PhotoRec / TestDisk
Open sourceCGSecurity
- Category
- System tools
- Version
- 7.3
- Size
- ~29 MB
- Licence terms
- Open source (GPL v2+) · free for personal and business use
- Supported OS
- Windows 11 · 10
- Install method
- Automatic install supported
- Developer
- CGSecurity
- Downloads via this site
This links to CGSecurity’s own download source. AfterFormat neither stores nor modifies installer files.
Check before installing
- One download contains both. TestDisk brings back partitions that have vanished; PhotoRec digs out individual files.
- The interface is text-based and the mouse does nothing. Arrow keys and Enter move you through it.
- Filenames usually do not survive. The contents come back named f1234567.jpg and the like.
What it is
Two open-source recovery tools from CGSecurity, distributed together. TestDisk brings back partitions that have vanished or stopped being recognised; PhotoRec finds individual files even when the file system itself is broken. Both are GPL, so neither individuals nor companies pay.
When to pick this
The right choice on a work or school machine, or when Recuva turns up nothing. It is particularly strong where the file system itself is gone, as on a formatted USB stick. For a file you deleted from the recycle bin a moment ago, Recuva is far more comfortable.
Details
It finds files without a working file system
PhotoRec ignores the file index and scans the disk from the start, looking for the signatures that mark the beginning of a file. That is why photos and documents come back off a USB stick that has been formatted or lost its partition table. It recognises more than 480 formats.
Filenames usually do not come back
Names and folder structure live in the file system, which is exactly what is broken in these situations. Recovered files arrive named f1234567.jpg and similar. With a large recovery, sorting them out takes time.
A text-based interface, no mouse
A black window with a list, navigated by arrow keys and Enter. It looks unfamiliar at first, but each step states what it is asking for and you simply work through them in order.
Distribution
- winget ID
- CGSecurity.TestDisk
- Redistribution policy
- Open source licence
- Last checked
- 2026-09-09
- Official site
- https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk
