Top 10 Free Photo Recovery Software - Recover Lost Photos Easily
Quick Navigation of Top 10+ Best Free Photo Recovery Software
If you lost your photos, images, or pictures on a memory card, hard drive, SD card, or digital camera, use the reliable and best free photo recovery software. Photo recovery software is able to recover your deleted or lost pictures. The only thing you need to do is to get the right photo recovery software to perform the recovery photo process. We have tested 30+ photo recovery software. Here is the list of the best ones that stand out.
- 1. Deep Data Recovery
- 2. Stellar Data Recovery
- 3. Recover My Files
- 4. Recuva
- 5. Disk Drill
- 6. PhotoRec
- 7. Remo Recover
- 8. R-Studio
- 9. Acronis Revive
- 10. Puran Data Recovery
Why It's Possible to Recover Photos
Here is the explanation. When files are deleted from the computer, their directories disappeared for the moment. However, their contents weren't immediately destroyed. Windows simply marks the hard drive space as being available for use by changing one character in the file table. The file entry won't be displayed in My Computer or a command line DIR command, etc. Hence, If your photos have been accidentally formatted, don't be panic. Formatting a partition only erases the address table, not the data itself. There is still a chance to do a recuperation from a formatted partition with such a recovery tool.
In addition, if hard drives or partitions have disappeared, the data area would not be erased. It's still possible to use the same method to do photo recovery from a lost or deleted partition. With the help of free and easy data recovery software, you can recover essential images without any technical knowledge.
Top 1. Best Photo Recovery Software - Deep Data Recovery
Are you looking for a tool to recover deleted photos? Qiling free file recovery software can help. It recovers photos lost due to various reasons. Did your corrupted devices make the last shooting session inaccessible? Did your formatted SD card have plenty of pictures? Relax! Qiling can help. Here's why you should choose this data recovery software:
- It can recover images after deletion, formatting, OS crash, or device corruption.
- This software restores more than 1000 types of files.
- It supports recovering data from a digital camera, memory card, computer hard drive, USB, and more.
Qiling has over 72 million happy users and has received many favorable comments.
| Supported OS | Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP, Windows Server, and macOS 10.9+ |
| Supported Image Types | PG/JPEG, TIFF/TIF, PNG, BMP, GIF, PSD, CRW, CR2, NEF, ORF, SR2, MRW, DCR, WMF, RAW, SWF, SVG, RAF, DNG, etc. |
| Ease of Use | Very easy to use |
Pros:
- It supports sorting photos by category (people/animals/buildings/others).
- You can search for deleted/lost photos by extension or name.
- This software allows identifying the source device of deleted/lost photos/videos.
- It only takes three steps to recover lost photos.
Cons:
- The free version allows you to recover up to 2GB of data. If you have more data, you need to upgrade to the pro version.
User Guide - How to Recover Deleted Photos with Qiling
Qiling photo recovery software is the easiest and most effective way to recover deleted photos on a computer. Download this excellent data recovery software and follow the video or step-by-step guide below to get back lost photos or images.
Photo recovery software free download:
Step 1. Select file types
Select file types, then click "Next" to start.
Step 1. Choose the location and start scanning
Hover on the SD card, camera, or hard drive partition where you deleted/lost pictures, then click "Scan".
Step 2. Select the pictures you want to recover
Once the scanning completes, select "Pictures" in the left panel. If you want to locate the lost photos, click "Lost" on the top list. Then, you can find photos according to the devices, types, and dates.
Step 3. Recover lost photos
After the preview, click "Recover" and choose another location to save the desired pictures.
Top 2. Stellar Photo Recovery
Stellar Photo Recovery recovers photos, videos, and audio files lost due to deletion, corruption, formatting, virus, inaccessible drives, etc. The preview ability of Stellar Photo Recovery makes the program stand out, as it allows you to preview audio files before they are recovered.
| Supported OS | Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP and macOS |
| Supported Image Types | CR2/CRW, RAF, K25/KDC/DCR, MRW, MOS, MEF, NEF, NRW, ORF, TGA, JPEG, TIFF, BMP, GIF, PNG, PSD, INDD, PSP, PCT, and JP2. |
| Ease of Use | Easy to use |
Pros:
- It has a clear interface and a simple recovery guide.
- This photo recovery software supports scanning a specific folder and searching for files from the scan results.
- It takes four steps to recover lost photos from any device.
Cons:
- The scanning of RAW format recovery needs improving
Top 3. Recover My Files
This is one of the best DIY-free photo recovery software for Windows users. This software enables users to restore photos from a hard drive, SD card, USB zip drives, floppy disk, iPod, and more. It performs well in Recycle Bin recovery, formatted data recovery, OS reinstallation recovery, RAW partition recovery, and more.
| Supported OS | Windows only |
| Supported Image Types | JPEG, TIF, TIFF, GIF, BMP, PNG, WMF, and more |
| Ease of Use | Easy to use |
Pros:
- Conventional storage devices like hard drives, SD cards, USBs, and iDevices like an iPod are supported.
- The software supports scanning the backup (image file) of a partition.
- You can sort files by date.
Cons:
- Old-fashioned software interface
Top 4. Recuva
This free photo recovery software can recover files that have been permanently deleted and marked as free space by the operating system. Recuva recovers files from your Windows computer, Recycle Bin, digital camera card, or MP3 player easily and quickly.
| Supported OS | Windows only |
| Supported Image Types | JJPG, JPEG, TIF, TIFF, GIF, BMP, PNG, WMF, and more |
| Ease of Use | Simple to use |
Pros:
- This software works well in JPG file recovery.
- It has excellent privacy protection and removes tracking files.
- It has a Preview screen before final recovery.
Cons:
- The free version has limited features
- There's no support for the free version
Top 5. Disk Drill
There are countless ways to lose your data. Power failure, failed boot drives, partition damage, an accidentally emptied Recycle Bin, or a virus attack. But, you can get lost data or pictures back with the help of Disk Drill. It is a professional data recovery program that ranks high in the information technology industry. It works well on Windows computers and performs even better on Mac.
| Supported OS | Windows and macOS |
| Supported Image Types | PTIF, TIFF, JPG, JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNG, WMF, and more |
| Ease of Use | Easy to use |
Pros:
- Has auxiliary features like data protection and backup drive
- Organizes files found by category
- Filters the results by size and data
Cons:
- Only free for 500MB
- The scanning takes too long compared to the previous equivalents and the files found are fewer.
Top 6. PhotoRec
PhotoRec is a free and open-source program that works very well in data recovery on older operating systems like OS X, Linux, Free BSD, Net BSD, Open BSD, and Windows. It can retrieve data even when the file system has been corrupted.
| Supported OS | Windows/macOS/Linux |
| Supported Image Types | Commonly used photo formats |
| Ease of Use | Hard for beginners |
Pros:
- It supports data recovery cross-platform---Mac OS X, Windows, Linux, etc.
- It can restore data on most devices.
- This software works for many file formats and not just images.
Cons:
- Recovers many files but not all
- Slightly complicated usage instructions
Top 7. Remo Recover
This photo recovery software offers a complete file repair solution and data recovery for every scenario. It thoroughly scans your drives and locates deleted files and folders, which can then be saved at any location of choice.
| Supported OS | Windows and macOS |
| Supported Image Types | Commonly used photo formats |
| Ease of Use | Easy to use |
Pros:
- It has a high recovery rate for production images
Cons:
- It failed to recover any of the camera raw images during the reformatted drive test.
Top 8. R-Studio
Equipped with the new unique data recovery technologies, R-STUDIO is the most comprehensive data recovery solution to recover files from NTFS, NTFS5, ReFS, FAT12/16/32, exFAT, HFS/HFS+, and APFS (Macintosh). This software works well in recovering data from various real-life data loss situations.
| Supported OS | Windows, macOS, and Linux |
| Supported Image Types | Nearly all file types |
| Ease of Use | Easy to use |
Pros:
- Enables data recovery from various data loss situations.
- Exclusively supports data recovery from network drives.
- Allows to create image files and recover files from image files.
- It only takes five steps to get back lost pictures.
Cons:
- It has an old-fashioned and relatively complex interface.
- It takes a long time for a simple scan.
Top 9. Acronis Revive
Acronis also provides us with data recovery software. Acronis Revive can recover files that are accidentally deleted or prematurely removed. Whether the file was trashed by accident, lifted by a virus, or was intentionally deleted and needed later, this powerful utility can help bring it back to life. (Note: The company has now removed the software, you cannot use this tool.)
| Supported OS | Windows only |
| Supported Image Types | Commonly used photo formats |
| Ease of Use | Hard to use |
Pros:
- Intuitive wizard-style interface
- Recognizes localized file names
- Supports dynamic disks
- Creates an image file
Cons:
- It can only find and view deleted files with the free version; you must upgrade to the paid one to recover photos
Top 10. Puran Data Recovery
Puran Data Recovery is another photo recovery software worth trying. It can recover deleted photos (and videos and audio) from both computer hard drives and portable storage devices. No matter how you lost your images, you can use this software.
| Supported OS | Windows only |
| Supported Image Types | Commonly used photo formats |
| Ease of Use | Easy to use |
Pros:
- Copy entire drives or individual files and folders
- Drag and drop is supported
- Different speed levels included
Cons:
- You cannot preview the result
- You cannot filter the files you want to recover
Which One Is the Best for Me
How to tell which is the best software for you from the top 10 photo recovery software listed above? We analyzed from three different criteria, i.e. scanning time found files and file size. You can find out more about free photo recovery software with this table:
| Product Name | Recover My Files | Recuva | Disk Drill | Stellar Data Recovery | Deep Data Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scanning Time | 1h | > 1h | > 1h | 37min | 27min |
| Files Found | 321,297 files | 111,213 files | 2,254 files | 414,170 files | 784,741 files |
| File Size | 13.80GB | no size is shown | 1.92GB | 19.84GB | 38.53GB |
Other Photo Recovery Solutions (Android or iPhone)
What if you lost photos on your smartphone? What can you do to restore lost photos from your phones easily? No matter if you are using an Android phone or iPhone, Qiling can help you out. We have products to bring back pictures from cell phones.
For Android Users:
If you want to directly recover lost Android photos, videos, or other data on the phone without using a computer, the best Android data recovery app - Qiling MobiSaver for Android can help you.
More details: Recover Deleted or Lost Android Photos.
For iPhone Users: Recover Deleted or Lost iPhone Photos
If you want to retrieve iPhone photos, we can also help you. Qiling MobiSaver is a tool that completely fits your need of recovering lost photos from an iPhone, iPad, or iPod. All you have to do is download it and follow the instructions.
Detailed guides are given below.
Step 1. Connect iPhone to Your PC
Launch Qiling MobiSaver, choose "Recover from iOS Device" on the left, and click "Start".
Step 2. Scan for Lost iPhone Photos
Qiling MobiSaver will automatically scan iPhone 13/12/11/X/XR/XS/8/7/6/5/4, and find present pictures and even some lost photos for you.
Step 3. Preview and Restore Photos
Tick the "Photos" on the left. You can clearly see the photos in your phone and select the ones you need to recover. Choose "Recover to PC" or "Recover to Device" to start recovering photos.
Conclusion
Do not worry if you have lost precious photos from your desktop, Mac, iPhone, or Android. There is always a solution for you to get back lost or deleted pictures from any device. Qiling free photo recovery software can help you out in your situation. The sooner you use it, the higher the chance you will get your files back.
People Also Ask These Questions About Photo Recovery
Find reliable photo recovery software to recover photos and videos from an SD card, iPhone, or Android. Whenever you are faced with an image loss issue, tackle it with the following FAQs:
1. How do I recover photos?
To restore photos on your PC:
Step 1. Launch Deep Data Recovery, hover over the partition or storage device where you deleted photos and click Scan.
Step 2. Wait until the scan finishes. Then, select the deleted photos you want to recover. To locate the target photos faster, click Filter and select Pictures.
Step 3. Click Recover and choose a location on another hard drive to save the photos.
2. Which is the best photo recovery software?
Best Photo Recovery Software in 2020 - Our Picks:
- Deep Data Recovery
- Stellar Data Recovery
- Recover My Files
- Recuva
- Disk Drill
- PhotoRec
- Remo Recover
- R-Studio
- Acronis Revive
- Puran Data Recovery
Among these, Qiling free photo recovery software stands out due to its compatibility and excellence. The software can recover all kinds of multimedia files, including raster, vector, RAW camera files, videos, and audio files.
3. Can you recover deleted pictures from your phone?
If you want to recover lost Android photos, videos, or other data on the phone without using a computer, the best Android data recovery app - Qiling MobiSaver for Android can help. Full guide>>
Also, if you want to retrieve iPhone photos, we can also help. Qiling MobiSaver is a tool that completely fits your need of recovering lost photos from an iPhone, iPad, or iPod. All you have to do is download it and follow the details. Full guide>>
4. Can I recover deleted photos from a digital camera?
Yes, you can recover deleted photos from any brand of digital camera like Nikon, Sony, Canon, Samsung, etc., by using free photo recovery software.
Step 1. Choose the location and start scanning.
Step 2. Select the photos you want to recover.
Step 3. Recover the deleted photos.
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