What is the best data recovery software for PC on Windows 11?

Recover from the one drive.

Even without any free data recovery software for PC, you can still recover your data. Shadow Copies is a Windows feature that automatically takes snapshots of your files at different points in time. Think of it like a time machine for individual files and folders. If you accidentally delete or overwrite a document, you might be able to go back to an earlier snapshot and recover that file from before the deletion happened.

How to Restore from Shadow Copies

If this feature was enabled on your PC, you can try these steps:

Step 1: Navigate to the folder where your deleted file used to be stored

Step 2: Right-click on that folder and select Properties

Step 3: Click the Previous Versions tab

Step 4: You will see a list of available snapshots from different dates

Step 5: Select a version from before the file was deleted

Step 6: Click Restore to recover the file to its original location, or drag it to another folder

If you are actively looking for a free data recovery software for PC that can scan a drive and find files you never backed up, Shadow Copies will not help unless the feature was already enabled. However, if you want to prevent future data loss, turning on Shadow Copies now is an excellent free preventative measure.

Safecopy is a free open-source data recovery software for Windows 11 pc, designed as an alternative to ddrescue for rescuing data from unstable media. It does not require advanced setup and works by repeatedly attempting low-level reads to recover data from damaged sectors.

It allows you to rescue data from failing drives, scratched discs, and unstable media, making it ideal for situations where direct access to the drive may cause further damage.

First, download Safecopy from its GitHub repository. Open Command Prompt and navigate to the folder containing the Safecopy executable. Identify the source (damaged media) and destination (healthy drive or folder) paths you want to use.

Run the command to start the recovery process, specifying the source and destination paths. The tool will attempt repeated low-level reads on damaged sectors to retrieve as much data as possible. Wait for the multi-pass scanning and recovery process to complete.

Once the process finishes, verify the recovered files on the destination drive.

This tool cannot prevent further damage to severely unstable media, so it should only be used when the source drive is already failing. It works best with moderately damaged sectors, not completely dead drives.

If you want to rescue data from unstable media without using complex GUI software, you can try this method. It is a lightweight command-line solution, so you should familiarize yourself with basic terminal commands before use. This is a reliable option for users comfortable with command-line tools, serving as a practical data recovery software for Windows 11 pc.

What You Can Try if you want to get a best data recovery software for PC (No Best data Recovery Software for PC Required):

1. Restore Previous Versions

• Right-click the folder that used to contain your files
• Select Restore previous versions
• If available, you'll see dated versions from before the deletion

Limitation: This requires System Protection or File History to have been enabled before you lost the files.

2. Check File History Backups

• Go to Settings > Update & Security > Backup
• Select More options > Restore files from a current backup

Limitation: Only works if you previously set up File History with an external drive.

3. Check OneDrive Online Recycle Bin

• Sign into onedrive.com
• Navigate to the Recycle bin in the left navigation pane

Limitation: Only works if the files were synced to OneDrive before deletion.

If you're still looking for a best data recovery software for PC, I'd like to mention Test Disk as a worthwhile option. It's free and not on your list yet, but it's command-line based and lacks a graphical interface.

untrunc is a specialized data recovery software for Windows 11 pc designed to repair corrupted MP4 video files, especially those with damaged headers or incomplete playback after partial recovery. It is extremely useful for fixing dashcam footage, recovered videos that won’t play, and MP4 files with structural damage.

Instructions: Prepare a healthy, playable MP4 file with the same codec, resolution, and frame rate as the corrupted video to use as a reference. Open untrunc, load the reference file and the damaged MP4 file into the tool. Run the repair command to rebuild the corrupted MP4 header and restore the video structure. Finally, test the repaired file to confirm it plays correctly.

Its advantages include high success rates for fixing header-damaged MP4s, compatibility with dashcam and recovered footage, and fast processing for common corruption scenarios.

Its drawbacks include requiring a matching healthy MP4 reference file, only supporting MP4 format, and not working with severely corrupted or fully unrecoverable files.

This allows you to repair unplayable MP4 videos quickly, making it a reliable data recovery software for Windows 11 pc for restoring video files after partial recovery or header damage. It is suitable for fixing common video corruption issues, especially with dashcam footage and incomplete data recovery results.

GNU ddrescue is a professional data recovery software for Windows 10 pc designed for problematic and failing storage drives.

How to Use Data Recovery Software for Windows 10 pc

Step 1: Prepare a healthy hard drive with sufficient storage space to accommodate the cloned data.

Step 2: Launch the software on your Windows 10 computer.

Step 3: Set the source drive to the faulty hard drive and the destination drive to the healthy hard drive.

Step 4: Run the tool to complete the sector-by-sector clone.

Finally, perform data recovery on the cloned hard drive, not on the original faulty hard drive.

This reliable tool is a solid choice among computer data recovery software and can handle severely damaged storage media.

Disadvantages

• When a hard drive has a large number of bad sectors, its performance slows down.

ps

• Never attempt to recover data directly from a failing hard drive, as this may cause further damage.
• During the cloning process, ensure that all devices are securely connected.

Google Drive Trash serves as practical data recovery software for Windows 10 pc to retrieve mistakenly deleted cloud files.

Usage Guide: Visit the official website in your browser. Click the trash can icon in the left sidebar. Select the deleted files you want to restore, then click the “Restore” button to retrieve them.

The advantage is that it has a built-in recovery feature, and the steps are simple—no need to install additional software.

The disadvantage is that it cannot recover permanently deleted files, and items in the Recycle Bin are only retained for a limited time.

ps

• Restore the files before automatic cleanup
• Check that the files are intact after restoration

This handy cloud tool acts as accessible data recovery software for Windows 10 pc for daily accidental file recovery demands.

You mentioned your external drive is "partially corrupted." Do not run CHKDSK on it yet before using free data recovery software for PC.

Search results show that running CHKDSK /f on a corrupted drive can actually make things worse. It often converts your lost files into generic File001.chk files that are difficult to open, or it may fail to recover them entirely due to space limitations. Stick to the recovery tools listed above instead of using repair commands.

Windows File Recovery is an excellent choice for a free data recovery software for PC, as it is an official, powerful command-line utility published by Microsoft for Windows 10 and 11 users. this is the ideal built-in solution for your situation. It can recover permanently deleted files and is also designed to work with corrupted external hard drives like the one you mentioned.

Crucial Tips for Success

• Stop using the affected drives immediately: Any new data saved to your PC's C: drive or your external HDD can permanently overwrite the files you want to recover.
• Use a different destination drive: The destination folder for recovered files must be on a different drive. If recovering from your C: drive, save to an external USB or your D: drive.
• Try Regular first, then Extensive: For your PC's deleted folder, try /regular first. For your corrupted external drive, go directly to /extensive.

Before trying any best data recovery software for PC, understand this: every moment you use your computer, you risk permanently losing your files. 

• When you delete a file, Windows does not actually erase it. It simply marks that space as "available" for new data. If you continue using the drive—installing software, saving new files, even browsing the internet heavily—you may overwrite the deleted data before you can recover it.
• Stop using both drives immediately if the data is critically important. Do not save anything new to them until you complete your recovery attempts.

If you had System Protection enabled on your Windows 11 PC, this is your best chance for the accidentally deleted folder. Windows automatically saves shadow copies of files when restore points are created.

Here is how to try the best data recovery software for PC:

1. Open File Explorer and navigate to the folder that originally contained your deleted files

2. Right-click that folder and select "Restore previous versions"

3. In the dialog box, you will see available versions with dates and times

4. Select a version from before the deletion occurred

5. Click Open to verify the contents are correct, then Restore to recover them

Important warning: If you had system protection turned off, this method will show no previous versions. Many Windows installations do not have this enabled by default.