I’ve reviewed the best data recovery software you can buy, which often require a costly subscription. However, there are some very good free apps that can help restore your missing files or photos.
CCleaner’s Recuva and DMDE are among the best free data recovery apps that let you preview and restore a wide variety of files at no cost. I’ll focus on the free versions, but also cover the more powerful paid apps.
Specs
| Recuva | DMDE | |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Devices | unlimited (Free), 3 (Professional) | unlimited (Free), 1 (Express, Standard), plus 5 monthly (Professional) |
| Support | ||
| Free version? | Yes | Yes |
Pricing tiers
Recuva is a full-featured free data recovery app with only minor limitations. There’s no customer service for free users. The app can’t read virtual drives and you have to check for updates manually.
Beyond that, you can use Recuva for free for as long as you like on any Windows computer. There’s not a macOS or Linux version of Recuva and it doesn’t work on mobile devices.
Leading solutions like Stellar Data Recovery restrict free file restoration to 1 GB, which might be enough for lots of documents and several photos. However, the free version might not retrieve all your photos and videos since they take up more space.
For $25 annually, you can install Recuva Professional on up to three computers and contact support for technical assistance. If you’re unfamiliar with data recovery software and drive technology and formats, technical support could be very important.
DMDE also has a free version that’s just as powerful as the paid app. However, it does have some restrictions. You can restore one folder and 4,000 files at a time.
Unless you dump all you photos and videos in a single folder or store a huge number of files in one place, you’ll need the paid version. Since only one folder can be restored with the free app, you’ll probably need multiple scans to get back missing files.
An annual subscription to DMDE Express costs $20. There’s also a lifetime plan call DMDE Standard that costs just $48. If you subscribe to DMDE Express for more than two years, DMDE Standard is a better bargain.
DMDE also has professional plans, starting at $95, that let you install the app on more computers.
Features
Recuva has a wizard to guide you through data recovery. You select the type of files to restore, but the option of all files seems to make the most sense. Then you get to choose the drive or let the app scan all drives. That can take a long time, so it’s best to select the drive you suspect has missing files.
When you start a scan, the app immediately starts listing files that Windows File Explorer won’t show. As the scan continues, more details appear including filename, the folder it’s in, the modification date, size, and more.
Recuva also estimates the recoverability of each file and optionally shows a preview. Those are the most valuable details. If image previews look correct and files are rated with excellent recoverability, the app should be able to restore them.
In my review of Recuva Professional, I found it to be useful in recovering data from my external hard disk drive (HDD) and my thumb drive. It found 158 of 163 files in the HDD test, which is good, but not great.
DMDE is easy to get started with, but some features can be a little confusing. It’s a much more technical app with powerful and dangerous features like disk editing. It’s wise to make sure you understand what will happen before making a change.
Basic operation is straightforward. You select a drive, start a scan, and watch the file list appear. DMDE shows the folders in a left sidebar and files to the right. It fills in the filename, size, modification date, and shows an optional preview.
The preview is important since DMDE doesn’t give a recoverability estimate. In my review, DMDE Free restored all 55 files in my folder, but none of the images in subfolders. I’d need the paid version to get everything in one pass.
As a workaround, I switched to raw recovery, which ignores my folder structure and groups restored files by type. With this trick, I got 162 of 165 files, but with randomly generated numeric filenames.
The paid version of DMDE managed to restore all my HDD files, but the first letter of each folder was replaced with an underscore “_” symbol.
Solid-state drive (SSD) recovery is almost impossible and neither app could restore a single file in these tests. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro is only app I’ve tested that has successfully undeleted SSD files, which might have been due to lucky timing.
Support
Recuva has a very limited help center and only offers email support to subscribers. The app has been around for decades, so your best bet is a web search if you need help with the free version.
DMDE doesn’t restrict help to paying customers, giving it an edge against Recuva. Support is via email, so it could take up to 24 hours to get a reply. DMDE’s resource center features tutorials, a manual, and an FAQ so you can get answers faster.
Popular data recovery apps like Disk Drill Pro offer live chat support, but cost more.
Privacy and security
There’s no need to upload data to recover files, so your files will remain private. However, if you email support or subscribe, your email address and financial information will be on record. That means cybersecurity is worth considering.
I couldn’t find any record of a data breach at DMDE, but the developer of Recuva, CCleaner has had some issues. CCleaner has been hit by three major data breaches, one as recent as 2023.
Which data recovery app is right for you?
The free versions of Recuva and DMDE are both effective with HDD file recovery. While DMDE restored more data in my tests, it requires multiple passes to get back folders. Recuva is easier to use, but couldn’t find as many missing files.
While you could download and run both, HDD scans can be time-consuming, so it’s better to pick one. If you absolutely can’t pay to restore missing files, Recuva has the better free app.
However, DMDE’s $20 and Recuva’s $25 annual subscription prices are incredibly affordable. If you’re going to the trouble of scanning and restoring files, it’s worth saving yourself time and effort at such a low cost.
If your photos, videos, documents, and other files are worth $20, I’d recommend DMDE Express over Recuva Professional. If you anticipate needing to recover files in the future, a one-time purchase of DMDE Standard costs just $48 to use it on your Windows PC, Mac, or Linux computer forever.
That’s why DMDE is high on our list of the best data recovery software. If you need to restore data lost on mobile devices, check out our guides to the best iPhone data recovery apps and Android data recovery apps.
