Free File Undelete

You can delete files by accident, especially if the Recycle Bin is set not to hold anything. However, files can also be lost because of corrupt drives, or activity of malicious programs. Luckily, there are various applications like Free File Undelete, which let you scan fixed and removable drives, in an attempt to recover deleted files.

A neat advantage is that the application doesn’t take you through a setup process and can be used directly from a USB flash drive. This means that the computer you use it on doesn’t get affected at all, because registries don’t need to be modified for things to work.

The visual design is decent, and manages to be intuitive enough so that both beginners and experienced individuals quickly get the hang of things. A large list is used to show detected files, while navigation and recover options are all kept in a different pane, skipping you the time and effort of following multiple steps.

However, you’re only able to work with NTFS file systems, and if you happen to need files from a removable drive, it needs to be plugged in before putting the process in motion. After selection, you need to initiate the scan, which can take some time, depending on the size and damage of the disk, or files.

The list isn’t updated in real time, so you need to wait until the progress bar fills up. You need to make sure that you can identify the file just from name and details, because it can’t be opened for preview. Moreover, there’s no search function, nor filters you can apply to make the process easier. In the event that you find files, all there’s left to do is select destination and hit the recover button.

All things considered, we can safely state that Free File Undelete comes with good intentions, but doesn’t quite live up to expectations. Only one type of file system is supported, and the lack of file search or filter options can make it difficult to find the files you need. In case the file is recently deleted and you know the name, you might benefit from the set of features found here.