10 Best Free External Hard Drive Recovery Software: Recover Files from External Hard Drive for Free
People use external hard drives to store data for safekeeping, but they can lose data due to various reasons. Fortunately, there are many tools available to recover lost data from external hard drives. If you're wondering about the cost of data recovery from an external hard drive, you can consider the top 10 free options listed below.
- Qiling Free Data Recovery
- Advantages
- 2 GB free data download
- Supports all formats
- Repair corrupted data automatically
- Supports up to 20 languages
- Can recover data from a wide range of loss scenarios
- Disadvantages
- Deep scan speed is slow
- Cannot restore to original hard disk
- Disk Drill
- Advantages
- Intuitive and easy to use design
- Supports all file systems used on external drives
- Scanning speed is quite good
- Disadvantages
- 500 MB may not be a lot
- No phone-based customer support
- R-Studio
- Advantages
- Cross-platform support for multiple OS options
- Can be paired with several other tools offered by the company
- Allows recovery over a network
- Disadvantages
- Paid option is expensive
- Does not allow large file downloads in demo mode
- EaseUS Free Data Recovery
- Advantages
- Support for 1000+ file formats
- Fast scanning speed
- Known for reliable recovery
- Disadvantages
- Paid options are expensive
- Also shows unrecoverable files after a scan
- PhotoRec
- Advantages
- Supports many operating systems
- Truly free recovery software with a donation option
- Support for a large number of file formats
- Disadvantages
- Design is crude and unintuitive
- No option for selective file restoration
- Stellar Data Recovery
- Advantages
- Easy to use and intuitive
- Reliable recovery performance
- Can clone disks
- Disadvantages
- Fewer formats are supported as compared to other options
- May occasionally list unrecoverable files as recoverable
- Recuva
- Advantages
- Easy to use interface
- Unlimited external hard drive recovery free
- Preview files before downloading
- Disadvantages
- No longer supported for development
- MiniTool Power Data Recovery
- Advantages
- Easy to use tool
- Previewing option available
- 24/7 customer support
- Disadvantages
- Can be sluggish at times
- Some options are limited to a paid subscription
- Data Rescue
- Advantages
- Large file format support
- Can clone drives and create boot drives
- Comes with a hex previewer
- Disadvantages
- The scan process is quite long
- Cannot pause/resume scan
- Undelete 360
- Advantages
- Unlimited free recovery
- Can recover all standard file formats
- Preview option available
- Disadvantages
- Can be a bit unreliable
- Development support ended
Qiling is a highly valuable free external hard drive data recovery software that stands out from the rest, especially for recovering files from external hard drives. Despite being a relatively new player in the recovery scene, it has made a significant impact, particularly in handling various formatting types, allowing users to recover lost files on all types of formatted drives and make them available for download.
Qiling allows users to recover files from an external hard drive free for up to 2 GB of data, making it a cost-effective option for many users.
Disk Drill is a highly formidable external hard drive recovery software that offers great recovery performance, ease of use, and is a fantastic option for those looking to recover data from external hard drives free. It also supports a variety of other storage options and provides fast recovery speeds, making it a standout in the recovery software market.
This software has a limitation in its free version, where you can only recover up to 500 MB of data. However, this might not be a problem if your needs are not extensive.
R-Studio is a free external drive recovery software that offers a wide range of features, making it suitable for professional use. Its design is old-school and not visually appealing, but it gets the job done.
The free version of the tool is a demo download that allows users to experience all its features, but with a file size limit of 256kb, and no data recovery limit.
EaseUS has earned a reputation as a reliable file recovery service, and its software for recovering data from external drives is no exception. It stands out as one of the best free external hard drive recovery software available, offering a high success rate for its users. The performance of EaseUS is impressive, making it a top choice for many.
This software offers free external hard drive recovery, supports over 1000 file formats, and covers various file systems. It has a fast scan speed and provides 500 MB of free data recovery, with an additional 1.5 GB if shared on social networks.
PhotoRec is a free download that supports many operating systems and is effective at recovering data, despite its simple design.
This software is notable for being one of the few free options that allows unlimited data recovery without any cost, but its simplicity and lack of focus on user-friendliness may be drawbacks.
Stellar is a top-notch free external hard drive recovery software that lives up to its name, offering excellent recovery performance and a user-friendly interface. It's also a great option if you're looking to retrieve files from an external hard drive without incurring any costs. With its impressive features, Stellar is a stellar choice for anyone seeking to recover files from an external hard drive for free.
The software offers an excellent interface and can restore deleted files from an external hard drive on both Mac and Windows PCs, with unique features that set it apart from other recovery software.
Recuva is a good option for recovering data from an external hard drive for free without any hassle. Its simple design and reasonable feature set make it an easy choice for many users. The software's intuitive design allows you to preview files before recovering them, and its biggest strength is that it allows free recovery for as much data as you want without any payment.
MiniTool is a well-established name in providing storage-related solutions, including free external hard disk recovery software. Their free USB drive recovery software supports a wide range of devices and can also recover data from external hard drives, making it a versatile tool for recovering files lost due to various problems, and compatible with most file systems.
This free external hard disk data recovery software is a lesser-known yet reliable tool with over two decades of data recovery experience behind it. It supports a wide range of devices and file formats, making it a useful option for recovering data from external hard drives.
Undelete 360 offers free data recovery from external hard drives, allowing you to recover and download as many files as needed, with support for various devices beyond just external drives. The application is well-developed and easy to use, despite its simple appearance.
Each of the free external drive recovery software options listed has its pros and cons, but they all provide a useful utility. Our top pick is Qiling Free Data Recovery, which offers a great combination of features and aesthetics. Ultimately, the choice of which software to try for your data recovery needs depends on your personal preferences and requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions for External Hard Drive Data Recovery
- You can try using free data recovery software such as Recuva, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, or Disk Drill to recover data from your external hard drive. These software tools can scan your drive and recover deleted or corrupted files.
- Connect the external hard drive with your computer.
- Download and install the free external hard drive data recovery on your computer.
- Launch the freeware and click the "Scan" button for the external hard drive.
- Wait for the scanning process to finish. Some freeware offers previews, like Qiling Free Data Recovery. Some do not.
- Select files and click "Recover" or "Save" to save the recovered files.
- Is there a free hard drive recovery software?
- What is the best free data recovery app?
You can recover data from an external hard drive for free with the help of free external disk recovery software. Options include freeware like Qiling Free Data Recovery, Disk Drill, Recuva, PhotoRec, and R-Studio, among others. The process of using these tools to recover files from an external hard drive is similar.
There are many free hard drive data recovery software tools available, and you can check out the top 10 options listed on the website. 10 Free Hard Drive Recovery Software is a great resource to explore.
Choosing the best free data recovery app for Windows 11, 10, 7, and Mac can be tricky, but the best one for you is the one that meets your data recovery needs. I recommend trying comprehensive software like Qiling Free Data Recovery, which offers features to recover various file types, repair corrupted files, and provides 2GB of free data recovery.
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