About this release
Recuva is the tool to reach for the moment you realise you deleted something you needed. It is tiny, it installs in seconds, and a straightforward wizard walks you through choosing what kind of file you lost and where it was, then scans and lists what it can bring back. For the common case of a fumbled delete or an emptied recycle bin, it is often all you need.
It works on more than the system drive. Memory cards, USB sticks and external drives are all fair game, which is why photographers keep it around for the sinking moment when a card gets formatted in the camera. Each found file comes with a recoverability rating, so you can see at a glance which ones are likely to come back clean and which are probably too overwritten to save.
When the quick scan comes up short, the deep scan reads the drive more thoroughly and finds files whose directory entries are long gone, at the cost of taking much longer. There is a secure overwrite option too, for permanently destroying files you want gone rather than recovered. The build here is the full version, with a portable option that runs from a USB stick without installing.
What it does
- Wizard driven recovery for deleted files
- Works on drives, memory cards, USB sticks and external disks
- Recoverability rating on every found file
- Deep scan for files whose directory entries are gone
- Preview of recoverable images before restoring
- Secure overwrite for permanently destroying files
- Filter results by file type, name and path
- Portable version that runs from a USB stick
- Recovery from recently formatted volumes
- Very small footprint and fast install
Changes in this version
- Faster deep scan on large drives
- Improved recovery from current memory card formats
- Reworked results list with clearer recoverability labels
- Better preview handling for raw camera files
- Updated interface language set
What the package contains
- Recuva full installer
- Portable version for running from a USB stick
- Both 32-bit and 64-bit payloads
- All interface languages
- Readme with the install order written out step by step
Installation notes
Follow these in order. Most reports of a failed install come from skipping a step rather than from the package itself.
- If recovering from the system drive, use the portable version from a USB stick to avoid overwriting.
- Extract the archive to any folder you like.
- Run the installer, or the portable executable directly.
- Do not save recovered files back onto the same drive you are scanning.
- Run the wizard, choose the file type and location, and scan.
- Recover the files you want to a different drive.
System requirements
| Operating system | Windows 7 or newer, 32-bit or 64-bit |
| Processor | Any 1 GHz or faster processor |
| Memory | 512 MB minimum |
| Graphics | No specific requirement |
| Storage | 30 MB free plus space for recovered files |
| Display | 1024 by 768 minimum |
Things worth knowing
- Stop using the drive the moment you realise something is deleted, every write lowers the odds of a clean recovery.
- Never recover files back onto the same drive you are scanning, it can overwrite what you are trying to save.
- The portable build is the right choice for recovering from the system drive, since installing writes to it.
Questions about this title
Can it recover from a formatted card?
What does the recoverability rating mean?
Why use the portable version?
Does the deep scan take long?
What people are saying
Formatted a card in the camera by mistake, deep scan brought back the whole shoot. Ran it from a stick like it says.
Emptied the bin then needed a file. Quick scan found it in seconds. Tiny tool, big save.
The advice to stop using the drive immediately is the real trick. Waited too long once and lost half of it.
Listing information
This entry is catalogued under Utilities & Tools and carries the tags below. Language coverage is Multilingual, 37 interface languages, and the supported platform list is Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows 11. Version 1.55.133 is the current catalogued build, last checked 6 days ago, and the entry has been in the index since it was added 3 years ago.