Best Free Photo Recovery Software

Install picture recovery software like Disk Drill on a different device than the one where your deleted photos were located. Use the software to scan the storage device. If they haven't been overwritten, they should be recoverable. If the recovery software can't find them, then you can also check the Recycle Bin/Trash, cloud, and manually created backups, and even your email client or instant messaging apps (if you remember sharing the photos with other people).

In the modern digital context, photo recovery is the process of restoring deleted or lost image files from storage devices such as SD cards, USB drives, or hard disks. In most cases, this process is performed with the help of specialized photo recovery software, which can automatically recognize many different image file formats and make them available for recovery (sometimes even allowing you to preview them beforehand, as is the case with Disk Drill).

That depends on what your priorities are. For many Windows users, Disk Drill is the best photo recovery software because the Windows version can recover up to 500 MB of image data for free. Mac users have it slightly worse because the free Mac version of Disk Drill can only preview recoverable photos, so they should also consider PhotoRec, which is completely free but limited by its text-based user interface. There's also R-Studio, which runs on all major operating systems, but won't let you recover images larger than 1024 KB without paying.

Start by checking the Recycle Bin or Trash as deleted photos often wait there before permanent deletion (if you deleted photos from an external device like an SD card, connect it to your computer first). Also, check any enabled backups like File History or Time Machine. If these recovery options don't help, use free photo recovery software like Disk Drill to scan your computer.

Despite its age, Windows 10 includes two data loss prevention features that you can use to recover your permanently deleted photos. The first one is File History, and you can access it from the Control Panel. There's also OneDrive, which backs up files located in the OneDrive folder to the cloud. You can also use third-party picture recovery software with support for Windows 10, such as Disk Drill.

Without software, your options depend on existing backups. On Windows, check the File History feature. On Mac, use Time Machine if enabled. Cloud backup services like OneDrive, Google Photos, or iCloud may have copies. Last but not least, think about where you might have shared or copied these photos (check your email attachments, social media uploads, or messaging apps like WhatsApp and Messenger).

On Windows, files deleted from USB drives bypass the Recycle Bin and are permanently removed, so they can be recovered only with the help of picture recovery software like Disk Drill. On Mac, each USB flash drive maintains its own Trash folder, which you can access by connecting the flash drive to your Mac and clicking the standard Trash icon in the dock.

Yes, RAW image files, such as CRW CR2 CR3 (Canon), ARW, SRF, SR2 (Sony), or NEF NRW (Nikon), can be recovered using any data recovery software that supports them. Disk Drill is a good choice because of its easy-to-use user interface and preview capabilities.

Check the "Reconstructed" folder in Disk Drill's results, which contains files recovered through deep scanning. Files here may appear as numbered items (like file0001.jpg) or have names pulled from metadata. If there are a lot of items in the folder, then it's best to switch to icon view in Disk Drill to see thumbnail previews of all images.

That depends on which photo recovery app you choose. Reputable photo recovery apps like Disk Drill operate in read-only mode during scanning (they don't modify your original storage device), don't contain any malware, and don't compromise your privacy, so they're completely safe if downloaded from official sources. Unfortunately, cybercriminals have in the past attempted to distribute malware by disguising it as free (or cracked) recovery software through third-party download sites, so caution is necessary when exploring what the world of photo recovery apps has to offer.

After a system update, check the Recycle Bin or Trash and your default photo folders first. On Windows, navigate to C:\Windows.old\Users[YourUsername]\Pictures, which often contains data from before the update. On macOS, use Time Machine if possible. Photos lost after an iOS or Android update can sometimes be recovered from iCloud or Google Photos, respectively. If none of these native recovery options help, then each of the mentioned platforms (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android) can be scanned using the Disk Drill photo recovery app.

Disk Drill Photo Recovery can recover about 400 file formats in total, including all photo, video, and audio file types commonly used by mirrorless, action, and drone cameras, among others.

Supported file formats:

• Photos: JPG, PNG, BMP, TIFF, AI, CR2, DNG, ICO, GIF, PSD, WEBP, and more
• Videos: AVI, MP4, MOV, MPG, 3GP, MKV, MLV, RM, TS, WEBM, WMV, and more
• Audio: MP3, OGG, FLAC, AAC, M4A, RA, WAV, WMA, MID, AIF, AIFC, AIFF, and more

On Windows 11, your two main native options for the recovery of permanently deleted photos are the File History backup feature and cloud backups created by OneDrive. If no local or cloud backups exist, you can use third-party photo recovery software like Disk Drill.

Yes, you can recover photos following a factory reset, even if you don’t have a backup. If you’ve suffered from data loss, the first thing you must do is stop using the device that the photos were stored on. Continued use puts your data at risk of being overwritten, rendering it unrecoverable.

To recover your photos, you will need to use a data recovery tool. Such tools, like Disk Drill, are able to scan your drive for recoverable data and restore it to a folder of your choosing. Of course, there isn’t a 100% guarantee that you can recover all of your files, but this is your best chance if you want to recover your data yourself.

Use File Explorer's search function to look for common image extensions (*.jpg, *.png, *.raw) on all storage devices where you suspect the photos might be hiding. For faster, more thorough searches, try Everything by voidtools, which is a free Windows search tool with many advanced features and excellent performance. If standard searches come up empty, use Disk Drill to scan your drives for both existing and deleted pictures.