[Reviewed] Top 5 Free SD Card Recovery Software for PC
Struggling to find the free SD card recovery software for PC? We all rely heavily on SD cards for storing our daily lives, but accidents like system crashes or accidental deletions can wipe out our efforts.
But with so many of them teeming the market, which one to pick? Hold on! You don’t need to do that. We’ve tested various options and already handpicked 5 best free SD card recovery software options that cater to different needs. All you have to do is read the review down below and choose one that fits your requirements best!
Part 1: Top 5 Free SD Card Recovery Software in 2024
Here’s a detailed review of free SD card recovery software for PC in 2024, including their key features, pros, and cons. Find out what makes them different from each other and what will be the best choice for your memory card recovery needs:
Top 1: 4DDiG Data Recovery
4DDiG Data Recovery stands as best free SD card recovery software to retrieve data from various data loss scenarios like crashed computer, lost partition, virus attack, etc. You can use it to retrieve data from over 2000 storage devices, including SD cards, USB drives, internal/external disks, and more. Moreover, its intuitive interface makes the recovery process seamless, even for users with limited computer skills.
What sets Tenorshare 4DDiG apart is its enhanced video recovery feature. With this feature, 4DDiG can scan and match video fragments in any storage media to recover a complete and playable video.
| Pros | Cons |
| Features a pleasant interface.Recovers over 2000 data types, such as photos, videos, documents, audio, etc.Offers two scan modes: Quick Scan and Deep Scan.Allow users to preview files before recovery.Compatible with Windows and Mac. | Recover up to 2 GB of data for free for clicking the share button. |
Top 2: Piriform Recuva
Recuva by Piriform is another best free SD card recovery software that can handle 500+ data loss situations like recovering deleted, newly formatted, or corrupted files. With its normal and deep scan options, it meticulously checks your SD card, going through its clusters and file signatures to recover data.
Recuva supports 1000+ file formats including photos, videos, documents, and music. You can get this SD card data recovery software for free download. Moreover, you can adjust it to scan through removable media like an SD card, HDDs, SDDs, Recycle bin, or specific locations on your computer.
| Pros | Cons |
| Easy to install and lightweight software at only 7 MBs.Unlimited free data recovery.Customize settings to target specific types of drives for scanning.Offers an option to reveal hidden, securely overwritten, zero-byte files, etc. Offers a portable version.Fast scanning speed. | The user interface isn’t impressive.Doesn’t show all file types by default.For less common file types like RAW data, results can be unpredictable.Only works with Windows-based partitions like NTFS, FAT32, and exFAT.Other advanced features need to be upgraded to the pro version to unlock. |
Top 3: Disk Drill Data Recovery
Disk Drill is a free SD card recovery software for PC with a user interface that’s sleek, easy to use, and intuitive. It can recover 400+ file formats including common and proprietary ones like RAW files and quickly assess whether your files can be successfully recovered.
Moreover, this free SD card recovery software for PC can recover data from various storage devices like NAS storage, HDDs, USBs, memory & CF cards, etc. Besides, this tool can load scan results as a virtual disk for easier file management. It also offers data protection and drive health monitoring tools.
| Pros | Cons |
| Allows you to narrow down recoverable files by various criteria like file type, size, and modification date. Can handle Virtual Hard Drives in VHD and VHDX formats..Allows you to pause and resume scans later for flexibility. Provides byte-level backups of storage devices.Supports recovery of Windows and Linux RAID arrays.Data protection tools like Recovery Vault are included for free.S.M.A.R.T. monitoring helps track hard drive reliability. | Offers no phone support on Windows.Can only recover up to 500MB of data for free.The Professional version is priced too high. |
Top 4: DMDE Free Edition
DMDE is a powerful and free SD card recovery tool that’s great for finding, editing, and recovering data from various storage drives. It can handle complicated cases where other software fails, recovering directory structures and files. You can recover up to 4000 files from a selected directory for free, with no limit on number of times you can do it.
This free recovery software for SD card also lets you preview common image formats. It includes features like a simple partition manager for undeleting partitions, tools for creating disk images and clones, a RAID constructor, and a disk editor.
| Pros | Cons |
| Designed for professional data recovery needs.Supports Windows, macOS, and Linux systems.Resumes operation even if interrupted mid-scan.Recover files and directory structure from complicated data loss scenarios.Offers a portable version.Comes with data cloning & editing tools, a partition manager, and a RAID constructor. | Only recover up to 4000 files for free.The user interface is complicated to use.Some advanced features require technical skill to utilize. |
Top 5: TestDisk and PhotoRec
TestDisk and PhotoRec are two open-source and free recovery software for SD card, each with its own job. TestDisk is for recovering lost partitions and deleted files, and fixing disks that won’t boot.
PhotoRec specializes in recovering digital photos and lost files, no matter the file system. It can handle over 440 file formats. These are best free SD card data recovery software as they support various operating systems including Windows , Linux, macOS, and more. PhotoRec even has a graphical user interface option.
| Pros | Cons |
| Open source and free of cost.Supports multiple operating systems.Supports a broad range of file systems.TestDisk provides full support for partition recovery.TestDisk can repair partition tables and rebuild boot sectors.PhotoRec can recover files from damaged or formatted partitions.PhotoRec comes with a GUI option.TestDisk offers to preview partition images after recovery. | The command line interface is not for everyone.Customer support is poor.The list of recoverable formats in PhotoRec is lengthy to sort out.PhotoRec is prone to recovering files with missing filenames. |
Part 2: How to Use Best Free SD Card Recovery Software?
Once, you’ve chosen best free SD card data recovery software like 4DDiG Data Recovery to retrieve data from your memory card, here’s how to use it:
Step 1: Download and install free recovery software for SD card on your computer and plug in your memory card into your PC.
Step 2: Open recovery tool, select your SD card from list of storage drives, then click “Scan” to begin. The tool will swiftly scan your chosen SD card, allowing you to pause or stop midway through search.
Step 3: You can explore categories like Deleted Files, Existing Files, Lost Location, RAW Files, etc, in “Tree View.” Or switch to “File View” to check file types such as Photo, Video, Document, Audio, and Email. Preview files you want to recover from SD card before starting recovery process.
Step 4: Press “Recover” to save recovered files in a secure location. Avoid saving them on same SD card where you lost them in first place to prevent permanent data loss.
Part 3: How to Choose Reliable and Free SD Card Recovery Software?
When picking best SD card data recovery software for free download, there are key things to keep in mind for a smooth recovery. Here are some important tips to help you choose wisely:
- Ease of Use - Opt for user-friendly software, especially if you’re not tech-savvy.
- Performance - Consider speed of recovery process, the number of supported file formats, and how well it handles damaged memory cards.
- Features - Look for ability to recover various file types like videos, images, audio, documents, etc. Also, check if SD card recovery tool supports unconventional file formats other than common ones like RAW files, archives, etc.
- Free Preview - Check whether free SD card recovery software offers a preview option. This will help you try out the tool before buying.
- Compatibility - Ensure memory card recovery software works with your device and storage media, including your operating system and types of storage devices.
- Price - Check if there’s a free trial or any limitations on free recovery.
Final Words
We’ve sifted through several free SD card recovery software in 2024 to find top 6 options for you in above review. But for the cream of crop, look no further than 4DDiG Data Recovery. Why? Because it supports more file types, lets you pause or stop scans midway, and allows you to adjust search filters for better success in finding your files. Besides, it also includes file repair features.