MiniTool Power Data Recovery Review: Recover Deleted Files from Drives and USB
If you have deleted files, lost data, formatted a drive, or need to recover files from a USB stick, MiniTool Power Data Recovery is designed to help you search for and restore missing files.
In this review, we take a look at MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free Edition, a Windows data recovery tool that can scan drives, partitions, folders, desktops, recycle bins, USB drives, and other storage devices.
What Is MiniTool Power Data Recovery?
MiniTool Power Data Recovery is a file recovery program for Windows. It can search for deleted, lost, or missing files from hard drives, SSDs, USB drives, partitions, selected folders, and formatted drives.
The program is beginner-friendly and gives you several ways to scan your computer for recoverable files.
What Can It Recover?
MiniTool Power Data Recovery can search for many different file types, including:
- Documents
- PDF files
- Photos and image files
- RAW photo formats
- Audio files
- Video files
- Email files
- Archive files such as ZIP, 7Z, RAR, JAR, and CAB
- Database files
- HTML web pages
- Project files and other specialty formats
Scanning Drives and USB Devices
When you open MiniTool Power Data Recovery, it shows the logical drives, partitions, and physical devices on your system. If you plug in a USB drive, the program can recognize it and add it to the list of available devices.
You can choose a drive or USB stick and start a scan. Even while the scan is running, the program begins showing files as it finds them.
This is useful because full recovery scans can take a long time, especially on larger drives. If you find the file you need early, you may be able to stop the scan and recover that file without waiting for the full scan to finish.
Previewing and Recovering Files
After files are found, you can browse through the results and preview supported files before recovering them.
In the video example, a PDF file was found on a USB drive, previewed, selected, and saved to a new folder. After recovery, the restored PDF opened successfully.
Depending on the condition of the drive, the program may recover the original file names, or it may show recovered files as raw files. This can depend on whether the drive was formatted, how long ago the files were deleted, and whether the data has been overwritten.
Search by File Type
MiniTool Power Data Recovery lets you narrow your scan by file type. For example, if you only need photos, you can select picture formats and skip other file categories.
This can help speed up the search and make the results easier to manage.
Useful Settings
One helpful setting is the option to show search results during the scan. This lets you see recoverable files as they are found instead of waiting until the scan is completely finished.
You can also choose specific file categories to search for, including documents, pictures, audio, video, email, archives, databases, and more.
Free Version vs Paid Version
The free version lets you scan for missing files and test the recovery process. Paid versions add extra features, including loading saved scan results and creating bootable recovery media.
A bootable recovery option can be especially useful if a computer has a hard drive failure and you need to boot from recovery media to copy files off the failed drive.
Personal and Business Versions
MiniTool Power Data Recovery offers personal and business versions. For many home users, creators, and small business users, the personal versions are the most relevant.
The Personal Ultimate option may be the best long-term value if you plan to use the software for multiple years, since it includes lifetime upgrades and works on multiple PCs.
Who Is This Tool Good For?
MiniTool Power Data Recovery is a good fit for:
- Windows users who accidentally deleted files
- People recovering files from USB drives
- Photographers recovering files from SD cards
- Small business owners protecting important work files
- YouTube creators recovering media, project files, or documents
- Users dealing with formatted drives or missing partitions
Final Thoughts
MiniTool Power Data Recovery is simple to use and does a good job of finding deleted, missing, and lost files from drives and USB devices. The ability to preview files, search by file type, and view results during the scan makes the recovery process easier.
If you need a Windows data recovery tool for deleted files, USB drives, formatted drives, or SD cards, MiniTool Power Data Recovery is worth checking out.
