MyRecover
Top 7 USB Recovery Software [Free & Paid]
Need USB recovery software to recover flash drive files? Refer to this article and check the detailed reviews, pros, cons, prices, and other info.
By Lora / Updated on April 2, 2024
What is the Best Flash Drive Recovery Software?
Data loss from USB is never a rare problem that users will meet since USB storage devices are widely used in people’s everyday life.
The USB file loss severity varies from mild to intense. Some users may even have to send the flash drive to data recovery services in the lab and pay an exorbitant fee for recovery after deadly physical damage to the drive.
However, most of the users are bothered by logical data loss like deletion, formatting of the USB, viruses, etc.
In this case, a simpler and more efficient way for USB data recovery is using professional flash drive recovery software. Thus, you just need a few clicks to save the previous data.
This evaluation article gathers 7 eligible tools to help you. With the help of these apps, it will be an easy task to recover deleted files from USB flash drives. Check out the following parts.
Ranking & navigation >>
What is considered during the USB recovery tool evaluation?
The apps chosen here are all based on our evaluation criteria.
- Competence. A good tool should be capable of recovering multiple types of data under different data loss situations.
- Convenience. It should be easy to use. An intuitive and simple user interface, easy guide, preview, sorting, filters, etc., are the indicators to evaluate the tools.
- Compatibility. It should work well with multiple Operating Systems, File Systems, storage devices, etc.
- Cost. It should be cost-effective. Some problems can be settled with freeware, while some issues are better to cope with using paid tools for efficiency, safety, etc.
These universal standards can apply to different tools; you might also evaluate the best partition recovery tools for Windows with these conditions.
The 7 best USB recovery software
Out of these considerations, we have picked 7 eligible USB recovery tools.
See the comparison to pick the one that suits you best
| MyRecover | DMDE | R-Studio | Recuva | Active@ | PhotoRec | Undelete 360 | |
| Ease of use | ★★★★★ | ★★☆☆☆ | ★★☆☆☆ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ | ★☆☆☆☆ | ★★★★☆ |
| Compatibility | Windows | Windows & Mac | Windows /Mac/Linux | Windows | Windows | Windows /Mac/Linux/DOS | Windows |
| Pro version price (yearly) | $49.95 | $95.00 | $79.99 | $24.95 | $44.95 | $0.00 | $39.00 |
| Overall Rating | ★★★★★ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★☆ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ | ★★☆☆☆ | ★★☆☆☆ |
| Availability | Download Now >> | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
1. MyRecover – USB data recovery tool
Overall:
MyRecover is reliable and user-friendly HDD/SSD/SD card/USB recovery software specially designed for Windows 11/10/8/7/Server.
It features comprehensiveness, convenience, competence, etc. It applies to extensive data loss situations, allowing users to recover 200+ types of data from USB and other storage devices in 3 simple steps.
Pros & Cons:
Pros:
- Eye-pleasing GUI and easy operation.
- Applies to comprehensive data loss situations.
- Preview/filter/sorting/recovery are available while scanning.
- Allows 30 MB of data recovery free each time in the Free version.
Cons:
- Lack of support for Mac OS.
Price:
| Free Version | MyRecover Pro | MyRecover Technician | Availability | |
| Monthly | $0.00 | $29.95 | $99.00 | Upgrade now >> |
| Yearly | $49.95 | $199.00 | ||
| Lifetime | $69.95 |
$299.00 |
||
| Differences | Recover data free 30MB each time | Recover unlimited data on 1 computer/license | Recover unlimited data on unlimited computers/licenses |
Performance:
With a clear and simple GUI, users can easily handle the operation.
During the whole process, it shows good performance: it loads drives quickly, scans quickly, classifies the detected data clearly, and shows a high recovery rate.
It automatically scans the USB with a deep scan, lasting for about 20-35 minutes, according to the data size of the device.
Detected files were classified into different types: Images/Videos/Audio/Documents/Compressed files. A tiny amount of files are corrupted due to overwriting.
2. DMDE Data Recovery
Overall:
DMDE data recovery is a data searching/editing/recovery tool from Windows, Linux, macOS, DOS. It offers disk editor, partition manager, and many features for users.
Pros & Cons:
Pros:
-
Offers file structure view and file preview/searching before recovery.
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Provides a great amount of file info.
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Provides many extra features besides data recovery.
Cons:
- Complex GUI and guide, laying extra burden for users to learn.
Price:
| Free | Express | Standard | Professional | Professional (Multi-OS) | |
| Price | $0.00 | $20.00 | $48.00 | $95.00 | $133.00 |
| Differences | Basic features | 1 Year License | Unlimited Licenses | Allows data recovery for clients | |
| Note | These prices are just for 1 License | ||||
Performance:
Though it provides a guide, the GUI and operation design is far away from easy.
During the whole process, it shows the fast speed of scanning. It finishes the quick scanning in 2 minutes, and its full scan lasts for 45 minutes.
Users can choose to show deleted/found/RAW files as they like. The scanned files are listed in original file structures, but filenames are lost.
An amount of the files is RAW and unrecoverable.
3. R-Studio
Overall:
R-Studio is a comprehensive data recovery solution offering flexible parameter settings to cope with different data recovery needs.
Pros & Cons:
Pros:
-
Supports a wide range of File Systems: NTFS, NTFS5, ReFS, FAT12/16/32, exFAT, HFS/HFS+ and APFS (Macintosh), XFS, etc.
-
Provides various plans for data recovery.
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Functions on local and network drives.
Cons:
-
The GUI design is yet to be clearer and simpler.
-
The Demo/Free version only supports data recovery under 256 KB.
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No refund.
-
The prices are relatively high for users who need more than 1 license.
Price:
| Demo | FAT | NTFS | Standard | T80+ | Corporate | Technician | |
| Prices | $0.00 | $49.99 | $59.99 | $79.99 | $80.00 | $179.99 | $899.00 |
| Differences | Cannot recover files larger than 256KB | Only support FAT/exFAT/Ext2/3/4 | Only support NTFS/ReFS/Ext2/3/4 | Multi-file-system |
Commercial use; No permanent license |
Multi-file-system; Recovery over network |
Multi-platform; Commercial use |
| Note | These prices are only for 1 license. | ||||||
Performance:
It is equipped with various features; thus, the GUI design is kind of complex for users who are not experienced with data recovery, which adds quite a lot of burden for users to learn how to operate it.
During the whole process, it performs quite well with some slight drawbacks. It offers to scan with or without preview options; users could stop scanning and recover files from the scanned data whenever they want.
Detected files can be sorted by extensions/paths/created dates, etc.
4. Recuva
Overall:
Recuva recovers deleted and lost files from Windows PC, Recycle Bin, digital cameras, and MP3 players. It also offers advanced deletion tech to help users erase files.
Pros & Cons:
Pros:
-
Low price.
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Offers fast speed in a quick scan.
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Shows the estimated recovery rate.
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Allows customized scanning in different places.
Cons:
-
No full-resolution preview for images.
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No preview/sorting/filter/recovery while scanning.
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The recovery rate is relatively low.
Price:
| Free | Pro | |
| Price | $0.00 | $24.95 |
| Differences | Only supports data recovery | Automatic updates |
Performance:
With the help of the simple GUI and thoughtful wizard, users can easily get started.
During the whole process, its performance is good and unremarkable, offering nothing special.
Users are prompted to customize their scanning: file types & location. During the scan, no previews/filters/recovery is allowed.
After a 1-3 minute quick scan/over-an-hour deep scan, detected files are marked with colors: green, red, and yellow, indicating the status of the files and the recovery rate. About 25% of the scanned files are not recoverable.
5. Active @ File Recovery
Overall:
Active @ File Recovery is a file recovery tool that applies to deleted/lost/emptied/formatted data. It offers Quick Scan, Super Scan, and also Last Chance recovery to cope with data loss.
Pros & Cons:
Pros:
-
Offers multiple scanning methods.
-
Supports file preview/sorting/searching after scanning.
-
Allows to view deleted/existing/all files.
Cons:
-
The Demo/Free version only recovers files up to 65 KB.
-
No filters/previews during scanning.
Price:
| Demo | Standard | Professional | Ultimate | |
| Personal License | $0.00 | $29.95 | $44.95 | $69.95 |
| Corporate License | $39.95 | $64.95 | $89.95 | |
| Differences | Only recovers files up to 65 KB in total | Data recovery | Supports recovery from damaged RAIDs | Supports Boot Disk Lite |
| Note | These prices are only for 1 license | |||
Performance:
The GUI design is simple, and the function palettes are clear but not that eye-pleasing.
During the whole process, it quickly detects the disks and prompts to perform a quick scan.
While scanning, no preview/filter/recovery is available. It finishes the quick scan in 2-5 minutes and the super scan in 45-50 minutes.
After scanning, it shows all the files by default; users can only choose to show deleted files. A small amount of the recovered files were corrupted and failed to open due to overwriting.
6. PhotoRec
Overall:
PhotoRec is designed to recover lost files, especially photos and videos, from digital camera memory, hard disks, CDs, etc. It is free and open source, which is one of the reasons for its popularity.
Pros & Cons:
Pros:
-
Free.
-
It is multi-platform, supporting Windows/Mac/Minx/DOS/Sun Solaris, etc.
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Works when the device’s File System is severely damaged and reformatted.
Cons:
-
No GUI, all operations need to be done with the keyboards.
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No preview/filter/sort while and after scanning.
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The scan speed is slow.
Performance:
Without an intuitive and simple GUI, users will need to spend more effort learning how to use PhotoRec to recover files. During the whole process, users have to decide the source location, corresponding File System, scanning mode, and target location.
It offers scanning from the unallocated space & the whole partition. When set to search data from the whole drive, the scanning speed is relatively slower than other eligible programs we have chosen.
Its scan lasts for 40-75 minutes. All scanned files have lost the original directories and names.
7. Undelete 360
Overall:
Undelete 360 recovers files from computer hard drives, USB drives, memory sticks, floppy drives, etc., supporting file recovery and folder recovery.
Pros & Cons:
Pros:
-
Offers a simple GUI.
-
Provides filter/search features.
-
Shows the status of the scanned files.
Cons:
-
No preview during the scan.
-
Do not support folder view/filter/wipe feature in the demo.
-
Performs weaker in USB scanning.
Price:
| Free | Professional | Ultimate | |
| Prices | $0.00 | $39.00 | $69.00 |
| Differences | Basic features | Recover files smaller than 10 MB; advanced features | Advanced features； Unlimited data recovery |
| Note | These prices are only for 1 PC | ||
Performance:
The GUI is clear but still needs to be more visually pleasing.
During the whole process, its performance is a little bit inferior to the above USB recovery software. It fails once when scanning the USB but does well on the second attempt.
The scanned files are categorized into different types. The status (Overwritten/Good/Bad) shown is helpful for users to estimate the recovery rate.
Filters/preview/sorting and other advanced features are unavailable in the Demo/free version.
Its scanning is relatively slower than the other apps. It took 45 to over 1 hour to finish the scan. About 35% of the detected files are corrupted.
How to recover data from flash drives with ease?
With all chosen USB recovery software introduced, you may now have your preferred app. With capability, usability, compatibility, and prices taken into account, MyRecover is the one that can satisfy your data recovery needs.
- As an effective data recovery tool, it searches internal/external HDD/SSD/USB/memory cards for lost and missing files quickly.
- Scans and recovers 200+ different kinds of data, including jpg/png/gif/mov/avi/mp4/wav/mp3/doc/pdf/xlsx/pt/zip, etc.
- Support for NTFS/ReFS/FAT32/exFAT and Windows 11/10/8/7 & Server deleted/lost data recovery.
In this part, we will offer you an easy guide to recover deleted and lost files from USB flash drives.
Step 1. Download and install the software > connect your USB device to the PC > hover the mouse over the thumb drive, and click Scan.
Step 2. It will automatically execute Quick Scan & Deep Scan to find your lost and removed files. While scanning, data sorting/filtering/ previewing/recovery is available.
Step 3. All scanned files will be classified into their types. Check and choose the needed files to restore easily. It is suggested to save the recovered files in another place than the original place.
Using this USB recovery tool, you could easily undelete USB flash drives without any difficulties.
FAQ
7 USB recovery software is introduced with detailed info about the overall review, advantages and shortcomings, prices, and real performances in the test.
According to the all-around consideration, MyRecover stands out and is the most recommended app for its excellent performance, cost-effective price, etc.
In case you need extra information, some questions are ready with answers.
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