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An In-Depth Analysis of Wondershare Recoverit

Updated to Home > HowTos > Software Reviews by William on Apr 10, 2024 | Approved by Christian Cawley

Accidental data loss is not only an annoyance; it can also be devastating, particularly when the data in question holds significant value, whether personal or professional. In such moments, reliable file recovery software can be a life-saver, bringing back what seemed irretrievably lost. One of the top contenders in the data recovery space is Recoverit, a robust solution developed by Wondershare. In this deep-dive review, we'll explore what Recoverit brings, from its key features to user experience and pricing, helping you determine if this file recovery suite is the right fit for you.

Understanding Recoverit

Recoverit is a flagship product from Wondershare Technology, a renowned software company. It was formerly known as Wondershare Data Recovery and was officially renamed on January 25, 2018. Since version 1.0 was released on September 10, 2003, its development team has worked hard to help users reclaim valuable data in various situations.

One key milestone in Recoverit's history was the introduction of version 12. This version emphasized video recovery, providing users a tool for preserving and restoring valuable video data in various scenarios and formats.

The software is built to cater to different levels of users, from the casual home user to IT professionals, and can recover various file types, including documents, graphics, videos, and email data from over 1000 types and formats.

Key Features

Before we jump into the details, let's shed light on the top features that make Recoverit a renowned data recovery option:

  • Versatile File Recovery
  • Wondershare Recoverit can retrieve data from various scenarios, including accidental deletion, formatted drives, partition loss, virus attacks, system crashes, and even corrupted or inaccessible drives.
  • Wide Device Compatibility
  • The software is compatible with a plethora of storage devices and media (HDDs, SSDs, External Drives, SD cards, USB drives, Digital Cameras, Camcorders, and more), ensuring that no matter where your data is, Recoverit can likely help you find it.
  • Enhanced Photo Video Recovery
  • This mode thoroughly scans the storage device to find more data remnants and attempts to repair damaged parts, including UHD, 4K, or 8K video clips. This makes this feature particularly useful when dealing with complex picture or video loss scenarios. However, it still may not guarantee 100% recovery.
  • System Crash Recovery
  • Recoverit comes to the rescue with a feature that specializes in recovering files from a corrupted or unbootable system. This is a crucial tool for businesses and individuals who cannot afford to lose important work in the event of a system failure.
  • Deep Scan Technology
  • The software's deep scan function can search for traces of data even in the most challenging recovery situations, offering a more thorough retrieval process.
  • NAS and Linux Recovery
  • Although it only has versions for Windows and macOS, Recoverit can remotely retrieve lost data from NAS servers and Linux systems. Currently, only a few data recovery software can do this. If you need this capability, Recoverit is a good choice.
  • Data Protection with an Ability to Create Bootable Media
  • With this tool, users can restart their system from the bootable media and recover data from the hard drive even when the system fails to boot.
  • Repair Corrupted Video
  • While many recovery tools can retrieve video files, few can fix them if damaged. Recoverit manages to do both, making it a standout choice for videographers.
  • Advanced Filters
  • Advanced search filters allow you to specify the type of files you want to recover, which can save time and minimize clutter from your scan results.
  • Preview Before Recovery
  • Recoverit Data Recovery lets you preview recoverable files before initiating the recovery process, ensuring you only restore what you need.

User Experience

The key to successful software is a pleasant user experience, and Wondershare Recovery delivers with its sleek design and clear navigation. Users are guided through the step-by-step recovery process with easily understandable instructions and prompts.

After opening the program, you can select a recovery mode by clicking "Hard Drives and Locations," "System Crashed Computer," "NAS and Linux," or "Enhanced Recovery" on the left panel according to your situation.

After completing the scan, you can switch "File Location" or "File Type" to view the found files. Once you find the target item, you can also double-click it or click the "Preview" button on the right panel to view the content. In addition, Recoverit can also use a variety of filtering methods to help you quickly locate lost data. Finally, select the required files, click the "Recover" button at the bottom right of the page, and then choose a location to save them.

This is the entire process of Recoverit's total deleted file recovery or formatted drive recovery. However, although it is simple to use, its interface also has the following advantages and disadvantages:

Pros:
The intuitive interface with step-by-step instructions makes it easy for non-technical users to use.
Online help can help users solve problems faster.
Cons:
There is no option to filter files before starting recovery, which allows for faster completion of the scan.
When the user switches to the file type option on the results page, the path to recoverable data is not displayed. This can be time-consuming for users who have lost a single file to find the target file.

Performance

For an excellent program, good performance is one of the critical indicators. The performance parameters of Wondershare Recoverit in our tests are as follows:

Test Equipment:

  • Equipment
  • HP Envy x360 2-in-1 Laptop (Windows 11 Home, 16 GB Memory, 512 GB M.2 SSD), iMac (macOS Ventura, 8GB Memory, 256GB SSD), and PNY Turbo Attaché 32GB Flash Drive.
  • Missing Data Type
  • Documents, Images, Videos, and Archives.

Test Results:

  • Run Status
  • When scanning a drive, CPU and memory usage is 10-45% and 673MB-1.5TB, and hard disk read speed is 367MB/S.
  • Fast Scanning Speed
  • Recoverit Data Recovery can complete a scan of a hard drive of less than 1TB in 20 minutes.
  • Deep Scan Speed
  • It takes up to 40 minutes to retrieve data on a 32GB USB drive.
  • Applicable Situations
  • It can recover data lost due to accidental deletion, formatting, volume lost, drive access denied, virus attacks, system crashes, etc.
  • Data Recovery Success Rate
  • This software can recover data with a 90% success rate in cases of accidental deletion, formatting, RAW file system, and partition loss. However, SSD and Recycle Bin recovery success rates for system crashes are only 47%.
  • Security
  • Wondershare Recover it is a read-only program that will not damage storage devices. However, there is a risk of overwriting data because it needs to be installed on the computer's internal drive.

In general, the software's indicators can satisfy most users. However, when you decide whether to choose it, you can also refer to the following options to make your final choice.

Pros:
A good balance between speed and performance ensures the recovery process is efficient and effective.
A good option for deleted, formatted, and RAW drive recovery.
Cons:
A deep scan time consuming.
If the user only has one hard drive, it may cause secondary data loss.
Low recovery rate in case of partial data loss.

Security and Privacy

With data recovery often involving sensitive or personal information, ensuring the security and privacy of the recovered data is paramount. Recoverit's privacy policy states that it does not share or retain the recovered data, reassuring users concerned about the confidentiality of their retrieved information.

Additionally, the software employs read-only recovery, meaning it does not modify the original files during recovery. This approach is crucial as it minimizes the risk of further data corruption and ensures the integrity of the original data.

Pricing and Plans

Recoverit Data Recovery is available under different payment plans and features, allowing users to select the one that best fits their needs. Plans range from single-use licenses to more comprehensive options that cover multiple devices and offer perpetual licenses.

  • Essential Plan
  • This plan allows you to restore unlimited data from various storage devices on one computer for the price of:

    For Windows PC: $59.99/Month, $69.99/Year, and $119.99/Perpetual.

    For Mac: $75.99/Month, $79.99/Year, and $89.99/Perpetual

  • Standard Plan
  • This plan provides additional computer crash recovery in one computer for the price of:

    For Windows: $69.99/Month, $79.99/Year, and $139.99/Perpetual

    For macOS: $95.99/Month, $99.99/Year, adn $139.99/Perpetual

  • Premium Plan
  • This plan offers all file recovery solutions and repair for two PCs and is priced at.

    For Windows: $79.99/Month, $89.99/Year, $159.99/Perpetual

    For macOS: $105.99/Month, $119.99/Year, $159.99/Perpetual

In general, Wondershare Recoverit applies a variety of pricing strategies to satisfy different users. However, its price/performance ratio is not competitive, especially for users who need to recover photos and videos and must subscribe to the premium plan.

Customer Support and Additional Services

Wondershare Recovery offers customer support through various channels, including online support, email, and a detailed knowledge base. This multi-tiered approach caters to users' different preferences for seeking assistance. It ensures they can get the help they need when encountering problems or having questions about the software.

The software also provides additional services such as remote consultation and professional data recovery. The option for professional data recovery can benefit more complex cases where self-recovery efforts are unsuccessful, offering a tiered approach to resolving data loss issues.

Limitations and Room for Improvement

Recovery software is essential for retrieving lost files and critical documents. Wondershare's Recoverit is one of the primary solutions in this field, and it has a robust set of features. However, despite its strengths, Recoverit is not without its limitations. Here are a few:

  • Appropriately Relax the Trial Version's Restrictions
  • It cannot save any recoverable items. Especially since its contents cannot be previewed, you must upgrade to the full version before checking the correctness of the lost files. Would it be more friendly if the trial version could recover data 100M or a file for free?
  • Enhanced Deep Scan Performance
  • The deep scan function is crucial for retrieving data from storage devices. The improved deep scan algorithm reduces the time required for a thorough search, making it one of the most efficient data recovery software options.
  • Better Recovery for Encrypted and Compressed Files
  • Encrypted or compressed data can pose a recovery challenge. By improving the software's ability to handle these files, Recoverit for Mac or Windows could provide more successful data extraction for users of complex file formats.
  • Optimize Recovery from Corrupted Devices
  • Though Recoverit is adept at recovering data from damaged devices, such as physical disks or flash drives, refining the recovery process could further increase the software's effectiveness in critical situations, where every bit of data is priceless.
  • Cloud Storage Integration
  • In the modern data landscape, integration with cloud storage providers like Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive would be invaluable. By offering the ability to recover data directly from these services, Recoverit can be a one-stop solution for all recovery needs.
  • Speed Testing and Optimization
  • Quantifying the recovery speed for different file types and storage devices can guide development efforts. Wondershare can cater to users with time-sensitive recovery requirements by optimizing recovery speed based on detailed testing.
  • Increased Customer Support and Documentation
  • Recoverit's customer support is robust, but expanding self-service documentation and video tutorials can empower users to troubleshoot independently, minimizing the need for reaching out and further enhancing the overall user experience.

Focusing on these key areas for improvement, Recoverit has a prime opportunity to solidify its position as a leading data recovery solution, providing users with a more comprehensive, efficient, and reassuring tool for their data recovery needs.

Final Verdict

Recoverit by Wondershare is a powerful and user-friendly data recovery solution suitable for individuals and professionals. Its wide array of features, compatibility with various storage devices, and focus on security and privacy make it a robust package for most data recovery needs. Its excellent customer support further bolsters its appeal, providing users with value and peace of mind.

Despite minor drawbacks, Recoverit's positives far outweigh the negatives, solidifying its place as a reputable, go-to software for personal and professional data recovery requirements. Its pricing aside, which is a great choice whether you're a photographer who needs to rescue damaged images, a student who needs to recover a lost assignment or a company that needs to retrieve business-critical documents.

FAQs

Recoverit Data Recovery is a beacon of hope for many users when retrieving lost or corrupted data. However, with its arsenal of features and functions and the inherent panic that data loss typically causes, some users might still question how to make the most of this software. To provide clarity and a safety net to those in need, here are the most frequently asked questions about Recoverit.

  • No, Recoverit has a comprehensive list of supported file types to recover. This includes all common document formats, images, videos, audio files, and more obscure file types that might be unique to specific software applications. The software can also recover complete folders if necessary.

  • To optimize your chances of recovering your data, act fast and avoid writing new data to the storage device. The more time passes and the more write operations you perform on the device, the less likely the lost data can be completely recovered. Additionally, scan the device thoroughly with Recoverit, utilizing the deep scan feature if necessary, to ensure that all recoverable data is detected.

  • It can recover data from encrypted storage, but there are conditions. During the recovery process, you must provide the correct encryption or password keys to unlock the device and allow the software access to the data. Always ensure you have the required keys and permissions before recovering data from an encrypted source.

  • Yes, Recoverit supports the MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) mode for data recovery from mobile devices.

  • It can restore files in mislaid or deleted volumes on a hard drive, SSD, or other storage media. The software can identify the data and folders during the scanning process, allowing you to recover not just individual files but the partition's structure as well.

  • Wondershare Recover it focuses on data recovery and does not include data protection features as part of the recovery process.

  • It cannot handle corrupted and inaccessible data during recovery. However, the advanced repair tool that comes with it can repair these files, but you need to pay more.

  • Wondershare Recovery is safe and designed to minimize the risk of further data loss. The software operates read-only and does not alter the storage device's contents during recovery. By following the on-screen instructions and using the software as intended, users can recover data without causing additional harm to their files or storage mediums.

Conclusion

In this review, we examine Recoverit in detail from every angle. With a solid feature set, positive user experiences, and a commitment to privacy and security, Wondershare Recoverit is a competent tool for reclaiming lost data. However, understanding your own requirements and the unique scenarios in which data recovery is needed is paramount. By looking at its features, functionality, and actual effectiveness, we hope it will be helpful to you when choosing data recovery software for Mac or Windows.