SD Card Recovery Software

If you’re a Windows user and are looking for a straightforward free SD card recovery tool that you can use to perform basic data recovery jobs without spending a single dollar, then Recuva is an excellent choice.

You can install Recuva on any PC running Windows XP or newer, and its user interface is so simple that you’ll be able to figure it out in seconds. As far as performance goes, Recuva can confidently recover pictures, music, documents, videos, emails, and other file types that are commonly used by Windows users.

Unlike Disk Drill, it sometimes struggles with newer and more exotic file formats because it was last updated in 2016. Since the original developers are no longer involved in its development, it’s unlikely that Recuva will receive a major update anytime soon.

Pros:

• Portable version available
• Unlimited free recovery
• Simple user interface

Cons:

• No updates since 2016
• Automatic updates only in the paid version

Pricing:

Just like Disk Drill, Recuva, and other beginner-friendly memory card recovery software tools, IObit Undelete stands out with its one-click approach to data recovery. It also offers a handy portable mode that lets you run it on any Windows machine without installing it first.

Where it does fall behind higher-ranking tools is its data recovery performance. Simply put, IObit Undelete can only recover standard document, video, audio, and graphics file formats, and it can’t even preview them.

There are also no advanced options to speak of, so don’t even bother downloading IObit Undelete if you consider yourself to be a power user. In such a case, download R-Studio or other similar SD card recovery software instead.

Pros:

• Very easy to use
• Portable mode
• One-click recovery process
• Small download size

Cons:

• Lack of advanced options
• Can’t preview files before recovery
• Limited file format support
• Doesn’t seem to be updated anymore

Pricing: Freeware

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard has been around for a long time, and it has gathered countless positive online reviews praising its reliable performance and polished user interface, among other things. Indeed, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard makes it easy to recover files from SD cards of all sizes and types, making it one of the best memory card recovery software for PC.

The main reason why we can’t rank it any higher is the fact it was last updated in 2020. In contrast, Disk Drill has received a major update this month, and updates keep coming at a steady pace, ensuring that users don’t have to deal with annoying bugs that compromise their experience and affect data recovery performance.

Pros:

• Reliable and well-rated
• The free version can recovery 2 GB of data
• Support for over 1,000 file formats
• Recover data from various data loss situations

Cons:

• Scan time is always irrelevant
• Windows and Mac versions require a separate license
• Last updated in 2020

Pricing:

All SD card data recovery tools offer different features and capabilities, not to mention how wildly they can differ in terms of performance. When comparing them, we pay attention to the following criteria:

• 👁️ Data recovery results: Does the SD card recovery tool actually deliver the data recovery results it promises? Unfortunately, some tools claim to recover thousands of file formats but, in reality, fail to retrieve even the most basic ones.
• 💡 Extra features and capabilities: Does the tool come with any extra features that increase its value? Good examples include built-in data protection and backup capabilities, disk health checking, and so on.
• ☎️ Customer support: How friendly and responsive is the customer support staff? There’s nothing worse than encountering an annoying bug and having no one to report it to.
• 🤗 Easy of use: Do you need to read a lengthy manual before you can use the SD card data recovery tool? These days, there’s no reason for SD card recovery tools to be complicated and unintuitive, and there’s definitely no reason for you to waste time on tools that fail at basic usability.
• 💲 Price: Is the tool offered as a freeware application, or does it cost money? Depending on your budget, you may gravitate toward free SD card data recovery tools, and that’s perfectly alright. Just know that paid solutions are typically more reliable and deliver better results.

Data loss can happen for many different reasons, and you should understand at least the ones that are most common so that you can better avoid them:

• 🗑️ Formatting: Clicking the Format button lets you quickly and easily delete all data stored on an SD card and prepare it for another device. But if you fail to double-check that the SD card is really empty, you could instantly lose thousands of important files in one go.
• 😲 User error: We all make mistakes, but some of our mistakes can lead to data loss, such as accidentally clicking the Delete button instead of the Rename button. If you notice your mistake soon enough and don’t wait too long before using data recovery software for SD card recovery, you should be able to see your files again.
• ⚠️ Corruption: Software bugs, malware, and other factors can cause data stored on an SD card to become corrupted, unreadable, and, in extreme cases, even inaccessible. Fortunately, corrupted SD card recovery can be performed both using free SD card recovery software and built-in tools.
• 🔨 Physical damage: SD cards are small, fragile, and extremely difficult to repair once heavily damaged. While an SD card won’t break if you drop it on the floor, you can easily snap it in half just by forcefully inserting it the wrong way. Unfortunately, it’s typically not possible to recover a physically damaged SD card at home.
• 👾 Malfunction: Modern SD cards are highly reliable, and it’s extremely rare for them to just stop working suddenly. But just because something is rare doesn’t mean it won’t ever happen to you, which is why you should always back up your files to a safe location.