Recover Deleted or Lost GED files on Windows & Mac
Best 5 data recovery software for GED, GEDCOM Genealogy Data File
Summary review
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Our Windows version | Windows 10 |
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How long we tested | 4 weeks |
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Number of tested tools | 19 |
Top 3 factors to consider when choosing GED recovery software
Not everybody is tech-savvy and knows their way around a command prompt or advanced menus. Choose a data recovery program that has a user interface and flow that fits your technical expertise. That way, you’ll be able to recover your files with minimal hassle. Some apps are even designed to accommodate both novice and expert users.
While there are a few genuinely free data recovery programs out there and some with a decent trial version, they’re often either overly complex, ineffective, or have recovery limits. So if you’re willing to invest, you should find a program that fits your price range. Also, consider whether you’d prefer a program with subscriptions or a one-time payment.
Whether it’s pictures, documents, audio, or file types, it’s a good idea to select a recovery program that supports the retrieval of a wide range of file extensions. Once you’re done recovering your files this time around, you may need to use the program again in the future for a different file type.
Simple steps to recover deleted GED, GEDCOM Genealogy Data File on Windows & Mac
Download and install the app to your Windows or Mac computer
Start the program and choose the disk or partition where the files were last seen
Hit Recover to scan the selected disk for files that can be restored
Click Recover a second time to get back your selected files
3 best ways to prevent GED files loss
Install quality antivirus/antimalware software. Viruses and malware can wreak havoc on your computer and storage media and could lead to some serious loss of data. To prevent that, it’s always a good idea to install quality antivirus and antimalware software to counteract any malicious programs trying to infiltrate your machine.
Do routine maintenance on your computer/laptop. Neglecting your computer or laptop can lead to dust build-up, ventilation issues, and other hardware pitfalls. In turn, this could cause your device to abruptly fail, resulting in data loss. So make sure to always perform regular maintenance on your machine to ensure that it stays in tip-top shape.
Avoid suspicious emails and files. Suspicious emails are rife with phishing emails and other forms of malicious files. Accessing the contents of these emails could severely compromise the security of your computer. This could lead to hackers accessing your machine, putting your important files in jeopardy. So if you see a suspicious email, simply delete it.
FAQ
If you find that GED files are randomly being deleted from your computer, it’s a good indication that your hard drive is failing. In these cases, it’s a good idea to make a backup image of the drive to avoid further data loss. Another reason is that your computer has been infected by a virus or some form of malware.
A quality data recovery program should allow for the retrieval of a wide range of different file types, whether they’re documents, images, audio clips, and others. Disk Drill is an excellent option that is capable of recovering GED extension and you can easily filter out the results by typing the extension into the search bar at the results screen.
For Windows, if you deleted the GED file using the Delete key or right-click > Delete command, then you should be able to find it in the Recycle Bin. On Mac, deleted X files are moved to the Trash before being deleted permanently. If your file is not present in either of these tools, you’ll need to utilize a free data recovery program.