Disk Drill is probably one of the most popular file recovery apps. And when people search for Disk Drill they are asking if there is a good program to recover their files. But we need to ask ourselves a different question — will any software help you recover your lost files? In a large share of cases, there won't be anything available to do so.
When trying to recover from a lost file or a missing partition on a working drive, Disk Drill compares favourably to other tools. When trying to recover from a failing hard disk, no scanner is the right tool. Not even Disk Drill.
Understanding this helps explain the differences between tools.
There are two main actions to restore data. Every recovery product, whether you pay for it or use the free version will either perform one action or both.
Reading file system structures. The software uses what's left on the drive where you had the data when you can still read what was originally written, as with a deleted file or a lost partition. The "map" was used by the operating system as an index so it could find everything. It builds this again once it has enough information about what the original map looked like, which allows your files to be returned with their names and the same folder structure that you were using before. And that is much better.
Carving by signature. When the index does not exist any more, the software searches through the raw disk for bytes that represent common file types — such as JPEG, DOCX, PDF, MP4 — and builds each back up from its beginning (header), but no names or folders are assigned to these files since those existed in the index.
While different software programs vary greatly in the number of file signatures they recognise, how well they work with APFS containers or LVM pools — and how well they look while being run — there is no difference in physics.
Those things are way more important than reviews or features.
That's the most important. Ideally, you want to be able to browse and see your list of files — and maybe even open a sample file — prior to sending money. Any application requesting to charge you for service prior to allowing you to view your data is basically asking you to bet money that you'll get something back.
Reading the files using either scanning or carving is a read-only operation. The applications that can write to the drive as part of repairing, fixing or rebuilding it will destroy what any recovery process could possibly have used from the original damaged drive.
Running from a USB thumb-drive allows you to avoid creating one of the most commonly experienced self-imposed failures by avoiding having an installer write into the free space where your deleted files exist.
Setups such as APFS containers, LVM thin pools and XFS can render products useless when they expect to find a simple partition with either NTFS or ext4 within them.
Before working through a list of downloads we need to understand what happens in each of these.
Mechanical faults. Your drive clicks, grinds or won't even spin. A hardware problem can never be solved by software. A deep scan is hours upon hours of just reading data off a drive that could be dead when you get to the end of the long process that was intended to save it. Drive failure is common enough that some drives fail mid-way through a scan intended to save them.
Drives the computer cannot see. If Disk Management or Disk Utility cannot see your missing disk then none of the recovery utilities can either.
TRIMmed SSD deletions. Your blocks were physically erased by the SSD controller. There is no way for any software to recover them.
Encryption without the key. The volume cannot be read with the use of any tool.
We'd rather tell you so than take the work.
Files recently deleted from a functioning hard drive, a lost or damaged partition on sound hardware and a quick-formatted flash card or stick. All three have working mechanical parts as far as the storage itself goes; only the map is broken. That's exactly what recovery programs are made for and they often succeed first time.
If you decide to try, there are two things to remember: Install the software used for recovery to a separate physical disk than the one you're attempting to recover from and save recovered data to a third location. If you break either rule, you can overwrite the files you were trying to recover.
On a Mac, try checking for an APFS snapshot before buying – Time Machine generates hourly local snapshots on every internal drive and these can be restored locally without cost. If software genuinely cannot help, single drives in Manchester are from £300 +VAT after a free 48-hour diagnostic, and if the diagnostic results show that the issue could have been resolved using a tool, then we state this also.
This is one of the most well known examples of a class of software that does broadly the same two things: read what's left of an old file system and recover files from signatures where those structures are gone. Of course, it doesn't matter how good the tools are if there isn't a good fit for your case.
Whether it previews before payment, whether it is strictly read-only, whether it runs portable from a USB stick, and whether it really supports your file system — APFS containers and LVM pools break tools that assume simple partitions.
The tool carved them by signature rather than reading the index. The names and folder structure live in the file system index so when that goes away, the contents come back correctly but numbered.
No. Clicking is mechanical, and hardware can't be repaired by software. What's worse, a deep scan will put hours of continuous reading on a drive that may not survive it. Drives regularly fail part way through a scan intended to save them.
Either on a different physical drive than the one you are recovering, or run a portable version from a USB stick. The installer writes, and it might write into exactly the free space holding your deleted files.
Files recently deleted from an otherwise normal hard disk; a missing partition on some sort of sound hardware; and quick-formatted memory cards or thumb drives. The problem in each case isn't with the physical media itself but rather with how it's been mapped out to be used by operating systems. This is exactly what these tools are made for.