As the old saying goes, the best offense is a good defense. With that in mind, do you have a data recovery solution in place that will enable you to recover deleted files? Data loss can be a huge headache for anyone with a Windows PC, Mac, iPhone, Android device, or any device which has data storage. So today we’re taking a look at Disk Drill, a piece of software that can recover deleted files from almost any device.
Disk Drill recovers deleted files from Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android
From time to time, almost everyone who uses a computer or a portable device will experience data loss. Whether that be work files, images, or video, it has happened to us all. However, there are safeguards that you can put in place, and among them is the software option.
Yes, you may be thinking, “But I back up my data regularly, I’m safe.” Congratulations, you’re doing the bare minimum, but what if your hardware stops working? How will you recover those files?
Well in answer to that, we’re introducing you to Disk Drill. It’s a piece of software created by a company called Cleverfiles, and it’s available for both Mac and Windows PC. Having been in development for about eight years, this software is currently in its second iteration with the third on its way.
Two Disk Drill versions to choose from
Using highly-efficient data recovery modules, Disk Drill can recover lost images, videos, documents, contacts, and much more. In fact, the with the latest updates, it’s possible to recover deleted files on iOS and Android devices. As there are two versions of this software, one for Mac and the other for Windows, we had to make a choice. For this tutorial, we’ve chosen Windows.
Before we begin explaining the tutorial, go to the Cleverfiles site and download the software. Clicking the Free Download link will start the process. We advise that you upgrade to the Pro version of the software, which will enable you to bypass the 500MB lifetime restoration limit.
If you are a Mac user, you can download the software from here and still follow this tutorial. The software versions for the two operating systems are remarkably similar.
How to use Disk Drill to recover deleted files
For this tutorial, we are assuming that you have already upgraded from Disk Drill Basic. We are using the Pro version, which comes with all the features you’d find in the basic, but it also can be used by a single user on up to three computers. It also comes with Quick and Deep Scan, lost partition search, and all file systems (FAT32, NTFS, exFAT, EXT3/4, etc.) and reconstructs 200+ file formats.
Now we can begin the tutorial, and please follow the instructions to the letter.
- If you have a mobile device that you wish to recover deleted files from, connect it now to your Windows PC or Mac.
- Close all open applications; this will prevent any unwanted access of your disk.
Now we can begin to recover deleted files.
- If you have not already done so, launch the Disk Drill software.
- Once launched, you will see that it has a straightforward, user-friendly interface, with any internal drives and connected devices displayed in front of you.
- Looking at the drives available, we want to recover deleted files from the Maxtor drive. To do this, click on the drive; this will reveal the drive name and more options.
If you take a look at the image above, clicking on the arrow next to “recover” opens a menu. This menu enables you to search for all of your lost files using Run All Recovery Methods. However, that can take a long time to return results, so we are going to choose the Quick Scan option. This option will reveal recoverable files and more in seconds.
Next, take a look at the image above, Disk Drill has returned a quick snapshot of what is available to be recovered. All you have to do now is select a file to save and choose a destination in the blue recover bar.
Now, if you want to save the results of this search, Disk Drill has made this available. At the top of the screen is the Save Session option. Click it and choose a name and location to save the file. What’s great about this option is that it allows you to save data for whole hard disks and partitions, plus sessions from external sources such as SD cards, and mobile devices.
And that is it; you now know how to recover deleted files with the Disk Drill software. Yes, this was a simple tutorial designed to introduce you to it. However, the software is simple to use, and it won’t take you long to learn its other features. If you give this tutorial and recovery software a try, let us know if you have any questions.
