PhotoRec
The facts below are what the maker publishes about PhotoRec, checked and dated. Our editors have not written about it yet.
Plans and prices
From PhotoRec's own pricing page, checked 11 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| PhotoRec | Free | Free open-source software · GNU GPL v2+ |
The facts
Each one read from PhotoRec's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Automation
- PhotoRec can run from scripts or batch files using command-line parameters, including options to select file types and recovery destinations.checked 11 Oct 2026
- File recovery
- PhotoRec recovers lost files, including videos, documents, archives, and pictures, from disks, CD-ROMs, and digital-camera memory.checked 11 Oct 2026
- File systems
- The page lists FAT, NTFS, exFAT, ext2/ext3/ext4, and HFS+ among file systems from which PhotoRec can recover files.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Graphical interface
- The download page identifies QPhotoRec as a graphical user-interface version of PhotoRec.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Limits
- The maker says PhotoRec does not work well with ReiserFS and usually cannot recover original filenames.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Memory card recovery
- Yeschecked 21 Sep 2026
- Operating systems
- Windows; Linux; macOS; DOS; FreeBSD; NetBSD; OpenBSD; Solaris; other Unix systemschecked 21 Sep 2026
- Phone recovery
- The FAQ says PhotoRec can recover from phones connected in USB mass-storage mode, while phones in MTP mode are not supported as recovery sources.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Portable distribution
- The download page says PhotoRec is portable, runs after extracting the archive, and does not need an installer.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Privacy
- CGSecurity says TestDisk and PhotoRec do not connect to the Internet or send information about the user, computer, or data.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Publisher
- CGSecurity describes its website as a personal website created by Christophe Grenier.checked 11 Oct 2026
- RAID recovery
- Yeschecked 21 Sep 2026
- Recovery method
- It ignores the file system and searches underlying data, so it can work after severe file-system damage or reformatting.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Recovery sources
- hard disks; CD-ROMs; memory cards; USB memory drives; DD raw images; EnCase E01 imageschecked 21 Sep 2026
- Safety
- PhotoRec uses read-only access to the drive or memory card being recovered, and the maker says recovered files must not be written to the same partition.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Storage media
- Supported media include hard disks, CD-ROMs, memory cards, USB drives, raw disk images, and EnCase E01 images.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Support
- Users can seek help on the PhotoRec forum, send suggestions to the developer, or submit a bug report.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Supported formats
- It searches for known file headers and recognizes more than 480 file extensions across about 300 file families.checked 11 Oct 2026
The company
- Founded
- 1998checked 23 Sep 2026
Money
- Free plan
- Yeschecked 21 Sep 2026
Where it runs
- Platforms
- The maker lists Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Sun Solaris, and Mac OS X, and says PhotoRec can be compiled on almost every Unix system.checked 11 Oct 2026
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