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Partition recovery software is a special tool used to restore partitions and data on computer hard drives when it is accidentally deleted due to user error, reformatting, overwriting, file corruption, and hardware damage.
Partition recovery software uses a variety of methods to find missing data and partitions that usually still exist on your hard drive, but no longer have a “label” to tell the computer what’s there. Even if your computer doesn’t see your partition or deleted files, this type of software can find them on your drive and, in most cases, restore them to their original format so you can see and use them again.
The factors we consider to choose the best partition recovery software for Windows and Mac users in 2021 includes the following:
We like Disk Drill for its broad array of uses and easy interface. It has versions for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iPhone, and can recover data from memory cards, cameras, and other external media.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro makes our list for its track record—it’s been around since 2004—and it performs well on all of our other test parameters as well. It’s available for both Windows and Mac with a free trial to verify whether or not it’s able to find your data before you pay anything.
AcronisDisk Director 12.5 is a software package that includes tools for managing and manipulating drives via splitting, resizing, converting, and merging volumes. It allows for easy cloning and partitioning and comes with a simple but powerful recovery tool that can find and restore lost data in the event that it is accidentally deleted, corrupted, containing bad sectors, or rendered inaccessible by a power outage or other event.
MiniTool Partition Wizard Server 12.3 is a recovery tool that has some features that aren’t supported by competitors, the most obvious of which is its ability to recover partitions in Windows servers. With it, you can convert dynamic disks to basic disk as well as MBR to GPT. Its bootable media option means you can access your recovery software and recover your partitions even in the event of a main hard drive failure and without running the risk of overwriting important files.
RecoverIt is a data recovery software application with both Windows and Mac versions that are backed by millions of happy customers. Their tiered subscription plan can be a bit offputting in that the bottom tier does not offer advanced video recovery, blue screen of death solutions, or computer crash recovery as well as no option to create bootable media—opening lower-paying customers to the risk of overwriting their data, especially if they are not aware of the consequences.
TestDisk is an open-source software application designed to recover data from DOS, Windows, Linux, -BSD, SunOS, and macOS. The two best parts about this software are that it is totally free and that it is very, very powerful and robust software with a lot of technical intricacies for knowledgeable users.
What sets Stellar Data Recovery apart from its competitors is its ability to recover data from large-sized sectors on 4k hard drives. It also has dual-monitor support, which, while that may seem kind of silly on the surface, no one wants the frustration of a pinched neck or tiny workspace when you’re already dealing with the frustration of lost data. This is doubly so if data recovery is part of your job, and they do have a business package to support that as well.
The winner is entirely dependent upon your needs as a user. How were your files lost? Do you have a complex situation with a 4k drive, a Linux drive, a less-commonly seen filesystem, encryption, or a lot of potentially-damaged video and photo media? Do you have more than one system you need to support? What is your budget? Was it your primary partition that failed?
All of these things will influence your decision to use any of the above-listed software because each has pros and cons for different users. However, any of these options will be a reliable one once you’re sure of which features you actually need to recover your deleted or damaged partitions.
Lost partition recovery is the process by which you employ data recovery software or other means to restore the data from a deleted or incorrectly formatted partition. If the data has been overwritten, data recovery software will not work and your best bet is to use a previously taken backup.
No. System Restore is designed to restore operating system files to a previous point in time. The tool does not recover user data, which is usually what initiates the recovery effort. It can recover the system on the deleted partition, but the remaining user data cannot be restored with this tool.
Yes. If the partition was simply deleted or only had a quick format performed on it, you can recover its data. A full format or using the partition before attempting recovery will overwrite the data and make its restoration impossible. Avoid all use of the partition unit recovery is complete.
There are many partition recovery software applications available for Windows and macOS. Here is a list of seven of the best solutions: