Can Recover damage my drive?

Recover never writes to the source drive. What is a risk is reading a physically faulty drive intensively. That is why Recover asks before every scan whether the drive is healthy, reads the SMART data and refuses a drive that is failing. While reading, Recover adjusts the number of threads dynamically to the condition of the drive: as soon as read errors occur, it reads with a single thread, to put as little strain on the drive as possible. If in doubt, make a disk image first, or take the drive to a lab.

Which file systems does Recover support?

FAT12/16/32, exFAT, NTFS, ext2/3/4, XFS, Btrfs, HFS+, APFS and ReFS, each with folders and names. Which file systems also return deleted files is shown in the table on this page.

Can I work from a disk image instead of the drive itself?

Yes. Recover creates disk images itself and also opens existing image files. Working from an image is always the safest way.

What if Recover does not find my files?

Then the data may have been overwritten, or there may be more going on than a logical problem. Stop writing to the drive and request a free analysis: in our lab we go further than software alone can.

Is Recover free, and for which systems?

Yes, Recover is a free download, for Windows, macOS and Linux.

Recover: data recovery software that only ever reads the source • Datarecuperatie

What Recover does

Recover is Datarecuperatie software for getting files back from hard drives, SSDs, USB sticks, memory cards, RAID sets and disk images. It is meant for logical problems: files that were deleted, or a drive that was formatted.

The most important rule is built into the software: the source drive is only ever read. You always write recovered files to a different drive.

Recover after a scan: partition, folder tree and file list — After a scan: the partition, the folder tree and the recovered files.

Step by step: the manual →

First the question: is the drive healthy?

A scan reads the entire surface of the drive. With a mechanical or electronic fault, that can cause exactly the damage that makes data unrecoverable. That is why Recover explicitly asks, before every scan, whether the drive is physically sound.

If the drive clicks, ticks or grinds, disappears and comes back, gets very hot, or has been dropped, opened or water damaged, stop right away and have it checked by a lab. If the drive is healthy and the problem is logical, you can continue. Safer still is to make a disk image first and work from that: Recover offers that choice straight away.

Recover asks before scanning whether the drive is physically healthy — Before every scan: a check for signs of physical damage, with the option to make a disk image first.

Signs of a failing drive? Request a free analysis →

What you can do with it

For every deleted file Recover shows straight away what to expect: intact, partly reused or overwritten. So you know before recovering which files will come back complete.
From the search indexes of Windows (Windows Search), macOS (Spotlight) and Linux (Tracker), Recover fills in the folder structure and file names, even for files the file system no longer knows.
A log keeps track of what happened.
Open virtual disks and images directly: VHD, VHDX, VMDK, QCOW2, VDI, E01 (also compressed), DMG and split raw images.
Assemble RAID sets from separate drives or images: RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10 and JBOD. Recover reads the RAID metadata on the drives and rebuilds a missing drive (up to two for RAID 6).
Dynamic multithreading, tuned to the condition of the drive: a healthy drive is read with several threads at once; as soon as it reports read errors, Recover falls back to a single reader. The result is the same, and the drive is not put under extra strain.
The interface is fully translated into twelve languages.

Files

Read partitions and the file system, find deleted files and filter them: deleted only, hide unrecoverable, everything in one list, or supplemented from the search index. Recover per file, per folder or the whole list.

Carve (signature search)

Where the file system knows nothing any more, Recover looks for files by their recognisable start and structure (file carving): 334 formats, more than 560 extensions, from photos and documents to databases, video and mail archives.

Disk image

Make a full copy of the drive and continue working on that, so the original drive is stressed as little as possible. Recover also opens existing image files.

Technical: file system, carving and search index

During a scan, Recover reads the file system structures, such as the Master File Table (MFT) on NTFS, and shows the records of deleted files alongside the existing ones. Whether a deleted file can still be fully recovered depends on whether the location of its data is still known and has not been overwritten.

File carving works without a file system: it searches the drive for known file headers and structures. That way it finds files after heavy damage or formatting, but without their original name or folder.

The search indexes of Windows, macOS and Linux keep file names and paths in their own databases. Recover reads those databases and uses them to rebuild the folder structure.

Supported file systems

File system	Where you find it	Deleted files
FAT12, FAT16, FAT32	USB sticks, memory cards	yes, with long names
exFAT	memory cards, external drives	yes
NTFS	Windows	yes, also fragmented and whole folders
ext2	older Linux	yes
ext3, ext4	Linux, many NAS devices	name only
XFS	Linux servers, NAS	no
Btrfs	Linux, Synology	not yet
HFS+	older macOS	yes
APFS	macOS	not yet
ReFS	Windows Server, Storage Spaces	folders and names; deleted files not yet

Partition tables: GPT (also with 4K sectors), MBR with logical partitions, or no table. Compressed NTFS files are flagged but not yet decompressed.

Usage reporting: open about what is sent

Recover reports to Datarecuperatie which kind of drive is used and which functions are used. File names, paths and file contents are never sent. That is also stated at the top of the software window.

In the settings you see exactly what a report looks like before it is sent. Including the drive serial number is a separate choice, and reporting can be switched off completely.

Usage reporting settings in Recover, with an example report — The settings show literally what a report contains.

Recover next to other free software

There is more free recovery software, and each program has its strong points. This table puts the free versions side by side, as downloadable in September 2026. Where Recover falls short, it says so.

Feature	Recover	Recuva Free	TestDisk / PhotoRec	DMDE Free	R-Studio Demo	UFS Explorer trial
Price and limit	free, no limit	free, personal use only	free, open source	free, personal use; 4,000 files at a time, from the open folder	free; files up to 256 KB	free; files up to 256 KB or 768 KB
Platforms	Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows	all	all	all	all
File systems with folders and names	9	3	4 (undelete)	5	10+	15+
Content search (carving)	334 formats, 560+ extensions	limited	480+ families	✅	✅	✅
Search indexes (Windows, Spotlight, Tracker)	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
SMART: refuses a failing drive	✅	❌	❌	❌	shows	shows
Condition per deleted file	✅ intact / partly / overwritten	estimate	❌	❌	✅	✅
Preview	image + hex	limited	❌	hex	✅	✅
Disk imaging	✅	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅
Virtual disks	VHD, VHDX, VMDK, QCOW2, VDI, DMG	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅
E01 (forensic images)	✅ incl. compressed	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅
RAID assembly	✅ 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, JBOD, reads RAID metadata	❌	❌	✅	✅	RAID edition
Encrypted volumes	❌	❌	❌	partly	✅	✅
Lost partition search	❌	❌	✅ strongest	✅	✅	✅
Multithreading	✅ dynamic, based on drive condition	❌	❌	partly	✅	✅
Command line	✅ complete	❌	✅	limited	limited	❌
Languages	12 complete, 98 known	30+	English	several	several	several
Dates on recovered files	❌ shown, not applied	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅

Search indexes: Windows Search, Spotlight and Tracker remember the names and folders of files. Recover reads those databases and puts the files back in their original place, even when the file system has forgotten them.

SMART: the drive keeps track of its own health. Recover reads it and refuses to scan a drive that is failing, because long reads damage a sick drive further. "Shows" means the program displays the values but carries on anyway.

Data on other programs from their own websites, September 2026. The free or demo version counts, not the paid one.

Read the Recover manual →

When a lab is the better choice

Software helps with logical problems. With a physical fault it does more harm than good. Have the drive checked in these cases:

the drive makes unusual noises (ticking, clicking, scraping);
the drive is not recognised, or only now and then;
the drive was dropped, got wet or has been opened;
Recover refuses the drive after the SMART check;
a RAID or NAS with several drives failed at once.

Request a free analysis →

Download Recover

Recover is free, for Windows, macOS and Linux. Choose the version for your system.

Windows For Windows · version 0.4.0

Right-click the file and choose "Run as administrator".

Linux For Linux · version 0.4.0

Make the file executable first (chmod +x), then start it with sudo -E.

Do not install Recover on the drive you want to recover data from, and always write recovered files to a different drive.

How to start Recover with full access ↓

Starting Recover with full access

To read physical drives, Recover needs elevated rights: administrator on Windows, root on macOS and Linux. Without them you see no drives, only image files.

Windows

Right-click Recover-gui.exe and choose "Run as administrator". The UAC prompt appears anyway, because Recover requests elevated rights itself. Without them you see no physical drives.

Command line: first open an administrator prompt (right-click Windows Terminal or cmd, "Run as administrator"), then:

recover-cli.exe devices
recover-cli.exe info \\.\PhysicalDrive1
recover-cli.exe ls \\.\PhysicalDrive1 --deleted

Drive names: \\.\PhysicalDrive0, \\.\PhysicalDrive1, … for whole drives, \\.\E: for a single volume.

macOS

Once, beforehand: give Terminal Full Disk Access (System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access) and restart Terminal. Then start Recover from Terminal:

sudo /Applications/Recover.app/Contents/MacOS/Recover

Before scanning: find the drive and unmount it.

diskutil list
diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk2
sudo ./recover info /dev/rdisk2        # command line

Do not double-click and do not use "sudo open -a": the app would then run as your user and the drive list stays empty. Keep Terminal open while the app runs.

Choose /dev/rdisk2, with the r: that is the raw device, which reads much faster.

Linux

chmod +x Recover-gui-linux recover-cli-linux-static    # once after download
sudo -E ./Recover-gui-linux                            # -E keeps your DISPLAY
sudo ./recover-cli-linux-static info /dev/sdb

Without -E the graphical version may not start, because root does not know your graphical session. Alternative without sudo: add your user to the disk group (sudo usermod -aG disk $USER), then log in again.

Drive names: /dev/sda, /dev/nvme0n1 for whole drives, /dev/sda1 for a single partition.

The same on all three

Images need no elevated rights. If you work on an .img file, simply double-clicking or starting without sudo is enough.

The recommended way remains: first make an image (Disk image tab, or from the command line), then work on that file. Every scan then reads the healthy copy instead of stressing the drive again.

recover image /dev/sdb copy.img

Always recover to a different drive than the original.

Technical: a shortcut, and where the settings live

When Recover runs as root, the settings (including usage reporting) end up in root's home folder: /var/root/.config/recover/ on macOS, /root/.config/recover/ on Linux, and %APPDATA% of the elevated account on Windows. What you set in the menu therefore applies to the sessions you actually work in, but not to a start without elevated rights.

Handy to set up on macOS and Linux:

echo 'alias recover-gui="sudo /Applications/Recover.app/Contents/MacOS/Recover"' >> ~/.zshrc   # macOS
echo 'alias recover-gui="sudo -E /path/to/Recover-gui-linux"' >> ~/.bashrc                   # Linux

Recover, our data recovery software