Top 5 Free Folder Recovery Software in Windows 10/8/7

A folder usually stores many important files. If you accidentally delete a folder, all the files in it will be lost. Yet it is impossible to recover the folder by yourself and then you would get much annoyed. But you can recover the deleted folder with the five best folder recovery software.

Why the Deleted Folders Can Be Recovered After Empty Recycle Bin

When a folder has been deleted from the computer, the files in it seem to disappear. Actually, these files are not immediately destroyed. Windows simply marks the hard drive space as being available for use by changing one character in the file table so that the file entry won't be displayed in My Computer or a command line DIR command, etc. The data area remains intact. 

This is the major reason why the deleted folder could be recovered. If you manage to start to undelete files before Windows uses that part of the hard drive to write a new file, all you have to do is to set that flag back to "on" and then you will get the file. The sooner you try to recover the folders, the more successful your recovery will be.

The Fabulous Folder Recovery Software Is Ready For You

To recover the deleted folders, you have to turn to the data recovery software. It is hard for you to choose the most suitable one. Thus, I have tested at least 10 data recovery software. And here, I list the 5 most effective folder recovery software.

1. EaseUS Free Folder Recovery Software
2. Recuva
3. Wise Data Recovery
4. Recover My Files
5. Photo Rec

After testing dozens of folder recovery software, we picked 10 of them. And we further reduced the number of top-performing best free folder recovery tools to 5 based on the overall ranking of the recovery rate under common data loss scenarios, easiness of interfaces, compatibility, features, and scan options.

🔢 Number of tested tools	20
⏳ Time lasting	5 weeks
⚙️ Folder loss scenarios	File deletion, format, RAW drives
🖥️ OS version	Windows 11/10/8/7
💸 Minimum cost	Free
💰 Average cost	$70

Top 1. EaseUS Free Folder Recovery Software (Windows & Mac)

EaseUS free data recovery software is the most efficient recovery software. It can recover deleted Word, Excel, PowerPoint, photo, Email, database, and all document formats and folders in Windows, which have been emptied from the Windows Recycle Bin. In addition to deleted folder recovery, this effective data recovery software can also do the following thing for you:

Pros

• The easy 3-step recovery process
• Virus-free and plugin-free
• Supports for 1000+ file types
• Photo repair and video repair is available

EaseUS Data Recovery, I swear to God, is the MVP of data recovery for when SD cards just go nuts (definitely not because I eject them without doing so properly)

— dave (@ddryan) December 11, 2019

Cons

• Free trial with a 2GB recovery limit. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro costs $69.95 and has no recovery limits.

Top 2. Recuva - Recover Deleted Files Quickly and Easily (for Win)

Recuva is another free folder recovery software. It is totally free. I have tested deleted file recovery on my D drive. This software has recovered 100 percent of the JPG images and most of the word, excel, and PPT files. It guides you through the data recovery process by asking you several questions, which makes it more user friendly.

Pros

• 100% free data recovery software
• Deep scan mode for hard to find files
• A portable version is available

Cons

• You cannot preview the result during the scanning
• No update version for a long time

Top 3. Wise Data Recovery (Windows Only)

I tested Wise Data Recovery with the same data loss scenarios. It supports recovering 1000+ types of files. It can recover data from HDD, SSD, External hard disks, Floppy Disks, USB flash drives, Memory cards, Digital cameras, and any other storage devices.

Pros

• The data recovery software is free
• It can get all types of files back in easily
• A portable version is available

Cons

• Shows messy codes in the preview pane for unsupported formats

Top 4. Recover My Files (Windows only)

You can get data back with free Recover My Files. In my testing, Recover My Files can retrieve almost 80% of the deleted data from these four data loss scenarios. During the test, it takes a longer time to scan the deleted files. Besides, Recover My Files is compatible with Windows only, not for macOS users.

Pros

Allows to scan the backup (image file) of a partition

You can adjust the layout of the items

It is free for advanced file recovery

Cons

The data recovery process is relatively more complex than its competitors.

Top 5. Photo Rec (Windows, Mac, and Linux)

I have tested PhotoRec with the same data loss scenarios. It recovers images from all kinds of digital devices. Besides, It supports different systems like Windows, macOS, and Linux. During the testing, it has taken the longest time to scan deleted files in any data loss scenarios.

Pro

• The data recovery software is free.
• This software works on many file formats, not just images.

Cons

• It is unable to restore file names and folder structure
• It is quite technical for users

Recover Deleted Folders with Free Folder Recovery Software

In this article, I have reviewed 5 free data recovery software. You can utilize them to recover lost or deleted files. Here are the steps to recover deleted folders with EaseUS EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard.

Step 1. Select a folder to scan for lost files

Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard. Choose "Select Folder" under Specify a location. Click "Browse" to choose the location where you lost the folder and click "OK" to scan the lost folder. 

Step 2. Find and preview found files in the lost folder

If you remember the folder name, type the folder name in search box to quickly find the lost files. Then, open the found folder and double-click to preview scanned files. Or you can use the Filter feature to find a certain type of files. 

Step 3. Recover and save the lost folder 

Last, select the folder and files you need, click "Recover" and choose a new & secure location on your PC to keep the recovered data. 

To Sum Up

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard can easily recover lost files, pictures, documents, videos, and more from deletions, formatting errors, partition losses, OS crashes, virus attacks, and other data loss scenarios. You should also take preventive measures to avoid data loss. For example, often create a backup and say no to data loss. Share this post to let more people know.

Folder Recovery Software FAQs

After the recommendation, here are some frequently asked questions. You can read the following answers to learn more:

1. How to recover the folder structure of a formatted HDD?

Basically, you have three options to recover folder structure of formatted HDD:

1. 1. Use Windows Backup and Restore option. You can easily restore all the files with this functional option.
2. 2. Use a third-party data recovery program - EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard. This software will help you recover files from a formatted HDD.
3. 3. If you cannot recover anything useful by yourself, it is time to turn to professional help. Go to the repair store to recover essential files.

2. How to recover data from a specific folder?

Recover data from a specific folder is easy. You should download a reliable recovery program. You should try EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard:

1. 1. Scan the specific folder or the hard disk to search for lost files.
2. 2. Scroll down the results to find the wanted files.
3. 3. Restore the files after previewing them.

3. Is EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard free?

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard can be freely downloaded, and you will get 2GB of free recovery space. If you want to recover files larger than 2GB, you can pay for the pro version.

4. What is the best folder recovery software?

Here are the top five folder recovery software we recommend:

1. 1. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard
2. 2. Recuva
3. 3. Wise Data Recovery
4. 4. Recover My Files
5. 5. PhotoRec