Top 10 Best Free Video Recovery Software Downloads Recommended (for PC)

Losing data can be stressful, especially when it's important video files that hold precious memories. If you find yourself in this situation, don't worry. This article lists ten free video recovery software options for PC to help you out.

How to Recover Deleted Videos in Windows 10?

Video recovery software can help you retrieve personal or business videos. We often accidentally delete video files and are unable to locate them. At times, virus or malware attacks may also hide our files. Video recovery software addresses these issues and makes our lives more convenient. Even without backups, we can still recover lost videos.

The software should have features that anyone can understand. Additionally, it should save you time and effort. The Data Recovery Wizard tool is a good example of this.

The software will help you recover lost video files with just a few simple steps. Follow the steps below to restore deleted videos in Windows.

Step 1: Download and install the Data Recovery Wizard for free, and then select the location or device where your lost videos were stored. Click on “Scan” to retrieve your lost videos.

Step 2: After the scan, choose "Video" from the sidebar on the left. Go to "Deleted" or "All Files" to find the video you want. Check the video you found and hit "Preview".

Step 3. Choose the video files you want to recover. Click “Restore” to save them to a different secure location on your computer or an external storage device.

Criteria for Choosing Video Recovery Software

Choosing the right video recovery solution from a sea of utilities is a time-consuming task. You might be skeptical about its effectiveness until you use it yourself or someone you know vouches for it after successfully recovering permanently deleted videos with it. A randomly chosen tool can turn out to be vulnerable and fail to deliver on its recovery promises, resulting in disastrous outcomes.

To assist you in making an informed decision, we've outlined some criteria to consider when choosing video recovery software. These standards will help you understand how to select the best video recovery tool. Let's discuss them:

• User-friendly navigation
• ✅ Compatibility with Windows or Mac versions
• Corrupted file recovery
• Location scanning

Top 10 Best Video Recovery Software [Free]

There are many video recovery software options available online, but they might not be secure, adequate for your needs, or come with hefty price tags. So, the question is, which one should you choose? To save you time and money, we've compiled a list of the top 10 best software options, all of which offer free versions. Please note that each software on this list has its pros and cons. It's advisable to review their specific features and select the one that best aligns with your requirements.

After narrowing down dozens of video recovery software to just 20, we tested them. Based on their overall performance in terms of recovery rate in common data loss scenarios, user-friendliness, compatibility, features, and scan options, we further reduced the best free video recovery tools to just 10.

Here's a list of the top 10 video recovery software:

1. 1. Tool Data Recovery Wizard Free Edition 2. 2. Stellar Photo Recovery 3. 3. Recuva 4. 4. Disk Drill Data Recovery 5. 5. Disk Doctor Photo Recovery 6. 6. Remo Recover Media 7. 7. DMDE Free Edition 8. 8. TestDisk 9. 9. Puran File Recovery 10. 10. DiskDigger

1. Tool: Data Recovery Wizard Free - Highly Recommended

We highly recommend using the free Data Recovery Wizard, which has a high success rate. This software easily retrieves your videos from desktops and laptops in three simple steps: Select > Scan > Recover. It can restore your media files whether they were stored on a memory card, an SD card, or any other external device.

• Efficiently recovers lost or deleted files, documents, photos, audio, music, and emails
• Restore deleted videos from hard drives, emptied Recycle Bins, memory cards, flash drives, digital cameras, and camcorders
• Supports video recovery in various scenarios, such as accidental deletion, formatting, hard drive failure, virus attacks, and system crashes
• General requirements for 3DS

The software offers a range of data recovery processes, from simple to complex, to address various data loss scenarios. These files could be photos, videos, or simple text documents. The Data Recovery Wizard Free tool employs advanced technology to quickly and successfully restore all lost data on Windows computers.

Filter Options:  It can be difficult to find the required file from hundreds of files. Thus, the software introduces filter options. You can search for the desired file and recover it.

System Compatibility: The tool works well with both Windows and Mac computers to retrieve deleted videos from Android.

Video formats: Supports MP4 and MOV videos, as well as JPG and JPEG images.

Free Limit: The free version allows users to recover up to 2 GB of data for free.

Advantages:

- User-friendly design for ease of use - File recovery in just 3 simple steps - Supports both Windows and Mac users - Accommodates various file extensions - Preview files before data recovery - Ability to pause or stop the scanning process anytime during the scan

Disadvantages:

• The free version only allows for a 2GB file size limit
• Data recovery results may not always be ideal

Sharing the software on Facebook or Twitter bumps up the storage limit to 2GB.

I accidentally deleted the super cool and fun character transformation file I was working on for Patreon... ?? ?? (Curled up in a ball) — Black Lives Matter (@ArtByHornbuckle) January 6, 2023

Verdict:

Data Recovery Wizard Free boasts a user-friendly interface and supports a variety of file extensions. Highly recommended for its unique features, this software stands out with its advanced scanning process, filtering options, and preview capabilities, making it ideal for video recovery. Additionally, this serial data recovery tool can also help you retrieve deleted videos from your iPhone.

Overall, the software saves time and effort and streamlines your processes.

2. Recovery of Starlight Photography

Stellar Photo Recovery is an all-rounded professional tool that recovers deleted media files from all storage devices. The software retrieves videos and data from cameras and formatted/damaged memory cards. It helps you recover data from DSLR cameras, Android devices, iPhones, Macs, and SD cards.

System Compatibility: The software is compatible with Windows (7, 8.1, 10, and 11) and macOS operating systems.

Video formats: Supports Matroska video files (MKV), MP4, AVI, 3GP, and many others.

Free quota: The free version lets you recover up to 1 GB of data.

Advantages:

• User-friendly interface
• Recovers an unlimited number of videos quickly
• Helps restore videos with their original file names

Drawback:

• Slow scanning speed, especially when dealing with complex scan settings
• Limited scanning options

Verdict:

Stellar Photo Recovery is geared towards users who work with various storage media and multiple video file extensions. However, its slower scanning speed might not suit those who need to recover large volumes of data, as it can take a considerable amount of time. It's an ideal tool for recovering smaller videos, but for larger ones, it's not the recommended choice.

3. Recuva

Recuva is a free Windows utility that can help you recover audio files, videos, and photos. It can assist in retrieving important files and videos from your Windows system, even if they were accidentally deleted or have been missing for a while. It can also help if you've deleted the files from the Recycle Bin!

System Compatibility: The software works only with Windows.

Video formats: It plays all video formats.

Free version limitations: The free version of Recuva lets you scan and recover deleted files without limits. However, for better recovery results, you'll need to purchase the pro version.

Advantages:

• Recover data quickly from damaged or formatted drives
• Complete most complex scanning tasks in a short amount of time
• Advanced scanning process to search for files deleted a long time ago

Disadvantages:

• The free version sometimes fails to recover complex files
• The software can be unfriendly to beginners due to its ability to overwrite files

Final Verdict:

Recuva is a useful and professional tool, and the free version offers recovery options that many other free recovery tools lack. Though efficient, it cannot guarantee the complete restoration of all lost or deleted data. Because of its complicated user interface, we don't recommend this tool.

4. Hard Drive Drill Data Recovery

Disk Drill Data Recovery can restore any type of lost file from your Windows computer, including audio files, documents, video files, photos, and even damaged or lost drives. It comes with a free version that allows you to recover deleted files with just a few clicks from your hard drive, USB drive, SD/CF card, digital camera, or any storage device.

Software Compatibility: The software is compatible with Windows (11, 10, 8, 7) and macOS operating systems.

Video formats: Supports videos in MPG, WMV, AVI, FLV, and MP4 formats. Also supports various audio, image, and document formats.

Free version: The software is also available for free, with a limit of 500 MB of recovered data.

Advantages:

• It has a simple and user-friendly interface
• It can recover data from various file formats (audio, documents, archives)
• It offers a preview option before recovery
• It can restore files deleted from the recycle bin
• Data can be recovered even when the memory card is damaged

Drawback:

• Limited support for video file formats
• There's a risk of overwriting some files during recovery
• Scan results don't display file quality or health status

Verdict:

Disk Drill Data Recovery is a safe software with a user-friendly interface and a straightforward recovery process. However, it may not be the best option for users with heavily damaged disks or a variety of file types, due to limitations in the free version. It's also not recommended for beginners, as it might overwrite some of your essential files.

5. Hard Drive Doctor Photo Recovery

If you accidentally delete or lose media files from your camera, iPod, or smartphone, Disk Doctor Photo Recovery is the software for you. The program offers a simple, quick, secure, and powerful interface to restore lost images, audio files, and video files. It can even recover data from memory cards that show up as "unformatted/unallocated."

System Compatibility: Disk Doctor Photo Recovery software works only on Windows.

Video formats: Supports video files in AVI, MP4, MOV, and MPG formats.

Limits for the free version: The trial can recover up to 500 MB of data.

Advantages:

• User-friendly interface for ease of use
• Powerful deep search algorithm
• No harm to existing files

Disadvantages:

Scanning might take some extra time.

Verdict:

The software is easy to use, but it supports a very limited range of formats for recovery. Also, if you use only the free version, you can recover very little. This isn't a good choice for video recovery, as the free version recovers only a couple of tiny videos.

6. Remo Recover Media Recovery

< a href="https://www.remosoftware.com/remo-recover-windows" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Remo Recover Media is a practical tool that can recover deleted or lost files, folders, and partitions from both Windows and Mac systems. It also aids in retrieving data from damaged hard drives. Additionally, it features a dual scan mode to enhance the speed of data recovery.

System Compatibility: The program works on both Windows and Mac operating systems.

Video formats: It supports over 300 video and photo formats. Specifically, it works with MP4, MPG, AVI, and 3GP, among others.

Free Limitation: Remo Recover Windows Free edition allows you to save only 1 GB of recovered data.

Advantages:

• User-friendly graphical interface
• Data recovery support for ExFAT, FAT32, FAT16, NTFS, and NTFS5 file systems
• Data recovery from both Mac and Windows operating systems
• Dual scan modes for enhanced speed and more accurate results

Disadvantages:

• Scanning takes longer for high-density drives
• If you lose data after saving a recovery session, you won't be able to use that session to restore it
• Preview options are available only for image files and not for other file types

Verdict:

This is one of the best video recovery tools because it is a dedicated software designed to support all kinds of file extensions. It's ideal if you want a quick recovery, but its free version has limited features, and you can't preview videos before restoring them.

Moreover, if you lose data during the recovery process, you cannot retrieve it in the same session, which can be a time-consuming process. Hence, if you wish to recover photos but not videos, it is recommended that you use this software.

7. DMDE Free Edition

DMDE Free Edition can help you recover files lost from your hard drive due to accidental deletion, hardware failure, virus attacks, or other disasters. It's very user-friendly and has a higher success rate than many other available alternatives.

Figure 1. Main window of DMDE data recovery software

System Compatibility: This software works only on Windows.

Video Format: It can recover all kinds of hard drive data. It supports all formats.

Limits for the free version: With the free version, you can recover up to 4,000 items at a time.

Advantages:

• High recovery success rate
• Low-level disk editing capabilities
• Installable on multiple devices with the same user credentials

Drawback:

• Can only recover files within the current directory
• Trial version supports recovery of up to 4,000 files only

Verdict:

DMDE is a portable application that can run directly from a USB flash drive, so you don't have to worry about accidentally overwriting the data you want to recover. The software wasn't designed specifically for video recovery; its main purpose is to search, edit, and recover data in NTFS and FAT12/16 formats. The free version is only for personal use, and if you need to recover a lot of data, it's not recommended, as you'll need to purchase the full version.

8. TestDisk

TestDisk is a powerful free data recovery program! When it was released, its main purpose wasn't to recover media, but to recover lost partitions and boot sectors from hard disks and other storage devices that wouldn't start up. The software is a bit technical, so some expertise is required to use it to recover data. It can also restore the NTFS boot sector from a backup.

System Compatibility: TestDisk runs on Windows, DOS, Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, SunOS, and MacOS X.

Video Format: The tool can recover the entire partition. Hence, all formats of media can be retrieved.

Free to Use: The app is free for anyone to download and use.

Advantages:

• A customizable open-source application on demand
• No version limitations, with unlimited data recovery
• Rebuilds the boot sector

Drawback:

• It lacks a user-friendly interface. Monotonous and without animations, most users prefer such elements.
• It can only be run within a command prompt window.
• It's difficult to use.

Verdict:

TestDisk is a live recovery utility for those familiar with such technicalities. Due to the lack of a user-friendly interface, this tool might not be recommended for some. Additionally, the software can recover entire partitions/drives, not just single media or files. Hence, it's advisable to use it only when you want to recover an entire hard disk. Also, you can't preview files. If you're not tech-savvy, you might want to explore other options.

9. Puran Data Recovery

Puran Data Recovery is a free program that will try to recover as much data as possible from damaged media, such as scratched CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray discs, broken USB flash drives, memory cards, and the like. The interface is straightforward, and you can have your files back from a damaged device in just a few minutes.

System Compatibility: The software is compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 2003, 2007, 2008, and 2010, including 64-bit versions.

Video Formats: Any format that the software can detect can be recovered.

Free Limitations: This software is free to use, no demo restrictions.

Advantages:

• User-friendly interface
• Data recovery from damaged devices
• CUSTOMIZABLE scan lists
• Decent scanning speed

Disadvantages:

• Lower data recovery rate
• Slower deep scan speed
• Files are not displayed in real-time during scanning
• Has not been updated since 2016

Verdict:

Puran Data Recovery works simply: while copying data from a file, it ignores any bad sectors it encounters and continues copying until the end of the file. This way, data is recovered in the best possible state. If you want to recover data from a CD, DVD, or memory card, this tool is recommended, as it easily recovers files from damaged external drives.

10. DiskDigger

DiskDigger is a program that can recover deleted files from your hard drive, memory card, USB flash drive, and other storage devices. It's one of the best video recovery tools out there. Whether you accidentally deleted an important file or photo from your computer, reformatted your camera's memory card, or want to look at files on an old USB device, DiskDigger has you covered.

System Compatibility: The program works on both Windows and Linux systems.

Video formats: Supports MP4, FLV, AVI, MPEG, and more.

Limited in the free version: Photos only can be recovered.

Advantages:

• User-friendly interface
• Quicks scan process
• Preview of recoverable files in list or thumbnail view

Drawback:

• Deep scanning requires a significant amount of time to retrieve data
• The success rate of data recovery is not particularly high
• It may not yield satisfactory results if the videos have been lost for a long time or are severely damaged

Verdict:

DiskDigger is a popular data recovery tool for all versions of Windows. It can recover video files and other lost or deleted data. It has a user-friendly interface that lets you choose which location to scan. However, the free version doesn't support video recovery, so it's not recommended if you're looking to recover videos.

What is the best free video recovery software?

When looking for the best free video recovery software, consider the following factors to determine the top choice: 1. **Compatibility**: Ensure the software supports the type of device from which you want to recover videos, such as hard drives, SD cards, USB drives, or smartphones. 2. **Ease of Use**: The ideal software should have an intuitive user interface that non-technical users can navigate easily. 3. **Format Support**: Check if the software can recover various video formats like MP4, AVI, MOV, and others. 4. **Scanning Speed and Depth**: Quick scanning saves time, while deep scanning might uncover more lost files. 5. **Preview Functionality**: The ability to preview videos before recovery helps confirm whether they can be salvaged. 6. **Safety**: The software should not harm your device or data and ensure a secure recovery process. 7. **Technical Support**: Good customer service and technical support are crucial for addressing any issues. Here are some free video recovery software options to consider: - **Recuva**: Developed by CCleaner, supports multiple file types and devices. - **tools Data Recovery Wizard Free**: Offers 500 MB of free recovery, suitable for small-scale recovery needs. - **Disk Drill**: Features powerful scanning capabilities and a user-friendly interface. - **TestDisk & PhotoRec**: Open-source tools for advanced users, which may require some technical knowledge. - **Stellar Data Recovery**: Provides a free version for scanning and previewing videos, but full recovery may require a paid edition. Keep in mind that while these software options may be free, they might have file size limitations or offer restricted functionality. For critical data, investing in a reliable professional version might be more advisable. Always back up your data before using any recovery tool to prevent further loss.

Above, we have mentioned the top 10 best video recovery software for Windows and other operating systems. However, to make it easier for you, we have further compared the top three software based on their unique features.

Let's look at these, and then you can decide which software is right for you.

Conclusions

There are many best video recovery tools available in the market, most of which we have explained above. However, you should choose them depending on their features, price, and whether they meet your requirements or not. It's better to try the demo version first. Go for the professional version if needed. Share the software on Facebook or Twitter to know more.