Score: 3.8 out of 5. AOMEI FastRecovery is a competent Windows recovery tool from a company better known for backup and partition software. It covers the common cases properly and has a free edition, which makes it cheap to evaluate.
An important note on this review. Unlike Disk Drill, EaseUS, MiniTool and Stellar, we have not run AOMEI FastRecovery through our full six-scenario test protocol on our own drives. The performance characteristics described below come from the vendor’s published specifications, not from our measurements. We are saying so plainly because the rest of this site is built on tested numbers and this one is not yet among them.
What it covers
The scope is the standard consumer set, and it is broad enough for most household data loss:
- Deleted files, including after the Recycle Bin has been emptied
- Formatted drives and partitions
- USB flash drives and memory cards
- Internal and external hard drives, plus SSDs
It offers the usual two-mode approach: a Quick Scan that reads file-system records and finishes fast, and a Deep Scan that carves by file signature and takes considerably longer. That distinction matters more than people expect, and we cover why in our guide to quick versus deep scanning.
Preview before recovery is included, which is the single feature we would refuse to buy a recovery tool without. If a tool cannot show you the file opening correctly before you pay, you are buying a promise.
The limitations worth knowing
Windows only. There is no macOS build. If you have a Mac, or a household with both, Disk Drill covers both platforms on a single licence and is the more sensible purchase.
The free edition is a taster. It exists, which is genuinely useful for establishing whether your files are recoverable at all, but unlimited recovery and the more advanced features sit behind the paid licence, which starts around $39.95.
It is not a damaged-drive tool. Nothing in its feature set suggests the imaging-first, bad-sector-aware behaviour that makes Stellar the right pick for a failing disk. Treat it as a tool for healthy hardware and logical loss.
Where AOMEI genuinely makes sense
The most interesting thing about AOMEI is not the recovery product on its own. It is that the same company makes AOMEI Backupper and a disk-cloning tool, and there is a real workflow argument there.
The single most useful habit in data recovery is imaging a drive before you scan it. If you already run AOMEI’s backup or cloning software, you have that capability and the muscle memory for it. Recovery is the wrong moment to learn a new imaging tool under pressure.
Equally, the honest observation is that a working backup makes recovery software unnecessary. Every hour spent on a scan is an hour you would not have spent if a backup had run last night. If you are researching recovery tools right now because there was no backup, the more valuable purchase after this incident is the backup software, not the recovery software.
How it compares
- Against EaseUS: EaseUS gives 2 GB of free recovery versus AOMEI’s more limited free edition, and covers macOS. EaseUS is the safer default.
- Against MiniTool: MiniTool’s perpetual licence covering three PCs is better value if you want to buy once rather than subscribe.
- Against PhotoRec: PhotoRec is free and finds a great deal, but discards filenames and folder structure entirely. AOMEI’s advantage is that you get your folders back.
Verdict
A reasonable Windows-only option, particularly if you already use AOMEI’s backup tools and want everything from one vendor. The free edition makes it low-risk to try, and preview-before-purchase means you will know quickly whether it can help.
It is not our first recommendation. For a healthy drive start with Disk Drill or EaseUS; for a sick one start with Stellar. We will revisit this score once AOMEI has been through the same drives as everything else, and we will say so on this page when that happens.
Tools mentioned, and how we are paid
The links below are affiliate links. We earn a commission if you buy through them. It never changes what we recommend, what you pay, or where a tool sits in our rankings.
- Disk Drill — highest recovery rate in our testing.
- EaseUS — most generous free tier at 2 GB.
- MiniTool — cheapest credible lifetime licence.
- Wondershare Recoverit — fastest scans, best video repair.
- Stellar Data Recovery — plus Photo Recovery, Repair for Video and iPhone recovery.
- AOMEI FastRecovery and O&O DiskRecovery — Windows options we track.
- PandaOffice Drecov — newly tracked, not yet tested by us.
- PhoneRescue and DroidKit — phone recovery.
- Rewarx Studio AI — not a recovery tool. AI product photography for online sellers, included as a partner.
Free tools that pay us nothing: PhotoRec / TestDisk and Recuva.