Software Tutorial · Free Download · Data Recovery
How to Recover Deleted Files with MiniTool Power Data Recovery — Free Download & Step-by-Step Guide
Accidentally deleted an important file? Do not panic. MiniTool Power Data Recovery can get it back — for free. This complete step-by-step tutorial walks you through exactly how to download, install, scan, preview, and recover your lost files in minutes.
By gotest24 Editorial | May 18, 2026 | Category: Software & Tools | Reading time: 12 min
Quick Facts — MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free
| Developer | MiniTool Software Ltd. |
| Free Version Recovery Limit | 1 GB per session — no cost |
| Supported OS | Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7 |
| File Types Recovered | 1,000+, including photos, videos, documents, audio |
| Supported Devices | HDD, SSD, USB, SD card, memory card, external drive |
| Official Download | minitool.com/data-recovery-software |
In This Tutorial
1. What Is MiniTool Power Data Recovery?
2. What Can It Recover?
3. Important Warning Before You Start
4. Step 1 — Download MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free
5. Step 2 — Install the Software
6. Step 3 — Choose Your Scan Location
7. Step 4 — Run the Scan
8. Step 5 — Preview Your Found Files
9. Step 6 — Recover and Save Your Files
10. Free vs Paid — Which Version Do You Need?
11. Tips for Better Recovery Results
12. External Links & Resources
1. What Is MiniTool Power Data Recovery?
MiniTool Power Data Recovery is one of the most trusted free data recovery tools available for Windows. Developed by MiniTool Software Ltd. — a Canadian software company founded in 2010 — it has been downloaded and used by over 5 million people worldwide to recover files that were accidentally deleted, lost due to formatting, or made inaccessible by system crashes.
The free version lets you recover up to 1 GB of data at no cost — which is enough to recover most individual documents, photos, and smaller files. For larger recoveries, paid licence options are available. But for most everyday data loss situations — accidentally emptied Recycle Bin, a deleted photo from an SD card, a document deleted from a USB drive — the free version does the job.
What makes MiniTool stand out is its combination of simplicity and power. The interface is clean enough for complete beginners to use in minutes. Yet, the scanning engine is sophisticated enough to recover files from severely damaged drives, formatted partitions, and storage devices with corrupted file systems.
2. What Can MiniTool Power Data Recovery Recover?
MiniTool Power Data Recovery can recover files from a wide range of data loss scenarios and storage devices. Here is what the software handles:
| Category | What It Recovers |
|---|---|
| Documents | Word (.docx, .doc), Excel (.xlsx), PDF, PowerPoint (.pptx), text files (.txt), and more |
| Photos & Images | JPG, PNG, RAW, CR2, NEF, TIFF, GIF, BMP, and 100+ other image formats |
| Videos | MP4, MOV, AVI, MKV, WMV, FLV, and other video formats |
| Audio Files | MP3, WAV, AAC, FLAC, OGG, and other audio formats |
| Data Loss Scenarios | Accidental deletion, Recycle Bin emptied, formatted drive, corrupted partition, system crash, virus attack |
| Storage Devices | Internal HDD, SSD, USB flash drive, SD card, memory card, external hard drive, digital camera storage |
3. Important Warning Before You Start
⚠ Read This First — Very Important
Stop using the drive immediately. The moment you realise you have lost a file, stop saving anything new to that drive. When a file is deleted, Windows marks the space as available but does not erase the data straight away. New data written to the drive can permanently overwrite your deleted files — making them unrecoverable.
Do not install MiniTool on the same drive you are trying to recover from. If you accidentally deleted files from your C: drive, install MiniTool on a different drive or run it from a USB drive. Installing software on the drive you want to recover from risks overwriting the very files you need.
Act as quickly as possible. The sooner you attempt recovery after data loss, the higher the chance of success. Every minute the system runs, background processes may write data that overwrites your deleted files.
Step 1 — Download MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free
Click the green "Free Download" button. Your browser will download a file named something like pw-data-recovery-free.exe. This is the installer file. Wait for the download to complete — it usually takes under one minute on a normal internet connection.
✓ Safety note: Always download MiniTool only from the official website — minitool.com. Third-party download sites may bundle unwanted software. The official download is clean, safe, and virus-free. You can verify the download on VirusTotal.com if you wish to be certain.
Step 2 — Install MiniTool Power Data Recovery
Locate the downloaded pw-data-recovery-free.exe file in your Downloads folder. Double-click it to launch the installer. If Windows asks, "Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?" — click Yes to continue.
What You See — Screenshot Description
The MiniTool installer window opens with a clean white and green design. At the top you see the MiniTool logo. In the centre is a language selector (English is selected by default) and a large "Install Now" button in green. Below the button is a small checkbox for the licence agreement — it is pre-checked. There is also a "Custom Install" link if you want to change the installation folder.
Click "Install Now". The installation takes 30–60 seconds. A progress bar fills across the screen. Remember — if you are trying to recover files from your C: drive (the main Windows drive), change the installation location to a different drive using "Custom Install."
When installation is complete, a success screen appears saying "Installation Successful" with a green tick. Click "Launch Now" to open the program immediately, or close the installer and open it later from your desktop shortcut.
What You See — Screenshot Description
The installation complete screen shows a large green circle with a white checkmark in the centre. The text reads "Installation Successful." Below are two buttons — "Launch Now" in green and "Close" in white. A MiniTool Power Data Recovery shortcut icon has also been placed on your desktop.
Step 3 — Choose Your Scan Location
When MiniTool Power Data Recovery launches for the first time, you land on the main home screen. This is where you tell the software what you want to scan. The interface is divided into sections — understanding each one will help you find your files faster.
Main Screen Layout — Screenshot Description
The main window has a dark navy blue left sidebar with five icons: a home icon at the top, then icons for Logical Drives, Devices, Recycle Bin Recovery, and Settings. The large right panel shows your available drives. Each drive appears as a tile with its letter (C:, D:, E:, etc.), the drive name, total size, and a small graphic. At the top of the right panel is a search bar where you can type a specific file name if you know it. At the bottom of each drive tile is a blue "Scan" button.
If you deleted files from the Recycle Bin, click the "Recycle Bin" option in the left sidebar. This focuses the scan specifically on the Recycle Bin location and is the fastest way to recover files that were deleted, and then the Recycle Bin was emptied.
If you deleted files from a specific drive or folder, click "Logical Drives" in the left sidebar. All your drive partitions appear as tiles. Find the drive where your deleted files were stored and hover over it. A blue "Scan" button appears at the bottom of that tile.
If you deleted files from a USB drive, SD card, or external hard drive, plug in the device first, then click "Devices" in the left sidebar. The connected device will appear as a tile. Select it and click Scan.
If you know the specific folder where the file was, click "Select Folder" at the top of the Logical Drives panel. Browse to the exact folder. Scanning a specific folder is much faster than scanning an entire drive and is recommended when you know exactly where the file is.
Step 4 — Run the Scan
Click the blue "Scan" button on your chosen drive or location. The scanning process starts immediately. MiniTool performs a two-phase scan automatically — a fast Quick Scan first, followed by a thorough Deep Scan.
Scanning Screen — Screenshot Description
The screen changes to a scanning progress view. At the top is a blue progress bar filling from left to right, with the percentage complete shown — for example, "Scanning... 23%." Below the progress bar, files begin appearing in real time as they are found. You can see three columns: Name (the file name), Size (file size in KB or MB), and Date Modified. The left panel shows a folder tree that fills in as directories are discovered. At the bottom of the screen, a status bar shows the number of files found so far and the time elapsed.
How long does the scan take? A Quick Scan of a typical drive partition takes 2–5 minutes. The Deep Scan that follows is more thorough and takes longer — anywhere from 10 minutes to over an hour, depending on the size of the drive and the number of files. A 1 TB hard drive typically takes 45–90 minutes for a full deep scan.
You do not have to wait for the scan to finish. As soon as files start appearing in the results panel, you can browse through them, preview them, and even start recovering files while the scan is still running. However — for the best results and to find all recoverable files — let the scan complete fully before stopping it.
Pro Tip: Use the Filter button at the top of the results panel to narrow results by file type, file size, or date modified. This is especially useful when scanning large drives that return thousands of files — filtering by file type (e.g., show only JPG images) makes it much faster to find the specific files you need.
Step 5 — Preview Your Found Files
Before you recover anything, always preview your files first. This confirms that the file is intact and actually contains the data you need — not a corrupted shell. MiniTool Power Data Recovery has an excellent built-in preview feature that works for most common file types.
In the scan results, find the file you want to check. You can browse using the folder tree on the left panel, or use the search bar at the top right to search by file name. When you find the file, double-click it — or select it and click the "Preview" button in the top toolbar.
Preview Window — Screenshot Description
A preview pane opens on the right side of the screen. For image files — JPG, PNG, RAW — you see the actual photo displayed in the preview pane. You can confirm the image is intact before recovering. For documents such as Word files and PDFs, the text content is displayed so you can read the document and confirm it is the right one. For video files, a media player appears inside the preview pane with play controls, letting you watch a portion of the video. For audio files, a playback bar appears so you can listen to the file. Files that cannot be previewed show a grey "preview not supported" message — this does not mean the file is corrupted, just that the preview feature doesn't support that specific format.
Use the Type view in the left panel to browse files organised by file type rather than by folder. This is very helpful when you are looking for a specific kind of file — all JPG photos in one group, all Word documents in another, all videos together. This view makes it much faster to identify exactly which files you want to recover.
Step 6 — Recover and Save Your Files
Select the files you want to recover. To select a single file, click the checkbox to the left of its name. To select multiple files, check each one individually. To select all files in a folder — check the folder itself in the left tree panel. To select all results — use Ctrl+A.
Click the blue "Save" button in the top toolbar (or bottom right of the window). A folder browser window opens, asking you where to save the recovered files.
⚠ Critical Rule: Never save recovered files back to the same drive you are recovering from. Always choose a different drive — an external hard drive, a USB stick, or a different partition. Saving to the same drive risks overwriting other deleted files you might still need.
Browse to your chosen save location — for example, your D: drive or an external USB hard drive. Click "OK". MiniTool begins copying the recovered files to your chosen location. A progress bar tracks the recovery. When it completes, a pop-up confirms how many files were saved and where.
Recovery Complete Screen — Screenshot Description
When recovery finishes, a small pop-up window appears with a green checkmark and the message: "Files have been recovered successfully to [your chosen path]." Below this message are two buttons: "View Recovered Files," which opens File Explorer to the recovery location so you can immediately check your files, and "OK" to close the pop-up and return to the scan results.
Click "View Recovered Files" to open the folder in Windows File Explorer. Check that your files are there and can be opened normally. Try opening one or two to confirm the recovery was successful. Your files are now safe.
Download This File
For most everyday data loss situations — recovering a deleted document, a lost photo album, files accidentally removed from a USB drive — the Free Edition is enough. The 1 GB limit covers the vast majority of individual file recovery needs. Only upgrade to a paid plan if you need to recover large volumes of data, recover from a crashed system that won't boot, or use it in a commercial environment.
11. Tips for Better Recovery Results
Act immediately
The sooner you run a scan after data loss, the higher the chance of recovery. Every hour you wait, the risk of data being overwritten increases. Start MiniTool as soon as you realise files are gone.
Let the deep scan complete fully
The Quick Scan finds recently deleted files quickly. The Deep Scan that follows finds files deleted long ago, files from formatted drives, and files where the directory structure is damaged. Always let it finish for the best results.
Save your scan results
MiniTool lets you save the scan results so you don't have to scan the same drive again if you close the program. After the scan completes, click Save Scan Result in the top menu. Next time, load the saved result instead of scanning again.
Use the search and filter tools
Deep scans of large drives can return tens of thousands of files. Use the Filter button to narrow by file type, date range, or file size. Use the Search bar to find files by name. The Type view in the left panel groups files by category — Documents, Images, Video, Audio — making it much easier to find what you need.
Back up immediately after recovery
Once you have recovered your files, back them up right away — to a separate drive, to cloud storage, or both. Data loss happens more than once to most people. The best protection is always a current backup.
12. External Links & Resources
MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free — Official Download ↗
Official MiniTool website — safe, free, and no bundled software
MiniTool — All Data Recovery Products & Pricing ↗
Compare Free, Personal, and Business editions with full feature lists
MiniTool — Official Tutorial Library ↗
Official step-by-step guides for every data recovery scenario
PCMag — MiniTool Power Data Recovery Review ↗
Independent expert review and rating from PCMag
TechRadar — Best Data Recovery Software 2026 ↗
Comprehensive comparison of the best data recovery tools available
VirusTotal — Verify Your Download is Safe ↗
Upload the installer to verify it is clean before running it
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MiniTool Data Recovery Recover Deleted Files Free Download Software Tutorial Windows File Recovery Hard Drive Recovery USB Recovery
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