides deleted files deep inside the system, data recovery isn’t a lost cause at all. However, the longer those files stay on the computer, the more likely it is that they’ll be overwritten by newer files – at which point they won’t be recoverable anymore.

This is exactly where Windows data recovery software can help by searching through the hidden parts of drives and partitions until the files in question are located and hopefully restored. However, the beauty of Windows data recovery tools is that they are actually multifaceted programs, capable of performing special types of recovery too, such as salvaging files from a failing drive by copying its content onto a virtual disk image or finding elements on a lost partition.

Data recovery software for PC

Best data recovery software for Mac

Editor's choice
Disk Drill for Mac logo

Disk Drill for Mac

Editor's rating:
Deep and effective scan
Support for a very long list of file types
Excellent filtering options
Future data loss protection
Beginners
Stellar Mac Data Recovery logo

Stellar Mac Data Recovery

Editor's rating:
Supports multiple file formats
Option to add new formats
Very efficient deep scans
Helps recover the majority of deleted data
iPhone data retrieval
Enigma Recovery logo

Enigma Recovery

Editor's rating:
Nice, clean user interface
Ability to filter data from iTunes/iCloud backup
Great customer support via phone and chat
Editor's choice

Disk Drill for Mac

Editor's rating:
Starting price: $89/unit
Main features
  • Deep and effective scan
  • Support for a very long list of file types
  • Excellent filtering options
  • Future data loss protection
  • Deep and effective scan
  • Support for a very long list of file types
  • Excellent filtering options
  • Future data loss protection
  • Can't recover files from SSD
  • Clean-up utility is confusing
Summary
View summary

If you have ever experienced the moment when your Time Machine drive failed, then you already know what it means to lose the work of a lifetime or important files. No one wants that, and it’s an issue that CleverFiles’ Disk Drill Pro addresses. Thanks to its support for a continuously growing variety of file types and signatures, the data recovery software is very effective on hard drives and can even narrow down the scan results using its neat filters. The company behind the Atlanta, U.S.-based 508 Software takes a clever approach to customers looking for data recovery software: Disk Drill can be downloaded for macOS and Windows for free to check whether the files you are searching for are recoverable. It’s only if this is the case that you are then invited to upgrade to a lifetime license for $89.

Special offers
View offers
$50 discount on Disk Drill Pro
20% discount on a lifetime Disk Drill license
Half price when switching to Disk Drill
Free scans with free version of Disk Drill
Beginners

Stellar Mac Data Recovery

Editor's rating:
Starting price: $79.99/yr
Main features
  • Supports multiple file formats
  • Option to add new formats
  • Very efficient deep scans
  • Helps recover the majority of deleted data
  • Supports multiple file formats
  • Option to add new formats
  • Very efficient deep scans
  • Helps recover the majority of deleted data
  • Buggy quick scan
  • Processor intensive software
  • Requires admin password with each app launch
Summary
View summary

Whether it is data lost from an internal or external hard drive, a Windows Boot Camp partition, or Apple Time Capsule, Stellar Mac Data Recovery will help you get it back. The small but powerful software helps to locate and recover information from corrupted, damaged, or deleted volumes on any common format drive. Developed by Stellar Information Technology, an India-based company founded in 1993, the Stellar Mac Data Recovery application completes the developer’s line of repair and recovery software for Mac, which includes Stellar Data Recovery for iPhone and Stellar JPEG Repair. Although there is still much to do before it is perfected, Stellar Mac Data Recovery Professional is a powerful utility that scans your attached and built-in drives for free, though it isn’t until paying the $99 for a license that the recovery of lost partitions, documents, and multimedia files is enabled.

Special offers
View offers
Just $6.66 per month for recovering lost data
Only $8.33 per month for Premium Data Recovery
Just $149 for Premium Data Recovery for a lifetime
Free drive scanning
30-day risk-free use of all data recovery features
Endless data recovery scan
iPhone data retrieval
Enigma Recovery logo

Enigma Recovery

Editor's rating:
Starting price: $59.99/unit
Main features
  • Nice, clean user interface
  • Ability to filter data from iTunes/iCloud backup
  • Great customer support via phone and chat
  • Nice, clean user interface
  • Ability to filter data from iTunes/iCloud backup
  • Great customer support via phone and chat
  • Creates a temporary but full backup of the iOS device
  • Limited usefulness
Summary
View summary

There are times in life when even a solid mobile operating system such as iOS may act up, and in such moments you may face the pain of losing valuable data on your mobile device. Everything is fine if an iTunes or iCloud backup is at hand, but what about the devices that weren’t ever backed up? UK-based Enigma Digital’s data recovery software is available for both Mac and PC, making it one of the many options that users have in such situations. The company claims it has recovered more than 1 billion items, helping 100,000 users in more than 200 countries. The free version of Enigma Recovery works for 14 days and if you are satisfied with the capabilities of the software, then a lifetime license can be bought for as low as $19.99 – a purchase that is protected by Enigma’s 30-day money-back guarantee.

Macs are known for being less prone to the issues that plague Windows users, while extremely helpful functions like Time Machine – which can restore accidentally deleted files in an instant – help reduce the risk of lost data. However, even Macs aren’t immune to hardware failure, and this is especially true for devices that utilize SSDs, which are faster but tougher to recover data from. For this reason, even Mac users are advised to have a data recovery app to hand just in case Time Machine isn’t enough. However, there is more to Mac data recovery tools than just complementing the built-in data recovery feature, they provide more versatile data recovery options including thorough scans, disk health monitoring, the creation of a boot disk, and the option to copy a failing drive’s content over to an image file to protect the disk from taking more damage.

Data recovery software for Mac

Data recovery 101

How data recovery software works
How data recovery software works
Why data recovery software?
Recovery of different types of data
Free data recovery solutions

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