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Windows File Recovery vs TestDisk & PhotoRec: catalog facts
Windows File Recovery	TestDisk & PhotoRec
Free Free from the Microsoft Store.	Free Free and open source under the GNU General Public Licence.
Windows, Command line	Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line
Free first-party tool from Microsoft Covers photos, documents, videos and many other file types	Recovers deleted partitions and fixes partition tables, which restores everything at once Rebuilds FAT and NTFS boot sectors and repairs the MFT from its mirror
Command line only, with no graphical interface Windows 10 2004 or later only	A text menu interface that is genuinely intimidating under pressure Easy to make things worse if you do not understand what you are confirming
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Closed source	Open source
License not stated	License: GPL-3.0
Not stated if an account is needed	No account needed
Works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.