RecoverHelper — Recover Lost Photos & Videos on Windows, Mac & Android

Built for real recovery scenarios

Most tools throw your files in a random folder. We don't.

NTFS MFT-based recovery

Restores original filenames, folder paths, and timestamps from the Master File Table.

Partial recovery

Salvages readable bytes from broken or fragmented files that other tools give up on.

30+ file formats

From photos and camera RAW to video, audio, documents and archives — recovered by signature.

Survives failing drives

Bad sectors are skipped automatically, so a dying external drive still gives up everything it can.

100% read-only

Never writes to the source drive. Your data stays untouched.

Preview before recovery

Thumbnail preview lets you pick exactly the files you want back.

Forensic-grade reports

Every scan produces a SHA-256 manifest, an HTML report with per-format stats, and a live hex visualizer.

SD cards, USB & external drives

Scans internal disks, external drives, SD cards and USB sticks — any device Windows or macOS can see.

16 languages

English, Korean, Chinese, Japanese and 12 more — switch anytime.

Recovers 30+ file types

Whatever you lost, there's a good chance RecoverHelper knows its signature.

Photos

JPEG, PNG, HEIC, GIF, BMP, WebP, PSD

Camera RAW

CR2, NEF, ARW, DNG, ORF, RAF, PEF, TIFF

Video

MP4, MOV, M4V, MKV, AVI, WebM

Audio

MP3, WAV, FLAC, OGG

Documents

PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, RTF

Archives & more

ZIP, RAR, 7Z, SQLite

Three ways to scan

Pick the depth that fits your situation — or let the default Deep Scan handle it.

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Quick Scan

Reads the NTFS Master File Table to bring files back with their original names and timestamps. Usually finishes in under a minute.

Best for accidental deletion or an emptied Recycle Bin

🔍

Deep Scan

Runs the MFT scan, then carves the entire drive by file signature to find what the file system forgot.

Best for reformatted partitions or files missing from the MFT

🛠

Carving Only

Signature scan with no file system — works on FAT32, exFAT, APFS, HFS+ and raw or corrupted volumes. Recovers content even without filenames.

Best for a Mac APFS/HFS+ disk, a destroyed partition table or a RAW disk

Safe by design, private by default

Read-only, always

The source drive is opened read-only at the operating-system level. RecoverHelper physically cannot write to the disk you are scanning — it's a hard rule in the code, not a setting.

Saved to a separate drive

Recovered files are always written to a different drive. The app blocks same-drive output so you never overwrite what you're trying to rescue.

Nothing leaves your computer

The desktop app has no ads, no telemetry and no cloud uploads. The only network call is a quick pairing check that sends just a token and a hashed machine ID.

Works offline

After you pair once, unlocking is cached for 30 days of fully offline use — scan air-gapped machines with no problem.

Unlock every format — free

Recover JPG and PNG right away. To bring back everything else, just pair the free mobile app — no payment, ever.

📱

Step 1

Install the free app

Get RecoverHelper for Android or iPhone — it takes seconds and costs nothing. On Android it also recovers files on the phone itself.

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Step 2

Scan the QR code

Press Recover on your PC and scan the QR code on screen with the app.

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Step 3

Everything unlocks

Video, RAW, audio, documents and archives all recover instantly — completely free.

▶ Get it on Google Play

Feature	Without app	With the free app
JPG / PNG recovery	✓	✓
Video (MP4 / MOV)	—	✓
RAW (CR2 / NEF / ARW)	—	✓
Audio (MP3 / FLAC / WAV)	—	✓
Documents (DOCX / XLSX / PDF)	—	✓
Archives (ZIP / RAR / 7Z)	—	✓
Partial recovery	—	✓
Multilingual UI	✓	✓
Preview thumbnails	—	✓
Pause / Resume scans	—	✓
Export recovery log	—	✓
Cost	Free	Free

↓ Download — it's free

New · Android

Recover deleted files on your Android phone, too

The RecoverHelper Android app now scans the phone itself — no PC needed. Find photos, videos and files that are still on your storage and bring them back in a tap. Free, like everything else.

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Quick & Deep scan

Quick scan checks the trash, hidden and cache folders. Deep scan walks the whole storage, identifies files by signature even without an extension, and pulls JPEGs out of thumbnail caches.

🖼️

Preview and pick

Every result is labelled — trash, hidden, cache, not in gallery — with a thumbnail, so you restore only what you want.

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Restored to a safe folder

Recovered files go to a RecoverHelper folder in Pictures, Movies, Music, Documents or Download and show up in your gallery right away.

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Restore history

Search, sort, open, share or delete everything you have restored from one screen.

▶ Get it on Google Play Android 8.0 or newer · free · no account

How it works: without root, Android does not allow reading wiped storage sectors. The app recovers files that still exist on the device — in the trash, in hidden or cache folders, or inside thumbnail caches — and Deep scan needs the "All files access" permission.

❤️

RecoverHelper is free — help keep it that way

No paywalls, no subscriptions. If RecoverHelper brought your files back, a small donation helps cover servers and keeps development going. Give through whichever option is easiest for you.

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Common recovery scenarios

Step-by-step guides for the most common ways photos and files go missing.

How to recover deleted photos → SD card & memory card photo recovery → Recover photos & files from a formatted drive → Recover files from a corrupted, RAW or unreadable drive → Recover deleted videos → Recover files emptied from the Recycle Bin → Recover files from a USB flash drive → Free photo recovery software → How to Recover Camera RAW Photos (CR2, NEF, ARW, DNG) → Recover Deleted HEIC Photos from iPhone Exports → External Hard Drive Recovery: Get Your Photos and Files Back → Shift+Delete Recovery: Get Back Files That Skipped the Recycle Bin → How to Recover Photos from a Camera Card (RAW + JPG) → Recover MP4 Videos by Signature Carving → RAW Drive Recovery Without Formatting → Mac Photo Recovery → Recover Files from an exFAT Drive → How to Recover Deleted Files on Windows 11 → Lost and Deleted Partition Recovery → How to recover deleted Word documents → How to recover deleted Excel files → How to recover deleted PDF files → How to recover deleted music & audio files → How to recover deleted ZIP, RAR & 7Z archives → NTFS recovery: getting your folder structure back → FAT32 recovery: USB sticks, SD cards and older drives → SSD data recovery: an honest assessment →

Frequently asked

Will it work on my Mac? +

Yes. RecoverHelper runs on both Windows 10/11 and macOS. One thing to know: rebuilding original filenames and folders works on NTFS drives. On a Mac's own APFS or HFS+ disk, recovery is signature-based — it brings your file contents back, but not the original names. Download the build for your platform from the download section above.

Which formats can I recover for free? +

All of them. JPEG and PNG recover instantly. Every other format — camera RAW, video, audio, documents, archives, plus partial recovery of fragmented files — unlocks for free once you pair the mobile app. Nothing is ever behind a paywall.

Do I need administrator rights? +

Reading a raw disk or memory card requires administrator privileges, so the first scan may ask you to run RecoverHelper as administrator. Recovering already-deleted files from your own user folders can work without it.

Will using it cause more data loss? +

No. RecoverHelper opens the source drive strictly read-only. It never writes back to the disk you are scanning. We always recommend saving recovered files to a different drive.

Can I recover from a disk that won't mount? +

Yes — that is one of its strongest use cases. Pick the raw physical-disk entry as the source and run Carving mode. If the drive has bad sectors, RecoverHelper skips the failed reads and keeps going, so a dying disk still surrenders most of its files.

How do I unlock all the formats? +

Press Recover in the desktop app and a QR code appears. Install the free RecoverHelper mobile app for Android or iPhone, scan the QR code, and every format unlocks instantly — no account or payment needed. Once paired, unlocking stays active offline for 30 days at a time.

Is any of my data sent to your servers? +

No. RecoverHelper sends no scan results, file content, filenames or metadata anywhere. The only network call is a quick pairing check, which contains just a pairing token and a hashed machine ID. The desktop recovery app has no ads or telemetry.

Is RecoverHelper really free? +

Yes, completely. There are no paid tiers, subscriptions or hidden fees. We keep the app free with ads on this website and in the mobile app, plus optional donations from people it has helped. Your recovery workflow in the desktop app stays ad-free.

Can it recover deleted files directly on my Android phone? +

Yes. The RecoverHelper Android app (version 1.1 and later) has its own Quick and Deep scan. It finds photos, videos and files that still exist on the phone — in the trash, in hidden or cache folders, or inside thumbnail caches — lets you preview them and restores them to a RecoverHelper folder. Without root, Android does not allow reading wiped storage sectors, so files that were fully overwritten cannot be brought back by any app. Deep scan needs the "All files access" permission.

Can I install it on multiple PCs? +

Yes. RecoverHelper is free, so install it on as many computers as you like. Each PC pairs with the mobile app once to unlock all formats.

Do I get free updates? +

Yes — every update is free, forever. RecoverHelper is a free product with no paid versions to upgrade to.

Get your deleted photos & videos back. For free.