10 Best Photo & Video Recovery Software in 2026

Accidental photo and video file loss due to deletion or sudden system shutdown seems rare, until it happens to you.

Imagine transferring photos from camera to Windows or scrolling through old videos on Mac, and then suddenly system crashed due to low power or system error. The next thing you know, the media files are gone, deleted, or corrupted. Oh, and you forgot to backup them up. It’s absolute nightmare.

But here’s the thing that you may not know: in 2026, most lost media files aren’t gone, gone. Whether it was accidental deletion or a system glitch, there are smart photo and video recovery software that can help you bring those media files back, with no advanced tech skills required.

This guide will be your guiding light. Let us walk through.

Why photo and video recovery software matter (even now)
What features actually make a difference
The top 10 photo and video recovery software worth trying

Why Photo& Video Recovery Tools Matter?

Even though in this generation everything’s in the cloud. It is 2026 afterall, Google Photos, iCloud Photos, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, in-built auto-backups tools are a part of our everyday lives. But still due to some minor reasons that can still cause photo and video loss.

Here’s what still cause people to lose the media files:

Accidental and intentional deletion
Corrupt storage media like SD cards, etc.
Failed auto-sync or backup errors
Overwriting of files
Unsaved or interrupted transfers
Hardware failure
Sudden system shutdown
Malware or viruses
Software problems
No or less storage space on the device

And when Cloud backup services weren’t set up in time or doesn’t have the required media file, third-party software can become the best bet for photo and video recovery.

What Makes a Photo & Video Recovery Software Good?

There’re hundreds of software claiming to help recover your photos and videos. But obviously, not all of the work, and some tools don’t even scan properly.

Here’s what to actually look for while choosing the media file recovery tool:

Deep & Quick Scan Options: Deep scans find files even from formatted or broken storage devices. Quick scans only work when something’s been recently deleted.
Supports Multiple File Format: The more, the better: all popular photos, videos, audio formats such as: JPEG, PNG, HEIC, MOV, MP4, MKV, MP3 etc.
Preview Before Recovery: So that you are not restoring any kind of junk or unwanted media files.
Support all Device: Most modern, efficient software support recovery from all major storage devices: SSD, HDDs, memory card, USB flash drive, etc.
Clean Interface: A great software should let you be able to figure it out without a tutorial.
Free to Scan: Most reliable software let you scan and preview for free, and you only pay to recover.
Works on Windows and Mac: The software should work well with all the latest version OS and macOS.

Top10 Photo & Video Recovery Software of 2026

Stellar Photo Recovery

This one’s built for everyday users, and serious cases. Whether your media files are lost due to deletion, formatting, corruption or system glitch.

Stellar Photo Recovery is the versatile photo and video recovery tool with intuitive GUI and extensive file format support. Its deep scan capability and previewing the recoverable files during a scan secure its position among the top photo and video recovery software available today.

It support recovery of media file captured from smartphones, DSLRs, CCTVs and other cameras; stored in various storage media memory card, CF cards, hard drives, etc.

Pros:

Recover deleted/lost photos, videos, and audio files
Compatible with latest OS and macOS edition
Supports recovery from HDD, SSD, SD card, and other external storage devices
Simple and clean user interface
Allows enhanced preview of the recovered files before saving them
Allows selective file recovery
A deep scan feature is available for better results
Recover files with original date and timestamps
Recovers RAW camera files from popular camera brands like Nikon, Canon, etc.
Lets you Save Scan information and Resume Recovery later
Add your own file type for recovery
Recovers from BitLocker-encrypted drives

Cons:

Cannot save the recovered file in the Free version

For large drives, deep scan can take longer time.

PhotoRec Data Recovery

PhotoRec is a free and open-source software to retrieve photos, videos, and documents. It uses text-based user interface using data craving technique to recover deleted photos and videos from hard drives, camera memory cards, SmartMedia, Microdrive, CD-ROM etc.

The software can efficiently function in situations of deletion, formatting, drive corruption, file system corruption. It can restore photos from exFAT, FAT, EXT2/EXT3/EXT4, and NTFS file system. You can even add custom file signature to detect less known file format. PhotoRec is compatible with macOS, Windows NT-based operating system, Linux, FreeBSD, NETBSD, OpenBSD, MS-DOS, SunOS.

Pros:

Free and open source
Support many file formats ( multimedia, Office, Archives and others)
Works on most platforms
Works on formatted and corrupt drives.
Runs in read-only mode to avoid overwriting files, keeping original storage safe from harm.

Cons:

GUI is not user-friendly.
Cannot recover RAW image file formats.
Does not recover files with original name or folder structure
Can be slow on large devices
Does not provide a file preview before recovery.
Interface becomes unresponsive during scans
Requires a separate disk to save recovery result
Terminal interface is not beginner-friendly

Wondershare Recoverit

Another strong option, great for recovering photos and videos on both Windows and Mac. Recoverit works in all photo loss situations, such as formatting, virus infection, drive corruption, or OS crashes. It supports photo recovery from internal hard drives and external storage media.

Recovers photos shot with from all popular DSLRs, drone, CCTV or Android phone/iPhone. Handles a wide range of media files: JPG, BMP, GIF, TIFF/TIF, PNG, CRW, CR2, MOV, MP4, MP3, etc. Its extra features like video or photo repair and bootable media creation often makes it popular choice among photographers and videographers.

Pros:

Recovers many file types across common data-loss scenarios
Recovers RAW files from popular brands
Image preview option available with scaling and rotation support
Can create bootable recovery disks
Includes video repair functionality
Works on both Windows and macOS systems
Support recovery from multiple storage devices

Cons:

Doesn’t allow to save scan and resume recovery later.
False positives for bad sectors on BitLocker devices.
You cannot scan entire disks. Instead, scan the volumes.
The program often show duplicate results, with the second copy not working.
The software is not able to name the files found by deep scanning.

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard

EaseUS is a solid pick if you want something fast and reliable for recovering deleted photos, videos and other media files of any file type. It have two scanning options: Quick and Deep to dig up recently deleted data and for more in-depth scanning respectively.

EaseUS allows users to recover media files lost across media such as USB flash drives, Laptops, HDD.SSD, memory cards, external hard drives etc. However, this tool may not work well when there is data overwrites or physical damage to the storage devices.

Pros:

Recovers up to 2GB photos for free.
Recover files without interrupting the scan process.
Easy to use and intuitive interface.
Support recovery of wide range of file types and storage devices.
Quick scan + Deep scan options for flexibility
Clear file preview before recovery

Cons:

Photos not recovered by their original name.
Pop-up ads for other products appear frequently, and they can’t be turned off.
The formats supported for previews are very limited.
You can only preview up to 100 MB of files
No possibility to create copies of disks.

Disk Drill Data Recovery

Another strong option, reliable for recovering photos, videos and audio of all popular file format, including JPEG, HEIC, PNG, TIFF, MOV, MKV, MP3 and MP4.

Disk Drill work well with internal or attached HDDs, memory cards, flash drives, and other storage devices. It gives you option to quick scan or deep scan the deleted or lost files of NTFS, FAT and ex-FAT file system. The free version of Disk Drill lets you save up to 500MB of lost photos.

It uses powerful algorithms to restore data from encrypted drives (as long as you know the password, of course) and lost partitions.

Pros

Recover photos up to 500MB.
Recovers popular image types.
Allows preview photos before recovery.
It categorizes the scan results in Deleted, Existing and Reconstructed.
Support large number of raw file format
Users can browse found files, preview, and save them while scan is in progress.
Quick and deep scanning options
Support all popular file types.

Cons

Limited RAW files support.
Slow scanning process.
Free version has limited recovery.
Paid versions can be expensive compared to competitors.
Not possible to perform remote recovery over a network.
Doesn’t have the ability to repair corrupted videos and photos.
Doesn’t have the option to create bootable disks.

Recuva

This one’s a good choice for common data loss situation like: deleted files, emptied Recycle Bin, data lost after an app error. Recuva works with visible partition, doesn’t support recovery from corrupted, RAW or unallocated partition.

Supports most Windows file system: NTFS, FAT32/16 and exFAT and is good for recovering photos and videos from internal hard disk, flash drives, USB sticks and memory cards. It doesn’t work Mac (APFS, HFS+) or Linux (ext3/ext4) formatted drives.

Pros

Scan and restore unlimited files for free.
Two operating modes – simple and advanced
Fast scanning
You can run multiple instances of Recuva at the same time.
Support large number of raw file type recovery

Cons

Only for Windows; no macOS/Linux support
Cannot scan a RAW file system and unmountable disk.
The interface is outdated and not user-friendly.
File preview options are limited.
Inconsistent recovery success with formatted or corrupted drive
Often fails to recover large or fragmented files
Can’t recover files from lost or deleted partitions

DiskDigger

This one’s is built for users who want to undelete and recover lost photos and videos from Windows, Linux and Android. The software only supports quick and signature scan, with no deep scan option available.

DiskDigger tool gives you option to save the recovered files either locally or upload it to cloud storage. It supports recovery many common media file formats lost from various devices internal and external storage devices.

Pros

Supports RAW disks recovery
Can create and save scanned device sessions
Can scan disk images created in other programs
Simple and user-friendly interface
Can save recovered photos to device or cloud.
Decent signature scanner for file recovery.
Supports most file formats, including raw images.
Works on Windows and Linux as well as Android.

Cons

Doesn’t support Mac.
Can’t create disk copies
Only restore disk structure formatted in FAT32.
Can’t find lost partitions
Cannot select all file types for recovery – recover each file type individually.
Preview feature supports only small numbers of files

iSkysoft Data Recovery

This tool has earned its spot among top 10 photo and video recovery software due to its efficiency pf restoring media files from all data loss scenarios i.e., accidental deletion, formatting, virus attack, system crashes, etc.

It also support Quick and Deep scan option and lets you preview the recovery file before actually saving them. iSkysoft recovery tool support creating bootable recovery media for crashed system. While the free version lets you scan and preview the recoverable files, for actually saving those file, you need a paid license.

Pros

Supports wide range of file types including photos, videos, audio, etc.
Ability to recover data from most of the storage devices
Available for both Mac and Windows operating system
Recover media files from corrupted and inaccessible storage media.
Allow previewing recoverable files before recovery

Cons

Doesn’t recover files from encrypted or password-protected devices
Free version only lets you scan and preview the files, recovery needs paid version of tool
Loss of original file names and locations after the RAW data recovery.
Scanning is not allowed on Macs with the Apple T2 Security chip.

MiniTool Photo Recovery

It is an efficient tool for recovering lost, deleted or corrupted photos and other media files from both Windows and Mac. MiniTool support recovery from all most storage devices including memory card, digital camera, USB sticks, etc. The tool supports popular video formats but is limited to MOV, MP4, M4A, 3GP, 3G2, WMV, ASF, SWF, M2TS, MKV, MTS, and WAV files. Additionally, it also supports photo and audio recovery.

It offers three-step recovery process i.e., select drive, scan and recover. The free version have limited recovery and you must get the paid version to enjoy other features.

Pros

Scan RAW and unmountable drives
You can recover files during the scan process
Allows you to recover up to 1GB of data for free.
Support wide range of photo and video file formats.

Cons

Doesn’t work on monitors with high resolution, as the interface is unclear
Preview options works with very limited set of file types
Cannot mount and scan disk images
Software cannot make the byte-by-byte copies of disks
Scan is slow on large drives

iBeesoft Data Recovery

This one is designed to restore lost, deleted, corrupted or formatted photos and media files from the hard drives, SSD, USB drive, an SD card and so on.

Its user-friendly interface supports quick and deep scan mode for scanning lost data. The scanning speed of this tool depends on capacity of hard drive and number of file types you have chosen to start the scan.

iBeesoft supports virtually all media file types: JPG, PNG, AVI, WMV, MP4, MP3, WAV, etc. It even offer preview feature to let users view the files before recovery.

Pros

Budget-friendly and inexpensive.
It is quite simple to use.
Support recovery on both Windows and macOS
Recovers files that have been erased for any cause.
Detects corrupted and incomplete data.

Cons

Deep scanning is time-consuming.
The free version does not allow you to recover data.
It is not easy to find your recovered files.
Recovered files can only be saved on a computer

Final Thoughts: You’ve Got Options

Losing your photos and videos from various storage devices doesn’t have to be a nightmare. In 2026, there are powerful, user-friendly tools like Stellar Photo Recovery, DiskDigger, and Recuva that give you a real shot at getting your media files back, quickly and safely.