How to Use Windows File Recovery Tool & Best Alternative

A Brief Introduction to the Windows File Recovery Tool

What Is Windows File Recovery

Windows File Recovery (Winfr) is a free command-line data recovery tool developed by Microsoft for Windows 10 and Windows 11. It allows users to recover deleted or lost files from local storage devices, including HDDs, SSDs, USB drives, and SD cards.

Unlike traditional data recovery software with a graphical interface, Windows File Recovery works through Command Prompt. Users need to enter Winfr commands to select the source drive, destination location, recovery mode, and file filters.

Windows File Recovery supports various file types, including documents, photos, videos, and other commonly used files. However, it does not support recovering data from cloud storage or network file shares.

Where to Download Windows File Recovery

Typically, there are two ways for you to download and install Windows File Recovery:

Option 1. Via Microsoft Store

1. Open the Microsoft Store by using the Windows search box.
2. Search for Windows File Recovery and click the Get button next to it.

Option 2. From Microsoft’s official website

1. Go to this website.
2. Hit the Download button. When finished, run the downloaded exe file to install it on your computer.

What Can Windows File Recovery Recover

Windows File Recovery can help recover files in many common data loss situations, including:

• Files deleted accidentally
• Files removed after emptying the Recycle Bin
• Files deleted using Shift + Delete
• Lost files from USB drives, SD cards, and external hard drives
• Data lost after formatting a drive

However, recovery success depends on whether the deleted files have been overwritten. To improve the chance of recovery, avoid saving new data to the affected drive before running Windows File Recovery.

How to Use Windows File Recovery on Windows 10

Before turning to the data recovery steps, you need to confirm the data recovery mode first.

The tool provides two main recovery modes: Regular and Extensive.

Regular mode is designed for recently deleted files on healthy NTFS drives. Extensive mode performs a deeper scan and is recommended for formatted drives, corrupted drives, older deleted files, or non-NTFS file systems.

If you are unsure which mode to choose, start with Regular mode. If the required files cannot be found, try Extensive mode.

Here is a more intuitive graph:

Windows File Recovery uses different commands depending on the recovery target, including specific folders, file types, file names, or entire drives.

The command syntax is: Winfr source-drive: destination-drive: [/mode] [/switches]

Below are common Winfr command examples.

Case 1. Recover Files from a Specific Folder

Scenario: You deleted files from a known folder and want to recover files only from that location instead of scanning the entire drive.

Example: To recover the Documents folder from the C drive to the H drive with the Regular mode:

Winfr C: H: /regular /n \Users\<username>\Documents\

Note that you need to replace <username> with the actual username.

When the Continue? (y/n) message shows up, you need to type Y to continue.

Once the process is done, you can go to the H drive to view the recovered files which is in the Recovery_date_number format.

Explanation: This command scans only the specified Documents folder and saves recovered files to the H drive.

Case 2. Recover Specific File Types

Scenario: You only need certain types of files, such as photos, Word documents, or PDF files.

Example: To recover the PDF and Word files from the C drive to the H drive with the Regular mode:

Winfr C: H: /regular /n *.pdf /n *.docx

Explanation: The /n parameter works as a filter to search for specific file extensions instead of recovering all deleted files.

Case 3. Recover Files with a Specific Name or Keyword

Scenario: You remember part of the file name.

Example: To recover any file with the string “test” in the filename by using wildcard characters:

Winfr H: C: /extensive /n *test*

Explanation: The wildcard character (*) allows Windows File Recovery to search for files with matching words in their names.

Case 4. Recover Files from a Specific File Path with File Type Filter

Scenario: You know both the file location and file type, and want to perform a more precise recovery.

Example: To recover JPG photos from your Pictures folder to the H drive with the Extensive mode:

Winfr C: H: /extensive /n \Users\<username>\Pictures\*.JPG

Explanation: This command combines a folder path and file extension filter to search only JPG files in the Pictures folder.

For more information about the Windows File Recovery command lines, you can refer to the official document file: Recover Lost Files on Windows 10 With Windows File Recovery.

This is all about how to use the Winfr command in Windows File Recovery to undelete files on Windows 10. In the next part, we will introduce a Windows File Recovery alternative, MiniTool Power Data Recovery to you for data restoration.

Here is a video guide:

Windows File Recovery Alternative – MiniTool Power Data Recovery

Windows File Recovery is a useful free recovery tool, but it is mainly designed for users who are comfortable with command-line operations. MiniTool Power Data Recovery provides a simpler recovery experience with a graphical interface and additional recovery features.

How to Use MiniTool Power Data Recovery

Next, we will show you the detailed steps of data recovery with MiniTool Power Data Recovery.

Step 1. Hit the download button below to get MiniTool Power Data Recovery on your computer.

MiniTool Power Data Recovery FreeClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Step 2. Launch the MiniTool file recovery tool and then you will see its main interface. Now you should select the target drive/folder/disk to scan for deleted files.

• From Logical Drives: Under this section, all partitions on your computer will be displayed. You need to find the drive from which you want to recover files according to the drive letter, disk capacity, disk file system, etc. Then, move your mouse cursor to that drive and hit the Scan button.
• From a Specific Location: Here you can opt to scan the Desktop, the Recycle Bin, and a certain folder for deleted files. This is a good choice to reduce the scanning duration.
• From Devices: Moving on to this module, you can select to scan an entire disk for lost files. It is suitable when you need to recover files from multiple partitions on a disk at once.

Here we take scanning the Desktop for example.

Step 3. After scanning, most of the found files are classified by the original file structure under the Path section by default. You can simply expand each folder and subfolder to find the needed files. Alternatively, you can go to the Type category list to browse through listed items by file type and even file format. For example, if you need to recover JPG files individually, you can expand All Files Types > Picture and focus on the JPG section.

In addition, there is another feature that can help you sort files by file type – Filter. After clicking this button in the top right corner, you will be able to customize file filtering rules, including file type, file date modified, file size, and file category.

Additionally, there is a search box located in the top right corner which allows you to search for a certain item by using its file name. Also, you can use this feature to search for all files in a specific file extension. For example, you can type .jpg in the box and press Enter to make all jpg pictures displayed.

Step 4. Now you can double-click on each of the target files for the final confirmation. After that, tick all needed items and hit the Save button. Then you will be prompted to select a directory to store the recovered files. Just do as it is told, but do not choose the original drive where data loss happens so as to prevent data overwriting.

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To Sum Up

In a word, this post introduces how to recover deleted or lost files with Windows File Recovery and MiniTool Power Data Recovery. Both of them have their own advantages and disadvantages, and you should choose the one that suits you best based on your data loss scenario and data recovery needs.

Should you need any help with MiniTool Power Data Recovery, please feel free to contact the support team for assistance via [email protected].

Windows File Recovery FAQ