The best software for recovering lost or deleted files
Recovering deleted files from a storage device can be difficult for non-techies, but there is software available which makes the process easier for users.
Recovery software varies in price and efficiency, though, and is often not as effective as taking the device to a professional.
Data Recovery Digest’s annual DIY Windows File Recovery Review tests a number of data recovery programs in order to determine which is the most effective.
The software is ranked according to an overall rating, which accounts for a program’s performance and features.
Below is the best data recovery software of 2016, according to the ranking.
Restorer Ultimate
- Rating: 5.5
- Price: $50
Restorer Ultimate boasts the best ratings for file recovery out of the software tested, rivalling professional programs.
Its relatively low price and efficiency resulted in it taking top spot.
R-Undelete
- Rating: 5.5
- Price: $55
R-Undelete features a user-friendly interface and good file recovery performance across all file systems.
The free demo version of the software allows full recovery of FAT file systems, but has a number of restrictions.
Seagate File Recovery
- Rating: 5.5
- Price: $99
Seagate File Recovery is expensive, but efficient at recovering files from a number of different file systems.
The software’s free demo is heavily restricted.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard
- Rating: 4.5
- Price: R1,042
EaseUS Data Recovery has a decent set of recovery features and excellent file recovery performance for the exFAT file system.
The software’s demo can recover up to 2GB of data, but it features weak language support and is unable to recover non-Latin characters.
MiniTool Power Data Recovery
- Rating: 4.5
- Price: $69
MiniTool Power Data Recovery features a wide array of features, good file recovery performance, and its demo version can recover up to 1GB of data.
The software’s language support is relatively weak and only supports English.
Systweak Advanced Disk Recovery
- Rating: 4.0
- Price: R596
Systweak is a decent recovery program for NTFS and FAT32 file systems, but does not support exFAT.
The software has several demo restrictions and lacks a preview function.
Data Rescue PC3 and Undelete360 also appeared on the ranking, but are not featured in this list.
Data Rescue PC3 was recently replaced by a newer version and Undelete360 was found to be relatively ineffective, only succeeding in one field of recovery.
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