A free Stellar Data Recovery alternative with no recovery limit

How to switch to a free alternative

1. Keep the drive untouched

   Do not save, install or download anything onto the drive that held the lost files while you switch tools. If it is your system drive, keep normal use to a minimum.

2. Run the portable version

   Extract the FileFix Ultimate portable ZIP to a USB stick or another disk and start it from there, so nothing new is written to the source drive.

3. Scan the drive

   In Deleted file recovery, select the drive and scan. Files whose file system records survive come back with names and folders; signature search finds the rest by content.

4. Filter and preview

   Narrow the list by type, name, size or date, and preview photos, PDFs and text before you save. Each result shows a confidence level and whether it was validated.

5. Save to another disk

   Choose a destination on a different physical disk and save as much as you need in one go; there is no size cap. The same volume cannot be selected.

6. Repair what came back damaged

   If a photo or video opens only partly, use Damaged file repair. For JPEG, MP4, MOV and WAV you can add a healthy file from the same device as a reference, an approach similar to Stellar's sample file repair.

How it compares with Stellar Data Recovery Free

Based on public information in October 2026, Stellar Data Recovery Free includes scanning, preview and a deep scan, and limits the amount of data you can save without a licence; the exact allowance has changed over time, so check the current terms on Stellar's own page. Several paid editions add more recovery capacity, and the higher ones add photo and video repair. Stellar's paid editions come with vendor support, which some users value.

FileFix Ultimate has no feature-limited edition. Deleted file recovery, signature search for 68 file types, lost partition search, drive imaging, damaged file repair, the unsaved file finder and disk health checks are all included, with no size limit and no account, and free for personal use.

Repairing photos and videos without a second purchase

Stellar's photo repair is known for its sample file method: a healthy picture from the same camera supplies the header information a damaged one has lost. FileFix Ultimate offers a comparable reference repair for JPEG, and for MP4 and MOV recordings that were cut off before the camera could finish writing them, it rebuilds the missing index from a normal clip recorded with the same device and settings.

Repair always saves a new file and never changes the original. Results are labelled honestly, so a video that can only be partly restored is shown as partial rather than as a success.

Will the second scan find the same files?

Both tools read the same disk, so data that has not been overwritten is usually found by both, though the lists will not match exactly because each tool reads file systems and signatures in its own way. Stellar and Stellar Data Recovery are trademarks of their owner and are not affiliated with FileFix Ultimate.

When an alternative will not help

• Files deleted some time ago from an SSD with TRIM are empty in every tool.
• Data written to the drive after the first scan may have overwritten some files.
• FileFix Ultimate runs on Windows 10 and 11 only and does not read APFS, ReFS, Btrfs or ZFS volumes.
• Drives with mechanical symptoms need a recovery lab, not another scan.

How FileFix Ultimate helps

• Free for personal use with no recovery limit, no trial period and no account.
• Portable ZIP that runs from a USB stick without installing.
• Reference-based repair for JPEG, MP4, MOV and WAV, saved as new files.
• Independent validation of every recovered file, with honest status labels.
• Available in 12 languages and works fully offline.

Frequently asked questions