Top 8 Free Folder Recovery Software for Windows

Folders usually contain a lot of important files. If you accidentally delete a folder, all the files inside it will be lost. However, not being able to restore the folder yourself can be frustrating. But fret not, as you can use any of the 5 best folder recovery software to restore deleted folders.

Why Can Deleted Folders Be Recovered?

When you delete a folder from your computer, its contents appear to vanish. In reality, the files aren't immediately destroyed. Windows simply marks the hard drive space as available by changing a character in the file table, so that the file entry no longer appears in My Computer or in response to the command-line DIR command. But the data area is still intact.

This is the main reason why deleted folders can be recovered. If you start to recover deleted files before Windows has written new files to that part of the hard drive, all you have to do is reset that flag to “in use,” and you have your file back. The sooner you attempt to recover a folder, the more likely it is that recovery will be successful.

Top 8 File Recovery Software Tools

To recover a deleted folder, you need to use data recovery software. It's hard to choose the right one. That's why I tested at least 10 data recovery tools. Here are the 8 best folder recovery software programs.

• Free Folder Recovery Software
• Recuva
• Wise Data Recovery
• Recover My Files
• PhotoRec
• OnTrack EasyRecovery
• Orion File Recovery
• Data Rescue

After testing dozens of folder recovery software tools, we shortlisted the 12 best ones. We then narrowed down the top-performing free folder recovery utilities to 8, based on their overall performance in terms of recovery rate under common data loss scenarios, user interface, compatibility, features, and scanning options.

Part 1: Free File Recovery Software for Windows and Mac

Free Data Recovery Software is the most effective recovery software to restore deleted Word, Excel, PowerPoint, photos, emails, databases, and all document formats and folders emptied from the Windows Recycle Bin. In addition, this efficient Data Recovery Software can also help you with the following:

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“Tools Data Recovery – I swear it's the MVP of data recovery when SD cards go sideways (totally not because I pulled them out without ejecting properly).” — dave (@ddryan) December 11, 2019

Pros:

• Straightforward 3-step recovery process
• Virus-free and no plug-ins required
• Supports over 1,000 file types
• Includes photo repair and video repair features

Disadvantages:

• A free trial with 2 GB of recovery limit.

Second Place: Recuva – Best for Quickly and Easily Recovering Deleted Files (Windows)

Another free file recovery software is Recuva, which is also completely free. I once tested it to recover deleted files from my D drive. The tool successfully recovered 100% of JPG images and most Word, Excel, and PPT files. It guides you through the data recovery process by asking you a few questions, making it more user-friendly.

Pros:

• 100% Free Data Recovery Software
• Deep Scan mode for finding hard-to-locate files
• Available in a portable version

Disadvantages:

• No preview of scan results during the process
• Lack of frequent updates

Third Place: Wise Data Recovery (for Windows Only)

I used Wise Data Recovery to test the same data loss scenario. It supports the recovery of over 1,000 file types. It can recover data from HDD, SSD, external hard drives, floppy disks, USB flash drives, memory cards, digital cameras, and other storage devices.

Pros:

• Data recovery software is free
• It can easily recover various types of files
• A portable version is available

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Fourth: Recover My Files (Windows Only)

You can use the free tool Recover My Files to recover your data. In my tests, Recover My Files was able to restore almost 80% of deleted data from these four scenarios. During testing, scanning for deleted files might take longer. Also, Recover My Files is only available for Windows, so MacOS users are out of luck.

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Pros:

Allow scanning of partition backups (image files)

You can adjust the layout of the project.

It offers advanced file-recovery features and it's free.

Disadvantages

Its data-recovery process is more complicated than that of its competitors.

#5: PhotoRec (Windows, Mac, and Linux)

I also tested PhotoRec on the same data loss scenarios. It recovers images from various digital devices and is compatible with systems like Windows, macOS, and Linux. In my tests, it took the longest to scan for deleted files in any data loss situation.

Professional Edition

• Data recovery software is free.
• The software works with multiple file formats, not just images.

The downside is that…

• Unable to restore file names and folder structure
• Tends to be more technical, making it less user-friendly

6th: OnTrack EasyRecovery

OnTrack EasyRecovery is a free file recovery software that allows you to recover up to 1 GB of data. It offers several data recovery options, such as Professional, Home, Toolbox, Technician, and Enterprise, all of which you can try for free. In addition to recovering data from hard drives, EasyRecovery can also retrieve data from cloud servers.

Pros

• Supports recovering deleted volumes.
• Supports suspension and resumption.

< strong >Disadvantages< /strong >

• Slow scanning speed.
• No portable version available.

#7 Orion File Recovery

< a href="https://www.nchsoftware.com/data-recovery/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Orion File Recovery Software is a user-friendly file recovery tool. NCH Software offers efficient software for recovering deleted folders, supporting the restoration of music, photos, documents, and other file types.

【✅ Professional】

• It is easy to use, with a user-friendly interface.
• It comes with tools for permanently erasing data.

Disadvantages

It lacks many configuration options. There's no preview option before file recovery.

#8: Data Rescue

Data Rescue enables users to recover lost, deleted, or damaged files from various storage media, including solid-state drives, USB drives, and memory cards. The software employs sophisticated algorithms to scan and retrieve data from corrupted disks and lost partitions.

Pros

• Supports RAID recovery.
• Lets you preview files before recovery.

Drawbacks

• No refund policy is offered.
• There is no trial recovery service available.

Use Free Folder Recovery Software to Retrieve Deleted Folders

In this article, I review eight free folder recovery software tools that you can use to restore missing or deleted folders. Here are the steps to recover a deleted folder using the Data Recovery Wizard tool.

Step 1: Select the folder to scan for lost files

Launch the Data Recovery Wizard. Under “Select Location,” choose “Select Folder.” Click “Browse,” choose the location where the folder was lost, and then click “OK” to scan.

Select the folder to scan

Step 2: Look for and preview the found files in the Lost Folder

If you can remember the folder name, type it into the search box to quickly locate the missing files. Then, open the found folder and double-click to preview the scanned files. Alternatively, you can use the "Filter" feature to look for a specific type of file.

Step 3: Recover and save the lost folder

Finally, select the folders and files you need and click “Recover” to choose a new secure location on your computer to save the recovered data.

In sum

Tool Data Recovery Wizard can easily restore lost files, photos, documents, videos, and more from situations like accidental deletion, wrong formatting, missing partitions, OS crashes, or virus attacks. You should also take preventive measures to avoid data loss, such as regularly creating backups and avoiding actions that may lead to data loss. Share this article to raise awareness among more people.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Folder Recovery Software

After the recommendation, here are some frequently asked questions. You can read the answers below to learn more:

1. How to restore folder structure on a formatted hard drive?

Essentially, you have three ways to recover folder structure from formatted HDD:

1. Utilize the Windows Backup and Restore option. With this handy feature, you can easily restore all your files. 2. Employ a third-party data recovery program such as tools Data Recovery Wizard. This software will assist you in retrieving files from a formatted hard drive. 3. If you're unable to recover any useful data on your own, it's time to seek professional help. Visit a repair shop to have your important files recovered.

**How to recover data from a specific folder?**

Restoring data from a specific folder is easy. You just need to download a reliable recovery tool. You might want to try the Data Recovery Wizard utility:

1. Scan a specific folder or hard drive to find lost files.
2. Scroll down through the results to locate the desired file.
3. Preview the file and proceed with recovery.

3. Is Tool Data Recovery Wizard free?

The tool's Data Recovery Wizard is free to download, and you get 2GB of free recovery space. If you need to recover more than 2GB of files, you can pay for the pro version.

4. Which is the best file recovery software?

Here are five of the best folder recovery software tools we recommend:

• Free File Recovery Software
• Recuva
• Wise Data Recovery
• Recover My Files
• PhotoRec
• OnTrack EasyRecovery
• Orion File Recovery
• Data Rescue