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12 Best Flash Drive File Recovery Software [2024 Guide]
Save any data from your flash drive with specialized software
13 min. read
Updated onJanuary 8, 2024
updated onJanuary 8, 2024
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Key notes
Many users useflash drivesas a safe way of storing and transferring their data offline. It’s one of the most convenient ways of transferring files between devices that are not connected to the internet.
The main disadvantage is that the external drive can get corrupted for many reasons. Whether it’s because it contains files that are corrupted or some virus got through your antivirus, you need a method to recover everything on that drive.
If your flash drive is corrupted or you accidentally deleted your files, you might want to consider methods on how to recover those files.
Recovering files isn’t a simple task, and if you are not very experienced with computers, this job can be very tricky, and trying to manually recover all that data might seem impossible.
A fast and simple solution is to use a tool to recover the lost data for you. You will find up next some of the best flash drive recovery tools forWindows 10.
What is the best tool for flash drive file recovery?
Stellar Data Recovery– Cross-platform compatibility
This powerful recovery tool works like a charm on your flash drive. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg –Stellar Data Recoverycan find and recover lost data from any external storage media and Windows-running device.
Not even encrypted drives, corruption-affected or formatted partitions are a match for this ultra-powerful app that can retrieve data in pretty much any file format you can think of with accuracy, by preserving the original features.
This tool has native support for all file formats including photos, videos, email files, and more with a reliable and accurate restoration of retrieved files.
You have the option to save the current scan and resume recovery another time which helps save time and effort in the rescanning process of the disk.
Stellar Data Recovery offers dual monitor support with which you can work on two screens at the same time without needing to minimize or toggle.
Stellar Data Recovery
Wondershare Recoverit– Four recovery modes
If you need to recover files from your flash drive, you might want to considerWondershareData Recovery. Thetoolallows you to recover different types of files including documents, archives, images, and multimedia files.
As for the supported devices, thistoolsupports memory cards, pen drives, digital cameras, music players, andUSB flash drives.
You can also recover files from digital cameras and cell phones. Regarding file systems, you can recover files from FAT16, FAT32, exFAT, and NTFS file systems.
To restore your files simply select one of the available recovery modes, select your drive and wait while the app scans the drive.
After that, select the files that you want to recover. Thetooloffers four main recovery modes: Wizard Mode Recovery, LostFile Recovery, Partition Recovery, and Raw Recovery.
One additional feature is theResume Recoveryoption that allows you to resume the previous recovery session. This is especially useful sincefile recoverycan sometimes take a while, so it’s always good to have this feature available.
Wondershare Recoverit
MiniTool Power Data Recovery– Load previous recovery results
Recovering data from a USB flash drive isn’t always easy, but if your files are corrupted or deleted, you might want to use theMiniTool PowerData Recoverytool.
Thistoolworks withUSB flash drives, memory cards, music players, digital camcorders, hard drives, and other storage devices.
It also supports a wide range of formats and it can restore documents, images, video, and audio files.
To recover your files, you just need to select the desired recovery program, select the desired drive and wait while the application scans the drive.
After that, you can preview and recover the deleted files. We have to mention that the free version can recover only 1GB of data, so if you need to recover more you’ll have to purchase a license.
Thetoolsupports several recovery options: Undelete Recovery, DamagedPartition Recovery,and LostPartition Recovery. There’s also a Digital Media Recovery and CD/DVD Recovery option.
Another useful option is the ability to load previous recovery results, so you can easily continue with the recovery process at any time.
MiniTool Power Data Recovery
SysTools Pen Drive Recovery– Simple tool
USB flash drivesare great for storing files, but if the files on your drive are deleted or damaged you might be able to recover them withSysTools Pen Drive Recovery.
This is a simpletooland it supports three different recovery options. The supported options are NormalData Recovery, Deleted Files & Folders Only, and FormattedPartition Recovery.
The first option will help you extract the data from theUSB flash drive, but you won’t be able to recover deleted files by using this option.
Deleted Files or Folder Recovery option will thoroughly scan the drive and allow you to restore the deleted files from it.
FormattedPartition Recoveryoption will help you restore the files from yourUSB flash driveeven afterformattingit.
In order to find your files faster, thetooloffers a powerful search option which means that you can easily search through the recovered files.
Regarding recovery, the app supports both FAT and NTFS file systems. After you find the deleted files or folders, you can preview them before recovering them.
SysTools Pen Drive Recovery
Wise Data Recovery– Portable version
WiseData Recoveryis a free data recoverytoolthat will allow you to restore files from your local drive, external drive, and flash drives.
This tool is compatible with almost any device that can hold information. According to its developer, thetoolcan also work with mobile phones, MP3 players, digital cameras, and other devices.
Thistooluses an advanced algorithm so it can quickly locate the deleted files and recover them in a matter of minutes.
If you want, you can also choose the file type that you want to recover and enter keywords in order to speed up the scanning process.
It doesn’t matter what the cause of the file loss is, this tool will help you recover your files from permanent deletion, disk formation, and even virus attacks.
Wise Data Recovery is compatible with over 1000 types of files. It can recover anything on demand, even specific files.
Thistoolalso has a portable version, so you can recover files from your PC orUSB flash drivewithout installing thistoolon your hard drive.
Wise Data Recovery
Disk Drill– Makes invisible copies
Disk Drillis anothertoolthat can recover files such as images, videos, music, or documents. The application comes with several options including Undelete Protected Data, Quick Scan, and Deep Scan.
There’s also a Universal partition search option, but if you want you can also run all recovery methods.
Disk scanning can take a while, especially on larger drives, and this is why Disk Drill allows you to pause the scanning and continue it later.
According to the developers, Disk Drill can restore your files if you delete them from Recycle Bin, but you can also restore them if they are deleted by power failure or partition damage.
The application offers a friendly user interface, so it will be perfect for basic users.
Disk Drill offers a smart detection feature that detects bad sectors on a drive surface thus increasing the chances forfile recovery.
Thanks to the Deep Scan feature you can restore lost files based on their binary structure. The signature base has more than 200 signatures, so you can restore most files with thistool.
Another interesting feature of thistoolis Recovery Vault. This feature allows you to make invisible copies of deleted files, thus making your files protected from accidental deletion.
In addition, this feature will make the recovery process faster and more efficient. By using this feature your metadata will remain intact in its original state.
Disk Drill
Recover My Files– Create disk images
The first time you startRecover My Filesyou’ll be greeted with a welcome wizard. The wizard allows you to choose between the option to recover your files or to recover your drive.
The recovery process is rather simple, and you just need to select the desired drive and let the computer scan it.
We have to mention that this isn’t free software, but you can try it out for free. The free trial version offers almost all the features and it allows you to recover both files and drives.
This application supports most file systems such as FAT (Ex,12,16,32,64), NTFS (3,4,5), and HFS, HFS+ (MAC).
Thistooloffers more thanfile recovery, you can also use it to create disk images or scan them, and there’s also support for RAID recovery.
⇒Get Recover My Files software
Remo Recover– Save scan information
Remo Recoveris anothertoolthat lets you recover files from aUSB flash drive. Thetoolallows you to quickly scan entire drives and find all your deleted files, even after removing them from Recycle Bin.
The application can also restore files that exceed the Recycle Bin size, so you can use thistoolto restore large files as well.
Remo Recover doesn’t only recover deleted files, you can use thistoolto recover files even afterformattingyourhard drivepartition and performing aclean install of Windows 10.
If you accidentally forget to back up important files before installing a fresh copy of Windows, thistoolmight be able to recover those files.
Thetoolalso allows you to create disk images with ease in order to bypass bad sectors.
Regarding the supported file systems, this application supports FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, NTFS5, and ExFAT.
The application comes with an advanced built-in algorithm that recognizes and recovers more than 300 file types. If you want, you can sort the files by their name, date, size, and file extension.
Remo Recover can recover files from both hard drives andUSB flash drives, but you can also recover files from SD, SDHC, MMC, XD, and Memory stick cards.
Thetoolalso works with USB hard drives and FireWire devices. Regarding the supported hard drives, Remo Recover works with SATA, SCSI, IDE, ATA, SAS, and SSD. Of course, all major manufacturers are supported.
Thetoolallows you to preview your files before you restore them, and you can compress your recovered files in a Zip archive in order to save space.
Another extremely useful option is Save Scan Information. This feature will allow you to continue the scan of your drive even if you cancel it.
⇒Get Remo Recover
Undelete 360– Fast algorithm
This is a small but powerful application that will recover your files from aUSB flash drive.
Undelete 360uses a fast and efficient algorithm in order to search and recover deleted files.
This application supports both file and folder recovery. Undelete 360 can recover files from hard drives, digital cameras,USB flash drives, memory sticks, memory cards, and smartphones.
Thetoollets you recover files that are accidentally deleted from your PC or from any other media. You can even restore files even after you remove them from Recycle Bin.
Thetoolalso supports the restoration of files that are deleted by the command line or any other application.
The application allows you to preview your files before you recover them, in addition to the standard preview.
There’s also a hex preview available. Undelete 360 also supports the recovery of compressed and encrypted files on NTFS drives.
⇒Get Undelete 360
Data Doctor Recovery– Simple interface
Data Doctor Recoverycomes with a simple and slightly outdated user interface. As soon as you start this application you’ll be able to choose between several options.
You can choose between Basic Search, Deep Search, Photo Search, and Signature Search.
After choosing the desired option, you need to select your drive from the list of available drives. In addition to the list of drives, there’s also a small chart showing you the size of available partitions.
All that you need to do is to select a drive and click the next button and the drive will be scanned.
Data Doctor Recovery allows you to recover files from hard disks,USB flash drives, pen drives, removable media, storage cards, etc.
⇒Get Data Doctor Recovery
IUWEshare USB Flash Drive Data Recovery– Appealing UI
This is anothertoolthat you can use to recover lost files from aUSB flash drive.
Regarding the supported files, this tool allows you to recover deleted videos, photos, documents, and audio files.
When you start the application you need to select what type of files you wish to recover. You can sort your files and show only specific types by using the file tree on the left.
If you want, you can also preview your files before you recover them. Additional information such as file size, name, and modification date is also available.
IUWEshareUSB Flash DriveData Recoverycomes with a simple and visually appealing user interface.
⇒Get IUWEshare Data Recovery
Puran File Recovery– 50+ data patterns
PuranFile Recoveryis a free application that you can use to recover files from yourUSB flash drive.
According to its developers, Puran File Recovery allows you to recover files from hard drives, memory cards, flash drives, and almost any other storage device. You can also recover files from formatted disks as well.
The tool comes with a simplistic interface and a powerful recovery engine. If you need to quickly restore deleted files, simply use the Quick Scan option and the list of deleted files will appear in a few seconds.
If you need to perform a detailed scan, there’s also a Deep Scan feature that scans your drive byte.
There’s also a Full Scan option that can detect deleted and lost partitions and recover files from formatted drives. This feature also supports RAW and Physical drives as well.
PuranFile Recoveryhas more than 50 data patterns and supports hundreds offormats. After you find the deleted files, you can recover them with their original path structure.
As for your files, they are listed in tree and list views and they can be previewed before recovery. There’s also a search box that lets you locate the desired file quickly.
PuranFile Recoveryis a greattooland it’s available for free for personal use, so be sure to try it out.
⇒Get Puran File Recovery
Recovering files from aUSB flash driveisn’t a simple task, but you might be able to recover your files by using one of thetoolsfrom our list.
More about the topics:backup software,data recovery,recovery software
Milan Stanojevic
Windows Toubleshooting Expert
Milan has been enthusiastic about technology ever since his childhood days, and this led him to take interest in all PC-related technologies. He’s a PC enthusiast and he spends most of his time learning about computers and technology.
Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s one of the Troubleshooting experts in our worldwide team, specializing in Windows errors & software issues.
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Milan Stanojevic
Windows Toubleshooting Expert
Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s specialized in Windows errors & software issues.