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PhotoRec

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Free, open-source, cross-platform file carving tool for recovering lost files by signature.

Photo Recovery Software
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  • Deployment On Premises
  • Starting price Free
  • Free trial Not offered
  • Best for Freelancers, SMEs

What is PhotoRec?

PhotoRec is a free, open-source data recovery utility distributed under the GNU General Public License by CGSecurity, the same team behind the TestDisk partition recovery tool. Rather than relying on a file system's index, PhotoRec ignores the file system entirely and searches storage media directly for known file headers, a technique called data carving, which lets it recover files even from severely damaged or reformatted drives.

It recognizes more than 480 file extensions across roughly 300 file families, including documents, archives, photos and videos, and it always operates in read-only mode on the source media to avoid further damage. PhotoRec runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, BSD and Solaris, though it does not preserve original file names or folder structure.

Key Features of PhotoRec

PhotoRec lists 9 documented features, including Free and open source under GPL v2+, Signature-based data carving recovery and Recovers 480+ file extensions across ~300 file families. The list below covers what the product does rather than how it is marketed.

  • Free and open source under GPL v2+
  • Signature-based data carving recovery
  • Recovers 480+ file extensions across ~300 file families
  • Works even on severely damaged or reformatted file systems
  • Read-only scanning to protect source media
  • Recovers from hard disks, SSDs, USB drives, memory cards and CD-ROMs
  • Supports FAT, NTFS, exFAT, ext and HFS+ file systems
  • Bundled alongside TestDisk partition recovery tool
  • Runs on Windows, Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD and Solaris

PhotoRec Pricing

PhotoRec lists one plan, at Free.

Free / Open Source

Free

None

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Fully functional, no paid tiers exist

PhotoRec Specifications

PhotoRec is available on Windows and macOS. It has a free plan.

Deployment
  • On Premises
Billing cycle
Onetime
Desktop
  • Windows
  • macOS
Languages
  • English
Built for
  • Freelancers
  • SMEs
Support
  • Email
Integrations
TestDisk
Public API
No
Free trial
No
Free plan
Yes
Runs in browser
No
Customisable
Yes
Website
cgsecurity.org

PhotoRec Videos

PhotoRec Screenshots

PhotoRec screenshot 1

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PhotoRec FAQs

Yes, it is completely free and open source, with no paid tiers or subscriptions.

No, because it recovers files by signature rather than reading the file system, original names and folder structure are usually lost.

Windows, Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD and Solaris.

Yes, it scans the source media in read-only mode and writes recovered files to a separate destination.

The core tool is command-line based, though third-party GUIs such as QPhotoRec exist.