Microsoft Launches New File Recovery Tool For Windows 10

Microsoft has just quietly launched a new tool for all Windows 10 users. It is called Windows File Recovery and it allows you to recover your accidentally deleted files. This tool is available for free from the Windows Store.

All PC users have already been there. An unfortunate click and an extremely important file is forever deleted from the computer or the photos from your external hard drive will disappear by mistake. No matter what type of data is deleted, it is always painful, frustrating, and sometimes distressing. Microsoft knows this, and it did not release this tool earlier. Besides, it didn’t even announce it to the general public. It was the Twitter user “ WalkingCat ” who first realized the availability of Windows File Recovery on the Windows Store.

Windows File Recovery is Quite useful

Windows File Recovery is not the first such tool for Windows 10. Third-party software has been around for a long time. They offer free and paid solutions that are more or less effective. The advantage of Windows File Recovery is that it is freely distributed by Microsoft.

To use the new data recovery tool, you need at least version 19041 of Windows 10. It allows you to recover deleted data on an internal or external hard drive, a USB drive, an SD card, and even an SSD (limited by the TRIM command). All formats are compatible including JPEG, PDF, PNG, MPEG, Office files, MP3, MP4, ZIP file, etc.

Its interface is not “user-friendly”

However, it should be noted that Windows File Recovery is not intended for ordinary users. Its command-line interface could put off novices. It offers three recovery modes: Default, Segment, and Signature. The first is for recovering recently deleted data while the other two are for formatted or corrupted media.

Besides, Microsoft advises not to use the computer after losing data. “In the Windows file system, the space used by a deleted file is marked as free space, which means that the data in the file can still exist and be recovered. But any use of your computer can create files, which can overwrite this free space at any time, ” you can read in the FAQ. You must therefore immediately launch Windows File Recovery to increase the chances of saving your lost data.