Recuva

About this release

Most data loss is not dramatic. A folder emptied from the recycle bin, a card cleared before the photos were copied off, a file saved over the wrong one. For all of those the answer is a small tool that scans quickly and returns the file, and this has been that tool for a very long time. It is a few megabytes, it runs immediately and it does not need to be configured.

A wizard handles the common cases. Pick a file type, pick where it was, scan, and the results come back with a coloured indicator showing how likely each file is to recover intact. Green files almost always open normally. Red files have been partly overwritten and usually will not. That single indicator saves an enormous amount of time compared with recovering everything and opening it one at a time.

The deep scan handles the harder cases. When the file table entry has gone entirely, it searches the whole volume for file signatures and rebuilds what it finds, which recovers a great deal more but returns generic names with no folder structure. It takes considerably longer, so the normal approach is a quick scan first and a deep scan only if the file did not appear.

Two things beyond recovery are worth knowing about. It runs from a portable folder, which matters because installing a recovery tool onto the drive you are recovering from can overwrite the very file you want. And it shreds as well as recovers, overwriting free space or specific files so that nothing can be brought back later.

What it does

Recovery confidence indicator

Each result is marked by how much of it survives, so unrecoverable files are obvious before you try.

Quick and deep scanning

A fast structure scan first, with a full signature scan of the volume when the file table entry has gone.

Wizard and advanced modes

A guided path for common cases and a full result list with filters for everything else.

Portable operation

Runs from a folder without installing, so nothing is written to the drive being recovered.

Secure deletion

Overwrite free space or specific files so that deleted data cannot be brought back.

Wide device support

Internal drives, external drives, memory cards, USB sticks and music players all scan the same way.

Changed in this version

• Faster deep scanning on high capacity drives.
• Additional file signatures recognised, including recent camera formats.
• Improved preview for image and document results.
• Better handling of very large result lists in the interface.
• Portable build updated to match the installed version.

System requirements

Install order

1. Use the portable folder rather than installing if the target drive is the system drive.
2. Stop writing to the affected drive as soon as the loss is noticed.
3. Run a quick scan first and only use the deep scan if the file did not appear.
4. Recover to a different drive than the one being scanned.

Worth knowing before you start

File details