Disk Drill Data Recovery Software

Recover All File Types

Disk Drill, a professional Windows data recovery solution, can restore all file types that have been deleted or lost on virtually any of your devices. Its powerful and sophisticated scanning algorithms can identify and reconstruct hundreds of different file types including all of the popular video, audio, photo and document formats.

Video

AVI, FLV (Flash video), M4V (iTunes video), MP4 (MPEG-4 video), MPG (MPEG video), WMV (Windows Media Video)

3G2 / 3GPP2 / 3GP / 3GPP (Videos for 3G UMTS services), BIK (Bink Video), CRM (Canon raw movie file), DIR (Adobe Director Movie), DV (Digital Video), DXR (Protected Adobe Director Movie), FCP (Final Cut Pro), FLA (Editable Adobe Flash movie), FCPEVENT (Final Cut Events), M2T (HDV video), M2TS (Blu-ray BDAV Video), M4B (iTunes audiobooks), M4P (iTunes Music Store audio), MKV (Matroska Video), MLV (LabVIEW mathscript file), MOV (Apple QuickTime movie), MPA (MPEG-2 Audio File), MTS (commonly called AVCHD, a high-def MPEG Transport Stream video format; recovered as M2TS), MXF (Material Exchange Format), OGM (Oog Media), R3D (Redcode Raw video image), RM (RealMedia), RMVB (RealMedia Variable Bitrate), SWF (Flash movie), TOD (JVC Everio Video Capture), TS (Video Transport Stream File), WEBM (HTML5 WebM Videos)

Audio

MP3 (MPEG Audio Stream, Layer III), AIF, AIFC, AIFF (Audio Interchange File), WMA (Windows Media audio files)

AA (Audible Audio Book), AAC (Advanced Audio Coding), ALP (Ableton Live Pack), AMR (Adaptive Multi-Rate audio codec), ASF (Advanced Audio Streaming Format), AU (Audacity audio files), AWB (Adaptive Multi-rate Wide Band), CAF (Core Audio File), CDA (CD Audio Track), CPR (Cubase Project), DS2 (Digital Speech Standard Pro), ENS (REAKTOR Ensemble), FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec), FLP (FruityLoops Project), IDF (MIDI instruments Definitions File), M4A (Apple Lossless Audio), MID (MIDI), MP2 (Audio file format used with MPEG Audio Stream; recovered as MPA), MPA (Audio file compressed with MPEG Layer II compression), MPC (Musepack Compressed Audio File), MUS (Finale Notation), NGRR (Guitar Rig sound files), OGA (audio extracted from OGG; recovered as OGG), OGG (Ogg Vorbis Compressed audio file), PTF (Pro Tools Session File), RA (Real Audio), RFL (Reason ReFill Sound Bank), RNS (Reason Song File), RPP (REAPER Project Files), RX2 (REX2 Audio Files), SIB (Sibelius Score), VOC (Creative Labs Voice), WAV (DTS-WAV), ZRV (Philips Voice Traver), SESX (Adobe Audition CC Session File)

Images

BMP, JPEG, JP2, GIF, TIFF, PSP. Polaroid/Sigma: X3F. Pentax: PEF. Adobe: AI, APM, IDML, INDB, INDD, INDL, INX, LRCAT, PSB, PSD.

DJVU, TGA, PGM, DNG, PNG, HEIC, WMF, APM, DPX, JNB, JPG, KEY, WEBP, PCX, MPO, AFPHOTO, ALBM, ANI, DXF. Fujitsu: RAF. Fujifilm: RAF. GoPro: GPR. Leica/Panasonic: RW2, RAW, RWL. Leica X2: DNG. Leica M (typ240, typ246): DNG. Leaf/Aptus: MOS. Leaf and Phase One: IIQ. Sony: ARW, SRF, SR2. Samsung: SRW. Canon: CR2, CR3. Epson: ERF. Kodak: DCR, KDC. Konica Minolta: MRW. Nikon: NEF, NRW. Olympus: ORF. Mamiya: MEF. Hasselblad: 3FR, FFF. After Effects Project: AEP. Blender 3D Data file: BLEND. ArchiCAD Backup: BPN. Cinema 4D Model: C4D. CorelDRAW: CDR. FreeHand Drawing file: FH3, FH8, FH10, FH11. Maya Project: MA, MB, MP. Enhanced Windows Metafile: EMF. Encapsulated PostScript file: EPS. Mac OS X Icon: ICNS. Windows Icon: ICO. Luxology Modo: LXO. Autodesk 3ds Max Scene: MAX. ArchiCAD Project: PLA, PLN, TPL. PostScript File: PS. SketchUp: SKP. Scalable Vector Graphics: SVG. Visio Drawing file: VSD. VectorWorks Design File: VWX

159

Documents

DOCX (Microsoft Word), PDF (Portable Document Format), PPTX (Microsoft PowerPoint), XLSX (Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet)

AAF (Advanced Authoring Format), ABCDDB (Apple Address Book Database), AFDESIGN (Affinity Designer document), APK (Android Package), BKF (Windows Backup Utility File), CS (Visual C# Source Code File), CST (Adobe Director External Cast File), CWK (ClarisWorks Document), DB3 (SQLite3 Database), DGN (MicroStation Design file), DWG (AutoCAD), EMF (Enhanced Windows Metafile), EMLX (Apple Mail Message), EPUB (Open Ebook file), FDR / FDX (Final Draft), FP7 (FileMaker Pro 7+ Database), GP3/GP4/GP5/GPS (Guitar Pro documents), H (C/C++ Header File), IBANK (iBank 5 app), iCash files. ICS (iCalendar), IPA (iPhone or iPod Touch Application), ITL (iTunes Library File), JKS (Java KeyStore), KEYCHAIN (Mac OS X Keychain File), LNK (MS Windows Link), MDB (Microsoft Access Database), MSG (Outlook Mail Message), ODG (OpenDocument Graphics), PSS (Password Saver), RP (Axure RP Project File), RTF (Rich Text), SXC (OpenOffice Calc), WEBLOC (Mac OS X Website Location), WPS (Microsoft Works Word Processor Document), XML, XMP (Adobe Extensible Metadata Platform)

How Windows Data Recovery Works

Disk Drill is a free data recovery software for Windows PCs and laptops. It is an easy-to-use yet powerful tool that will assist both novice and experienced users in getting back lost files in just a few simple steps. Here’s what you need to do.

STEP 1

Download and install Disk Drill data recovery software for Windows

Disk Drill is a free download. The software installs easily with just a few clicks; as with any other system software, you will be asked for your administrator’s credentials. Disk Drill lets you recover some data for free, and gives you permanent access to useful data protection tools for keeping future data safe.

STEP 2

Choose the data source

Select your PC drive, or connect the storage device that contains the lost or deleted data. Memory cards will need to be connected using a built-in or external card reader. The device will appear in the list of all storage devices connected to your PC. Select the device from the list shown in Disk Drill. Scanning the device rather than a partition produces more results. If the device is corrupted, a byte-level backup is recommended.

Hard drive data recovery software for everyone

Choose the data source and recovery method

STEP 3

Start scanning for lost data

Once the device is selected, you are ready to begin the recovery process. Click the Search for lost data button, and if you’re scanning an external drive, non-system drive, or disk image, you will need to choose between Universal Scan, the main scan that searches for all files, and Advanced Photo Recovery, designed for recovering unaltered photos from cameras and drones. Once the scan is started, it will take a variable amount of time based on the type of scanned media and its condition.

How to Recover Files Deleted from Recycle Bin

STEP 4

Select the files to recover

As scanning proceeds, you will see a status indicator showing its progress at the top of the app’s window, as well as the number of files found and their total size. You can pause and resume the scan at any time. For the best results, let the scan finish completely, however, you can see which files have already been identified at any moment of the scan, and even start recovery while the app is still scanning in the background.

USB flash drive recovery hints and tips

STEP 4.1

Use filters for faster search / select a specific file type

Our Windows data recovery tool allows you to preview the files it has found before you commit to recovering them. Files identified by the tool are listed by file type in the app window to make it easy to locate the needed ones. Choose from Pictures, Video, Audio, Documents, Archives, and other files. Click on the appropriate category to see the files that have been found during the scanning process.

Photo Recovery Software to Recover Lost or Deleted Photos

STEP 4.2

Manage the recoverables, and search within the found files

You can search within recoverable files by their names or other parameters using the search box at the top of the Disk Drill’s window. Narrow down your search to *.JPG or *.DOC files, or any other extension. You can also filter scanning results by the type of file you are attempting to recover and select the ones to be restored. Choose the files to recover or click the Recover all button.

STEP 4.3

Review reconstructed data

If the files you expected to find are not listed under Deleted or lost, check the Reconstructed section of the scan results. Here you will find the files that Disk Drill has restored byte-by-byte based on its proprietary database of file signatures. We always recommend previewing the found files to determine if they should be included in the recovery.

STEP 5

Recover your deleted data

Once you’ve selected the files you wish to recover, click Recover. Alternatively, if you want to recover everything, leave all files unselected and click Recover all. Now, you will choose the recovery destination. This location must be on a separate physical storage device, as recovering to the source device will corrupt data during recovery. To finish recovery, click Next.

Data Recovery Software for Any Data Loss Scenario

Disk Drill is a flexible data recovery tool that can help you restore your deleted files in virtually any data loss scenario. Here are some of them.

Accidentally Deleted Files

Accidentally deleted files is a very common user scenario. We hear about it roughly ~200 times per day. Recover all of your lost files quickly and easily with our simple and reliable data recovery software - Disk Drill.

Empty Recycle Bin

If you were too fast to empty your Recycle Bin and immediately realized that you have just lost your important data in it, Disk Drill can help recover the files you thought had been permanently deleted.

Crashed Hard Disk

Connect a crashed hard disk to another computer that runs Disk Drill, and let our data recovery software rescue the files and folders on the storage device.

Formatted External Drive

Formatting the wrong external drive (or even a flash drive or memory card) by mistake can result in a huge loss of data. In many cases, Disk Drill can recover all the lost files and folders from the formatted drive.

Virus Infections

An infection with a computer virus or malware can hit your precious files unexpectedly at any time. Use our versatile data recovery tool to restore files deleted by malicious software.

Lost Partition

Losing a disk partition can result in a devastating loss of data. The powerful scanning algorithms of Disk Drill can recover all of your lost files and folders.

RAW File System

If you are faced with a file system that suddenly appears as RAW to your Windows OS, let our file recovery tool save your data so you can reformat the device for future use.

Corrupt Memory Cards

Memory card corruption can lead to the loss of many documents, pictures, videos, or other files. Just connect the card to your computer and let Disk Drill find and recover your data.

Technical Specifications

Operating Systems Supported:

Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP
Windows Server 2025/2022/2019/2016/2012 R2/2012/2008 R2/2008/2003 R2/2003

View system requirements

File Systems Supported:

FAT16/FAT32/exFAT, NTFS, NTFS5, ReFS, HFS, HFS+, APFS, EXT2/EXT3/EXT4, BTRFS and any RAW disk

Hardware Requirements:

Disk Space: 1GB minimum free space
CPU: 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x86-64) compatible CPU 1.0 GHz or faster
RAM: at least 4GB

Will Undelete Software Work for Your Case?

Not all data loss scenarios are equally serious. Some can be remediated with the help of advanced data recovery software, like Disk Drill, while others are impossible to solve even by well-equipped professionals in data labs.

Recycle Bin

The Recycle Bin folder in Windows is a special temporary storage area for deleted files, and its purpose is to guarantee complete recoverability. As such, the recovery chances of any files found in the Recycle Bin are as high as they get.

File deletion

In many cases, deleted files still remain on the storage device from which they were deleted long after their deletion, making it possible to recover them using data recovery software. One of the exceptions is the deletion on a solid-state drive (SSD) with the TRIM feature enabled.

Formatted partitions

Regular formatting is usually quick because it merely marks the partition as empty without actually deleting the files stored on it, which means that you can recover them using data recovery software. Of course, that won’t be possible if you format a partition securely, overwriting its content with zeroes or new data at least one time.

Storage device corruption

A corrupted storage device will display error messages or not show up in places like File Explorer. Even in an inaccessible state like this, the device is still scannable with Disk Drill, so long as it’s visible in Disk Management with the correct capacity. In most cases, the data itself is likely to be mostly intact, as the corruption only affects the device itself.

Malware infection

There are many nasty strains of malware that can make important files disappear or become impossible to open. Addressing malware-caused data loss is sometimes possible using the combination of anti-malware and data recovery software, but the success rate is hard to estimate without having more information about a specific malware infection.

Physical damage

It’s not possible to recover data from physically damaged storage devices that can’t be recognized by Windows without repairing the hardware damage first, which is something that can rarely be done at home.

Choose the Best Data Recovery Software for Windows

It can be confusing to find the best free Windows data recovery tool among the many competing products on the market. To help you make the right decision, we have put together this table of some of Disk Drill’s main analogs along with a comparison of their features. Choose the one that best suits your data loss situation and start recovering deleted data on your Windows computer in a matter of seconds.

	Disk Drill	Recuva	EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard	Recoverit Data Recovery	Stellar Data Recovery
		User experience and price
Rating	5/5	3/5	4/5	4/5	4/5
Mac version of app	✔	✘	✔	✔	✔
Price	$89.00 (lifetime license)	$19.95 (year)	$99.95 (year)	$69.95 (year)	$79.99 (year)
Ease of use	Easy	Moderate	Easy	Easy	Moderate
Recovery speed	Fast	Average	Fast	Fast	Slow
Phone support	✘	✘	✔	✔	✔
Email support	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Live chat	✔	✘	✔	✔	✔
Tutorials built in app	✔	✘	✘	✘	✘
FAQs	✔	✘	✔	✔	✔
		Supported filesystems
FAT16 / FAT32	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
exFAT	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
NTFS / NTFS5	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
HFS / HFS+	✔ (signature scan only)	✘	✔ (signature scan only)	✔ (signature scan only)	✔ (Toolkit edition)
APFS	✔	✘	✔ (signature scan only)	✔ (signature scan only)	✔ (signature scan only)
ReFS	✔	✘	✔ (signature scan only)	✔ (signature scan only)	✔ (signature scan only)
BTRFS	✔	✘	✔ (signature scan only)	✔ (signature scan only)	✔ (signature scan only)
ext2 / ext3 / ext4	✔	✘	✔ (signature scan only)	✔ (signature scan only)	✔ (Toolkit edition)
		Scans
Supported file formats (as stated)	400+ (verified)	50	1000 (non-verifiable)	1000 (non-verifiable)	300 (verified)
Recovery chances	✔	✔	✘	✘	✘
Quick scan	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Deep scan	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Signature scan	✔	limited support	✔	✔	✔
NAS & Linux via SSH scan	✔	✘	✔	✔	✘
Allocate existing scan	✔	✘	✔	partial	partial
Scan to locate lost partitons	✔	✘	✔	✔	✔
Automatic scans	✔	✘	✔	✔	partial
RAW devices scan	✔	✘	✔	partial	partial
RAID capability	✔	✘	partial	partial	✔ (Toolkit edition)
Bad devices scan	✔	✘	✔	partial	partial
		Additional capabilities
SMART device status	✔	✘	✘	✘	✔ (Professional edition)
File preview	✔	partial	partial	partial	partial
Hex preview	✔	✔	✘	✘	✘
Preview during scan	✔	✘	✔	✔	partial
Create and load disk images	✔	✘	✘	✘	✔ (Professional edition)
Save and load scan sessions	✔	✘	✔	✘	partial
Mount results as a virtual drive	✔	✘	✘	✘	✘
Additional protection features	✔	✘	✘	✘	✘

As you can see from the table above, each data recovery software offers a slightly different mix of features and capabilities, which are available at different price tiers. Here’s a brief summary of what we think about the compared solutions.

1. Disk Drill Data Recovery Software

Disk Drill is considered an all-rounder, capable of tackling a variety of data loss scenarios thrown at it using a mix of scanning methods. In addition to its core function as a data recovery tool, it includes some additional features that help keep your data protected going forward. Based on its competitive price point and perpetual license model, it’s hard to argue with the value the program offers, making it an affordable but effective solution for any case where data recovery is possible.

2. Recuva

Recuva is a recovery tool best suited for basic recovery tasks. It relies on its ability to recover data using file system pointers rather than a unique file structure. As such, due to its lack of support for more file signatures (which is limited to 50) and additional features, Recuva is best suited as a cost-effective option if professional software isn’t in the budget.

3. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard

EaseUS offers a trial that’s a step above Recuva, with the added benefit of a more polished interface and extra recovery features. Paired with some capable recovery performance, it’s a popular option for casual users. However, its full version is quite expensive compared to similar options in the market that offer the same or better performance.

4. Recoverit Data Recovery

Recoverit is a solid option for data recovery that covers most essential features, and it also offers certain tools as separate add-ons. It’s lower on the list as many of the features it offers as extras are already included in the base version of Disk Drill, which makes it more flexible as a recovery toolkit.

5. Stellar Data Recovery Software

Stellar Data Recovery is a dependable recovery tool with the functionality needed to recover a range of file types. Similarly to Recoverit, it also includes a lot of features, but as additional add-ons. As such, it’s a bit more barebones compared to other solutions that include similar functionality in the base program.

Frequently Asked Questions

Updated on Oct 17, 2025 by Disk Drill Team

How can I recover deleted data from Windows?

Start by checking the Recycle Bin, as deleted data will be sent there before being permanently deleted. If it’s not there, check any File History or OneDrive backups for a copy of the data. Otherwise, you can scan your drive with the free version of Disk Drill to make sure the files are recoverable.

Why does data recovery software work?

When an OS deletes a file, it does not immediately remove it from the storage device. It marks the space previously occupied by the data as available for use. The data will remain recoverable until the same physical location on the device is overwritten, and Disk Drill can scan the drive and recover that data. Even if you think the data is lost, it’s worth scanning the drive anyway to check.

What is the best data recovery software?

Determining the best data recovery software can be difficult, given that they all have strengths and weaknesses in certain situations. However, there are some that stand out the most:

Disk Drill Data Recovery Software
Recuva
EaseUS Data Recovery
Wondershare Recoverit
Stellar Data Recovery

How can I recover my data for free?

There are a number of methods that may get your data back for free. Deleted files may be in the Recycle Bin. Or, maybe you have backups of the lost data somewhere. If you don’t have backups and have emptied your Recycle Bin, Disk Drill lets you scan your drive for recoverable data and recover some for free.

Can I restore deleted data on Windows without software?

Windows has a Recycle Bin which your data goes to when it’s deleted. Check there first, as you can easily restore the data back to its original location. However, if the data was too large, or the Recycle Bin was emptied, your only remaining option to recover data without software is by restoring from a backup. Check File History, OneDrive, and Backup and Restore to see if any backups are available.

Is Disk Drill Data Recovery Software for Windows safe to use?

Disk Drill is totally safe to use and will not cause any harm to your computer or its data. The scanning process is conducted in read-only mode so there is no chance of accidentally causing any damage to your storage media. We recommend recovering your data to a different disk than the one that lost data to ensure that no file corruption occurs.

Is there any free Windows data recovery software?

Disk Drill data recovery software for Windows allows you to scan and recover some data for free. If you’re looking for a solution that allows unlimited data recovery for free, try Windows File Recovery, Microsoft’s official recovery tool. Keep in mind that this tool is used with a command-line interface (CLI) and only gives you access to basic scans.

How much does Windows data recovery software cost?

Most data recovery tools for Windows cost under US$100 for a fully licensed version. Disk Drill enables you to try the software and recover up to 100 MB of data. This may be enough for minor data loss incidents or to test the software in action. The recovery chances and preview feature give you a complete understanding of what data is actually recoverable before making any financial investment in the application. The free download also lets its users benefit from the unlimited free data protection tools built into the program.

What is a data recovery service?

A data recovery service is a service offered by companies that focus on the recovery of lost data from various devices. Using specialized tools and techniques, data recovery experts are able to recover even permanently deleted or corrupted data.

The Most Reliable Windows Data Recovery Software

Recover Data From a Variety of Devices

Recover All File Types

How Windows Data Recovery Works

Download and install Disk Drill data recovery software for Windows

Choose the data source

Start scanning for lost data

Select the files to recover

Use filters for faster search / select a specific file type

Manage the recoverables, and search within the found files

Review reconstructed data

Recover your deleted data

Data Recovery Software for Any Data Loss Scenario

Accidentally Deleted Files

Empty Recycle Bin

Crashed Hard Disk

Formatted External Drive

Virus Infections

Lost Partition

RAW File System

Corrupt Memory Cards

Technical Specifications

Operating Systems Supported:

File Systems Supported:

Hardware Requirements:

More Than Data Recovery - Premium Data Protection

Will Undelete Software Work for Your Case?

Recycle Bin

File deletion

Formatted partitions

Storage device corruption

Malware infection

Physical damage

Choose the Best Data Recovery Software for Windows

1. Disk Drill Data Recovery Software

2. Recuva

3. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard

4. Recoverit Data Recovery

5. Stellar Data Recovery Software

Customers and software gurus say

The Ultimate Data Recovery Toolkit

Frequently Asked Questions

Knowledge is power, quick tips