We have compiled a rundown of the five best SSD data recovery software for you to make an informed decision.
The Solid-State Drive (SSD) is a true marvel in the data storage world. Featuring no mechanical parts, and laser-like read and write speeds, SSDs are quite popular in laptops, gaming consoles, and supercomputers.
However, the issue of data deletion still looms large. What if you accidentally deleted critical data from your SSD?
When this happens, many users rely on data recovery software to retrieve their files. However, in a market flooded with data recovery software from different service providers, how do you choose the best?
Before moving on to our complete ranking, here is a quick recap of our editors' top SSD recovery software picks for 2023:
Is SSD Data Recovery a Myth?
If this is your first time trying to recover your data, we know the drill. You’ve scoured the web, and so many people have told you that you can recover your data. And an equal number have insisted that you cannot.
What indeed is the truth? Is SSD data recovery a possibility?
What Happens When You “Lose” Data?
When valuable data is lost or becomes inaccessible, it is not permanently removed from the SSD. Deleting files essentially changes the file system, making it impossible for the Windows operating system to locate the file. Your files are quite likely still there, but Windows now misses the map to get to them.
What Does a Data Recovery Tool Do?
Typically, files are stored as a series of blocks denoted by 0’s and 1’s. Upon deleting a file, the computer simply removes the entry for a file instead of erasing each 0 or 1. As a result, the OS looks for these empty spaces and overwrites new data onto them.
Data recovery software assists in data restoration by looking for signs of the old files residing in these empty spaces (which are merely marked as empty but may very well have the old files).
The best recovery software gets data back after several kinds of data loss – accidental deletion, formatting, virus/malware infection, logical damage to the file system, software corruption, and even power outages. Irrespective of the logical reasons for data loss, professional data recovery software will retrieve all file types, including documents, images, audio files, videos, emails, or folders.
In this article, we focus on Windows users. But macOS users also have a vast array of choices for data recovery software—many of which can help in recovering data from Mac SSDs.
However, There Is One Catch
You cannot recover data after it is overwritten, not even by professional data recovery software.
If you encounter any data loss from your SDD, immediately stop using it. If you continue using the drive, you will risk your existing data being overwritten due to your actions. Once you stop using the drive, use a different computer to recover your data.
TRIM: The Problem with Recovering SSDs
If you are using an SSD, you probably know this already. However, they function a little differently from hard drives by using TRIM. TRIM is an Advanced Technology Attachment command. The operating system uses it to tell the SSD about which data blocks are no longer in use and can be wiped internally. TRIM is very helpful for the long-term functionality of SSDs. However, TRIM stops data recovery software from functioning correctly.
The bottom line is that TRIM zeroes out or permanently wipes out all deleted data: You need to act promptly to recover your SSD deleted data.
You will have to take some extra steps for the recovery:
- Find out if your SSD has TRIM enabled.
- Create a byte-by-byte disk image of the failing SSD
- Use data recovery software to scan the backup image
This will perform a single (possibly final) read on the drive. A backup image will go a long way in recovering your lost data. Especially for TRIM-enabled drives, this may be your only chance for successful recovery on failing SSDs.
Interestingly, you can bypass the TRIM trigger altogether by detaching the affected SSD and connecting via USB - in which case the TRIM doesn’t come into the picture.
Selecting A Proper SSD Data Recovery Software: What To Consider
Knowing that SSD Data recovery software from a trusted provider can recover all types of lost data helps a little. But what are some parameters that we must look at when selecting a good SSD recovery software?
It is essential to clear the confusion while choosing the several data recovery software available in the market. So, here are our top pointers if you’re on the lookout for good recovery software:
🤔 Understand your requirements | What kind and how much data do you want to recover? Remember that if you have accidentally formatted your drive, you might need to approach this differently. If you are a general user, you probably don’t need to recover particular files. But suppose you are a professional photographer who shoots in RAW CR2 files, a coder who edits JS or PHP files, or a video editor who renders footage as MP4 files. In such cases, you must get software that supports the file formats you work with. |
🖥️ Check the software’s minimum system requirements | Not all software is completely compatible with all computers. If your setup is up-to-date, you will be able to find recovery software very easily. However, if you are using an older operating system, you must be more attentive to system requirements. |
⚙️ Check the software provider | With so much malware out there, we insist that you check your choices. If you select a bad tool, you can lose a lot of data, in addition to the money you paid for the software. Also, check customer reviews and make sure you check that the website you are reading these reviews on is entirely unbiased. |
🆓 Check if the software has a free trial | In addition to completely free tools that are often limited in their functionality, there are decent freeware options that have a trial period that, at a minimum, will help you make sure your files are recoverable before you purchase it, and at a maximum, will allow you to recover a certain amount of data free of charge. |
5 Best SSD Data Recovery Software
Now that we are through that, here are the top five contenders for the best SSD data recovery software. We reviewed different software in-depth, based on their performance and versatility, speed, file preview, and user-friendliness. Here you are!
1. Disk Drill
Disk Drill Data Recovery is unquestionably a formidable hard drive data recovery software that ranks high in the information technology industry. This application, developed by CleverFiles, is uniquely tailored to scan external and internal storage devices, from your local disk drive to portable SSDs.
Several features make Disk Drill one of the best SSD software recovery tools. It is excellent for professionals and home users, with its polished experience and best-in-class data recovery results. The latest version of the software can recover data in more than 400 file formats from various storage devices and file systems using its advanced scanning algorithms.
Data recovery with Disk Drill is an intuitive process that doesn’t require any expert knowledge. For example, you can filter scan results to find a specific file and preview it before recovery directly inside Disk Drill. Then, if you need to shut down your computer, you can pause the scan and resume it later.
Pros:
- The user interface is highly intuitive
- Excellent recovery capabilities
- Works on all Windows platforms
- All kinds of disk drives supported
- Original folder structure reconstruction
- The free version allows recovering up to 500 MB of data
- Enhanced data protection with Recovery Vault and Drive backup
Cons:
- No support on phones
- Limited support for Linux file systems
2. R-Studio
R-studio is geared for IT experts and professionals. It is a great program that helps restore deleted files. However, it is a little challenging to get your head around if you are very new to the command-line interface. Still, it has incredible support from its active users.
Recovered files can be sorted by their extensions, creation time, modification time, access time, and other parameters. In addition, you can preview many supported file types or view files using the built-in hex editor to assess their integrity or perform partial recovery.
R-studio also walks you through a step-by-step learning process that streamlines implementation for new users if you are up for it.
Pros:
- Mass file recovery
- In-depth and versatile search
- Sorting and filtering data using extensions
- Search for known file types
- Supports multiple languages
- Provides support for wizard-oriented interface and GUI
Cons:
- No pause button – once scan begins, you must see it through
- A one-time purchase of $79.99 is pricier
- Sometimes buggy, crashes
3. PhotoRec
PhotoRec is an open-source data recovery software application that runs on basically any operating system. Despite its name, it not only recovers photos but also over 300 other file formats, making it an excellent choice for those who would like to recover deleted data for free.
Pros:
- Open-source
- Recovers 480 file extensions from 300 families
- Uses non-destructive data recovery, protecting your data by default
- Recovers even fragmented files
- Best suited for digital cameras
- Companion to the free, open-source TestDisk applications
Cons:
- Outdated interface
- Command-line aesthetic makes it difficult for non-tech-savvy users to get the hang of it
- No customer support
4. SysTools SSD Data Recovery
SysTools Hard Disk Recovery Wizard is a complete solution to recover permanently deleted files from both NTFS and FAT file systems. It retrieves data even from formatted hard disks. In addition, it supports RAW hard drive data recovery – in a few steps, you can restore lost files from the internal and external hard drives.
Download SysTools SSD Data Recovery
Pros:
- Deep, unlimited scans by default
- Scans are saved automatically
- Data recovery from internal and external HDDs
- Commendable customer support
- It can be used on two devices in one license
Cons:
- It is pretty complex, making it difficult for new users to get used to
- There are some bugs, making data recovery a little unreliable
- You might risk losing data permanently
5. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard
EaseUS is a leading software company, and its data recovery solution doesn’t fail to impress. EaseUS’s recovery wizard is very popular with its reliability and ability to recover many file formats from all kinds of storage devices.
The best part is that it functions as a wizard. This makes it extremely easy even for new users to recover their data.
Download EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard
Pros:
- It does deep, unlimited scans by default
- Scans are saved automatically
- Data recovery from internal and external HDDs
- Reconstruction of the original folder structure
- Versatile customer support
- One license holds good for two devices
- More than 1000 file formats supported
Cons:
- EaseUS is expensive, with a free version that allows you to recover up to 2 GB of data
- Unattractive pricing plans
- Longer recovery times
- Limited language choice for the interface, making it difficult for non-native users
FAQs
SSD drives can be recovered in most cases - except for the TRIM intervention. However, you cannot recover the SSD drive if it is overwritten or if the SSD is corrupt or damaged.
There are many professional data recovery software solutions available for SSD drives. Some of the best ones available are Disk Drill, SysTools, EaseUS, PhotoRec, and R-Studio.
One of the best SSD data recovery software for Windows 10 is Disk Drill. It is an accessible data recovery program for Windows. It can easily undelete files in Windows 10 and from any storage device such as a computer hard drive and external hard drive, SD card, USB drive, and others.
Other notable alternatives for SSD data recovery include R-Studio, SysTools, and Ontrack.
Yes. PhotoRec is an SSD data recovery software that can recover an unlimited amount of data for free. It can restore files with its deep scan option that searches your drive for traces of deleted data. Although geared for photos, PhotoRec also recovers music files, pictures, documents, emails, and any other type of lost files. The application also has a feature that employs military-standard deletion techniques to erase your data securely.
Sometimes, data cannot be recovered with SSD data recovery software. This can happen if the hard drive is not accessing data, is inaccessible, or has physical damage. At this point, SSD data recovery services should be contacted. Specially trained SSD data recovery service professionals handle the hard drive in climate-controlled environments, cloning the drive and recovering it for you.
Lucky for you, we have compiled a comprehensive list of the best data recovery services.
Conclusion
Recovery software is a great help in data loss situations. Let's suppose you need a recovery solution: In that case, you can blindly pick from our list, and rest assured that you have chosen reliable software that you can trust. Now armed with your SSD recovery software, get that data!
This article was written by Joshua Solomon, a Contributing Writer at Handy Recovery. It was also verified for technical accuracy by Andrey Vasilyev, our editorial advisor.
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