Nothing is worse than experiencing hard drive problems such as bad sectors, accidental formatting, or file system errors which puts your entire data at risk. This scenario is far from uncommon.
However, when something like this happens hard drive repair software can be your lifesaver, helping you diagnose, fix, and recover your valuable files. To know which one is best suited for you we’ve compiled a list of the Best 10 Hard Drive Repair Software on Windows/Mac.
Related Post: >> How to Recover Files from a Formatted Hard Drive
Our top pick for hard drive repair software is TestDisk, a powerful hard drive repair tool. As an open-source repair tool, it’s completely free to use and offers a portable app that requires no installation. Despite being free, TestDisk still stands out due to its ability to solve various disk-related issues.
This includes restoring lost or damaged partitions, repairing boot sectors, and rebuilding damaged file systems. This HDD repair tool has a command-line interface meaning it’s best suited for those with a certain level of technical proficiency and familiarity with command-line syntax.
Compatibility: Windows, Mac, Linux
| Pros | Cons |
| ✅ Runs satisfactorily on older hardware. ✅ Requires no installation. ✅ It can repair hard drives free of charge. ✅ Support the recovery of NTFS, FAT32, and other file systems | ⭕ Limited customer support. ⭕ The command-line interface might be intimidating for some users. |
Drive Genius is that hard drive repair software that’s known for offering numerous features, making it a go-to solution for users seeking to repair and maintain their hard drives.
Its wide range of features includes drive diagnostics, defragmentation, drive repair, data recovery, and drive management tools. One standout feature of Drive Genius is its DrivePulse monitoring technology. This allows Drive Genius to continuously track the health of your hard drive and alert you of any potential issues.
Compatibility: macOS
| Pros | Cons |
| ✅ It comes with a beginner-friendly interface, making it quite easy for those who are not tech-savvy. ✅ It’s that one app that is very versatile in solving many issues with your hard drive, as well as diagnosing the issue. | ⭕ Limited to macOS users. ⭕ It is a paid software. |
If you need a detailed tutorial for the recovery of the external hard drive on a Mac, this post is what you need:
DiskWarrior is a renowned hard drive repair software designed exclusively for macOS users. It offers an effective solution to resolve common disk-related issues such as data loss. This HDD fix program works exceptionally well in making sure your damaged or corrupted directories on your Mac are reconstructed, while also making sure your data remains very safe and accessible.
What’s more, it also has a disk scan feature that identifies potential issues before they become major problems.
It’s worth mentioning that DiskWarrior is a paid disk fixer. However, on the bright side, DiskWarrior does offer a free demo version with limited features.
Compatibility: macOS
| Pros | Cons |
| ✅ Quickly repairs files and directories. ✅ Prevent potential hard drive malfunction and data loss. | ⭕ Only supports macOS. ⭕ Works only with HFS and HFS+ drives. |
Victoria for Windows is an efficient tool designed for detecting and resolving various issues that could lead to data loss or drive failure. This software has features like manual sector remapping, excellent management of defects, and firmware analysis among others.
This HDD repair tool is among the best hard drive repair software available today, offering a free package. It excels at scanning and repairing bad sectors and also allows you to recover deleted or corrupted files.
Compatibility: Windows
| Pros | Cons |
| ✅ Good for finding out and diagnosing problems on a hard drive. ✅ It provides information about SMART data. | ⭕ Instructions are not clear enough. ⭕ It has a complex and outdated interface. |
TechTool Pro offers a one-stop shop for disk repair and maintenance requirements. One of the standout features of this Mac hard drive recovery software is its volume structures test. Through this test, it becomes easy to spot any damage that can be fixed using the software’s Volume Rebuild tool.
If the volume structures test doesn’t detect any issues but you still suspect hard drive-related issues then the problem may lie within the hardware of the disk itself. In such cases, you might find the SMART test or the surface scan test helpful for further diagnosis.
Compatibility: macOS
| Pros | Cons |
| ✅ Has a comprehensive set of hard drive repair and maintenance tools tailored for macOS. ✅ Provides online and phone support. | ⭕ Exclusive to macOS. ⭕ Not entirely free. |
Disk Drill is one of the most reliable general-purpose data recovery tools you can find. Its unique features make it an excellent solution for retrieving lost, deleted, or corrupted data from a variety of storage devices, including internal and external hard drives, RAID arrays, NAS devices, and virtual drives.
This is due to its advanced scanning algorithms that can identify and restore over 400 different file types. Another thing about this hard disk repair tool is that it is compatible with a range of operating systems.
Compatibility: Windows and macOS
| Pros | Cons |
| ✅ It supports various storage devices. ✅ It supports all types of file systems. | ⭕ The free version is limited to only 500 MB. |
Unlike other disk fixers out there, HDD regenerators’ sole purpose is to find bad sectors and repair them. There is no doubt that it’s one of the best free bad sector repair tools, with a unique recovery technology called the Hysteresis loop generator.
This feature can make unreadable data readable again. It can also detect physical bad sectors on a hard disk drive surface and repair them. All these advantages make this software an optimal choice for users experiencing data corruption, slow system performance, or other issues that may be related to physical damage to their storage devices.
Compatibility: Windows
| Pros | Cons |
| ✅ Very efficient in repairing bad sectors. ✅ Supports various storage device types, including HDD and SSD. | ⭕ Not all features are free. ⭕ Cannot clone disks. |
SpinRite is a well-established hard drive repair software that focuses on hard drive maintenance and data recovery. Since its initial release in 1987, it has maintained a strong reputation. It remains a top choice for repairing older computers due to its reliability and compatibility.
While it shares similarities with HDD Regenerator, its outdated user interface has impacted its ranking. This is because the interface can be challenging to navigate, especially for first-timers.
Compatibility: Windows
| Pros | Cons |
| ✅ Offers quick scans. ✅ Small and portable in size. | ⭕ Exclusive to Windows. ⭕ Poor user interface. |
Stellar Photo Recovery is a data recovery tool that was first released in 2000. Over the years it has become one of the most popular HDD fix programs for Windows and Mac users. But, of course, this hard drive repair software isn’t just popular for mere sake; it excels in recovering missing or erased files from hard drives, as well as the recovery of SSDs and USB drives.
But it doesn’t stop there. Stellar Photo Recovery seems to be compatible with numerous file formats, making its impact in recovering documents, photos, videos, and other data types very significant. What’s more, the software includes features like disk imaging, SMART drive monitoring, and data protection tools to further enhance its hard drive repair capabilities.
Compatibility: Windows and macOS
| Pros | Cons |
| ✅ It offers a wide range of file formats and storage devices. ✅ Disk imaging and SMART drive monitoring. | ⭕ It’s subscription-based. ⭕ Doesn’t have a good preview feature. |
MiniTool Partition Wizard is an HDD repair program designed to help users manage, optimize, and recover data from hard drives and other storage devices. The software’s interface allows you to easily navigate its various features which include disk partitioning, data migration, and drive optimization.
To clear your doubts about this hard drive repair software, you can use its free version to have a general overview. However, for more advanced features, you would need the paid version.
Compatibility: Windows
| Pros | Cons |
| ✅ Offers file format conversion. ✅ Compatible with multiple Windows operating systems. | ⭕ The free trial is limited. |
After fixing the issues using the hard drive repair software introduced above, you may need a powerful data recovery tool to retrieve the lost files on the repaired hard drive. There’s an efficient and reliable data recovery software known as ONERECOVERY. With a powerful scanning engine, ONERECOVERY is a fast and easy option when it comes to retrieving lost or deleted files in various formats.
To recover data from your data follow these steps:
Step 1. Download and Install ONERECOVERY from their official ONERECOVERY website.
Step 2. Select the repaired hard drive to start the data recovery.
Step 3. After the Quick Scan is over, you can choose to continue with a Deep Scan or start previewing documents that can be recovered.
Step 4. After you find the document you need to recover, click the “Recover” button to retrieve your data.
If you are using a Mac, the guidance in this post will be more suitable for you: >> How to Recover Data from Mac Hard Drive
📥 Download and explore it at no cost.
These hard drive repair software all work differently, and each is a master in its specialty. This means the kind of problem with your hard drive will determine what kind of HDD repair program you need.
Take, for example, you’re trying to know the root cause of an issue with your drive. Then general-purpose software such as Disk Drill will be more helpful.
However, if the problem with your hard drive is booting then a partition recovery program is what you need. Whichever one you end up using, they all work effectively.
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