[2024] What is the Best Data Recovery Free Software for Windows 10?

Is there any truly free data recovery software for Windows 10?

Losing important data, whether due to hardware problems, software issues, accidental deletion, formatting, or viruses and malware, can be really troublesome. When you're facing data loss, you may sincerely hope to find a free data recovery software that can help you get all your data back quickly and without any worries.

However, is there any completely data recovery free software? When you look through the Test or Ranked posts, you might notice that many popular file recovery software brands have a free version. Yet, this free version has some limits on the size of the files you can recover without charge. For further needs, you'll have to upgrade to the premium (paid) version.

Why? Paid data recovery software typically requires costs due to substantial expenses in development, maintenance, research, security, and advanced features. Therefore, free data recovery software for Windows 10 often lacks support for intricate recovery scenarios and large file-size retrieval, and even the efficiency of data recovery.

How to select a data recovery free software for Windows 10

If you want to choose the best data recovery software for Windows 10, you should first clarify the types, file size, and degree of data loss. Especially, different types of files like videos, emails, and documents each have their own free recovery software that works best for them. But in general, you can refer to these standards:

Standards of a good data recovery tool:
✍ Support for different formats as many as possible.
✍ Works well with different OS, devices, and file systems.
✍ Easy-to-use interface with simple step-by-step instructions.
✍ Effective for various data loss scenarios.

For simple data loss scenarios, here we recommend a free tool for reference. Microsoft has launched a data recovery free software for Windows 10 specifically — Windows File Recovery. It supports common file types in your daily life, and can recover lost data from external hard drives from SSD, HDD, SD card and USB drive.

Step 1. Download Windows File Recovery from the Microsoft Store and install it with administrative privileges.

Note:

• Input the commands: winfr source-drive: destination-drive: [/mode] [/switches]
• 2 scanning modes: Default and Extensive. You can select according to your specific situation.

The Extensive mode can be further classified as two modes, Signature and Segment:
• Signature mode: you can recover all lost files under the file system using file headers.
• Segment mode:you can restore deleted files with file record staging specifically for NTFS.
• Here are some switches you can use to customize the recovery task.

• Kindly please be cautious when entering commands. Incorrect commands can result in further data loss.

Step 2. Choose the Default mode and input the command "winfr C: D: /n *.docx" to search for all DOCX files on the C drive and copy them to the D drive. Press "Y" to proceed. Please remember to replace "C:" with the source drive and "D:" with the destination drive as per your requirements.

A best data recovery tool for Windows 10/11/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP

Based on the standards of the best data recovery software above, we can find the Windows File Recovery does not work as expectations. At least, it lacks compatibility with various Windows operating systems and falls behind in user-friendliness.

Consequently, when facing intricate data loss situations, its capabilities are restricted. For such scenarios, you can seek help for AOMEI FastRecovery. This is a professional computer manager that boasts many practical functions. You can also use it to to find the causes and fix the issues that cause data loss, such as removing viruses or rebuilding MBR. In data recovery, it shows the advantages from the following aspects:

The core advantages of AOMEI FastRecovery:

User-friendly interface: Everyone can easily recover lost data with a user-friendly interface and the provided clear guidance.

Price: It provides the most cost-effective price for your computer management. For Yearly subscription is $49.95, and the Lifetime is only $59.95. It is worth noticing that Data Recovery is one of the powerful and practical features of the software. After subscribing, you can use it to extend drive space, thoroughly erase hard disk data, clone disk for backup, and so on.

Wide compatibility: Being compatible with almost all Windows versions, including 11/10/8/7 and Windows Server editions, and it supports multiple file systems like NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, and ReFS, ensuring broad device compatibility.

Versatile functionality: This tool ensures fast and dependable data recovery from most external hard drives, including HDD, SSD, USB drives, and SD cards. It can recover 200+ data types, including text, photos, videos, audio, emails, and compressed files.

Security assurance: Users can download the software without worrying about bundled software, and it guarantees a secure environment by refraining from displaying any malicious ads during usage.

Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI FastRecovery. Choose the exact partition or disk where your data lost and click Scan.

Step 2. Then, the recovery tool start to scan and search. lt will execute the “Quickly Scan" first for finding your deleted data fast, and then execute the “Deep Scan" for searching other lost data.

Step 3. Once the scan is completed, all deleted files, recycle bins and other missing files will be displayed. Please select the file you would like to recover and then click "Recover".

Step 4. Then, select a folder path to save your recovered files.

Step 5. Wait patiently for this process of recovering ends.

Conclusion

Complete data recovery free software for Windows 10 have many restrictions. For high efficiency and success data recovery, it is recommend to use AOMEI FastRecovery. This tool helps find why data was lost and prevents future losses. Moreover, it ensures compatibility across a range of Windows versions, including both earlier and later iterations if you choose the Lifetime version. Windows Server users can choose the Server Edition.