What are the Top 5 RAID Recovery Software in 2026?

A quick search for the "best RAID recovery software" on the web will give you a long list of software to choose from. Navigating this list can be mind-boggling as well as time-consuming. To make things easier, we have selected the five best options that should help you recover data from any RAID type that you have.

Let's read further.

Top 5 RAID Data Recovery Software at a Glance

Before we proceed any further, here's a quick comparison of the RAID array data recovery applications:

How We Ranked these Tools?

Every RAID array recovery software on this list was tested on the same setup consisting of 4x3TB WD Red Plus 3.5" connected to a Windows 11 system. We also tested the software on a similar RAID array connected to a Windows 10 PC. Each tool was installed, tested in isolation, and then uninstalled before the next tool was used. Recovered files were saved to a separate external drive.

We took some of the common challenges that IT admins face in real-time and made them the basis to evaluate these applications.

• The quality of the recovered data, i:e, the amount of duplicate or corrupted items returned after the scan.
• Support for both hardware and software RAID, and various RAID configurations – RAID-0, 1, 5 & 6, and especially the complex ones like RAID-1+0, 5+0, 6+0, etc.
• Support for different file systems formatted drives, like NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, EXT4, BTRFS, APFS, HFS+, XFS, and ZFS.
• User interface (UI) and how intuitive it is.
• Technical aspects such as automatic detection of different RAID array parameters like stripe size, disk order, parity rotation, offsets, and more – that are vital for accurate data recovery.
• Ability to create and work on disk images and not on physical drives.
• Value, i:e., availability of demo/free-trial and the functionalities offered in the demo and the paid versions.
• Customer service response

Top 5 RAID Recovery Software (Tested & Ranked)

Below is our breakdown of the best RAID array data recovery software that you can leverage to safely recover data.

1. Stellar Data Recovery Technician

The first on our list is Stellar Data Recovery Technician – a specialized RAID recovery software that has a powerful data recovery engine, which efficiently utilizes the capabilities of its algorithms to safely recover data from degraded/crashed/failed RAID-0, 5, 6 and some nested RAID arrays. It has a simple and clean UI that makes it intuitive, reliable and accurate.

This DIY RAID recovery software can automatically identify different RAID parameters – RAID parity rotation, start/end sector, stripe size, etc. This particular option comes in handy if the values for these are unknown. You can also make the data recovery process byte-level accurate by manually entering the parameters (if known). However, the best part of it is the virtual reconstruction of the RAID array, where a virtual RAID from the entered parameters and the remaining drives is constructed and used for recovery. Finally, you can preview the recoverable files in its 'three-pane preview' – a layout that helps verify the files and the complete directories, parent, and sub-folders.

This based RAID recovery software can recover all types of files – documents, media files (audio, video, images, GIFs, etc.), database files (SQL/MySQL), mailbox archives (MBOX/OLM/PST/OST), and much more from a RAID 0, 5, & 6 server with ease. It supports RAID logical volume/s formatted with FAT32, exFAT, or NTFS.

During our tests, we found this software to be quick to set up and easy to use. It has a simple UI that makes it suitable even for users who don't have any experience with data recovery. Performance-wise, the software worked without any crashes on both Windows 10/11 setups. The RAID recovery software was able to reconstruct the failed RAID array using the parameters we entered.

It then scanned the virtual RAID array and recovered almost every file that it had, and that too, with 0 duplicate or corrupt items.

Best For: IT admins and Windows users with a failed/crashed/degraded RAID-0, 5, 6, 10, 50 and 60. It also works accurately when the RAID controller has malfunctioned or the RAID parameters are unknown.

2. UFS Explorer RAID Recovery

Widely regarded as one of the most capable RAID recovery software, UFS Explorer RAID Recovery is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Even though it has a basic UI, it is still used by IT admins and professionals for its extensive support for almost every RAID level. Not just limited to NTFS or exFAT, it can scan and recover files from RAID volumes formatted with EXT2/3/4, BTRFS, XFS (XF), JFS, ZFS, and F2FS file systems, and many more – thus making it a particularly attractive data recovery tool for individual RAID arrays and RAID-based NAS servers.

While testing this software, UFS Explorer performed well in recovering all types of files, whether they were everyday data files like documents, PDFs, PPTs, etc., or complex data files like SQL data base, RAW image files, HEVC files, and more. It was fast and the results were quite accurate. So, it’s no slouch. However, there is a bit of a learning curve as the you need some time to understand the layout. It seems basic and focused on its main functionality – data recovery. But once you get a hang of it, the software is easy to use. RAID scan performance was quite impressive. The recovered data were systematically displayed and the deleted files were clearly marked. However, the lack of check boxes to select files is a bit disappointing. We had to use the Ctrl + Click or Shift + Click shortcuts to select multiple files.

Best For: Advanced users, data storage managers, graphic designers, NAS administrators, and Linux users looking for a way to recover data from almost any RAID configuration.

3. DiskInternals RAID Recovery

DiskInternals RAID Recovery is developed for recovering data from a broad range of RAID configurations ranging from the simple RAID-0 to complex nested RAID levels like RAID-10, 50, etc. Moreover, it can also recover files and folders from Apple, Linux and UNIX RAID setups.

Its strongest point isn't its UI or the data processing power, but its practical features that are designed while keeping the users' convenience in mind. One such feature is the ability to connect to a RAID server remotely over a local network. This gives you direct access to a RAID server over a local network and allows you to recover data from it. This makes data recovery simple. This will, however, only work if the RAID is active and not in a 'failed' or 'crashed' state.

In our test, we found this software to be quite effective in terms of recovering data. It managed to find and recover almost every file on the member drives. However, it lacks a visually appealing and user-friendly UI. While in manual RAID reconstruction mode, the module felt clunky to use because of its drag-and-drop functionality.

Best For: Home users, small businesses, and admins seeking a reliable RAID recovery software at a lower cost.

4. Hetman RAID Recovery

The next RAID recovery software that we evaluated is Hetman RAID Recovery. It is a powerful RAID recovery software that is designed for creating data backups with the capabilities of RAID array recovery. One of its standout advantages is the ability to create full or partial backups of RAID member disks before beginning recovery operations. This acts as a valuable protection when the health of member drive/s is not good.

Unlike other software that only have two ways to select RAID (Manual or Automatic), Hetman gives three options in its dedicated 'RAID Constructor' window. While the first two options are obvious by their name (Automatic and Manual mode), there is a third option – 'Search by manufacturer' - which is faster than the other two options. It lets you select the RAID array based on the manufacturer of the RAID controller used.

While testing this software, we found that it got stuck during the scan at around 40% on our Windows 10 setup. Eventually, it did finish scanning the RAID array, but the speed was very slow. As for the recovery, it managed to recover almost every file the RAID drives had in them. However, we also noticed some duplicate items in the recovered files.

While it is a capable software, it is an expensive one as it offers limited number of RAID disks supported with each edition. This is a big let-down. The Home and Office versions recover data from a RAID array with a limited number of drives, i.e., ≤3 disks and ≤5 disks respectively. The Business version can recover data from any RAID array without any limitations.

Best For: Home users, content creators, and graphic designers who want a one-stop solution for data recovery and backup.

5. R-Studio

R-Studio has long been a preferred choice among professional data recovery experts who value functionality over convenience. Its data recovery engine is very powerful as it can restore data easily from faulty or crashed RAID arrays. It produces very accurate results with almost all the files recovered from the member disks. However, during our tests, we found that it was unable to recover modern file types or codecs such as H.265/HEVC videos. They appeared to be corrupted. Additional features include network recovery, disk imaging, partition analysis, and low-level disk inspection.

Overall, it is quite powerful, no doubt. But its dated UI makes the software very unintuitive and complex for an average user with no experience with such tools. With a steep learning curve, it is more suitable for professionals, system admins, and forensic users.

Best For: Data recovery experts, IT engineers, lab technicians, and forensic experts handling standard, complex, or non-standard RAID configurations where auto-detection fails.

Which RAID Recovery Software Should You Use?

RAID Recovery software selection depends on the failure scenario. Here's what you should use:

• For simple RAID configuration - RAID 0, RAID 5, RAID 6, RAID 10/50/60, Stellar Data Recovery Technician is the best recommendation. It is an efficient software that produces accurate results without generating unwanted duplicate items.
• For complex or non-standard RAID configurations or when the parameters are unknown, both R‑Studio and UFS Explorer RAID Recovery offer the best RAID data recovery experience. They even support RAID volumes formatted with EXT4 and ZFS.
• If you are running on a budget, DiskInternals RAID Recovery would be an apt choice.
• And finally, if you want to create full or partial backups of RAID member drives before beginning the recovery, Hetman RAID Recovery would be the perfect choice. However, be ready to lighten your wallet, as it is quite expensive among the reviewed tools.

Let's now see which RAID recovery software should be used in different failure scenarios.

What to do before Running a RAID Recovery Software?

After you have selected a suitable software to recover RAID array data, here’s what you need to do:

• Before attempting RAID recovery, assess the condition of the degraded RAID array. This includes identifying the failed disk/s, their health, and the cause of failure.
• Document all the details, including disk order, strip size, and parity rotation about the failed RAID array. These details are required while manually rebuilding the array using a RAID recovery software. Also, label the member drives in the correct order with its exact slot number (eg. - Slot 1, Slot 2) before taking them out of the enclosure.
• Select a sufficiently large storage drive like an external or network storage to store all the data you plan to recover from the degraded RAID array. Its capacity should be at least twice the storage capacity of the RAID.
• You must also ensure that the RAID controller or the software (eg - Intel RST), doesn't automatically initiate a rebuild. Although it restores the data and brings the array back online, it uses the remaining disks at 100%, which puts everything – the disks, RAID configuration, and the data – at risk.

Skipping the above steps is the most common reason why RAID array recovery fails.

Bottom Line

So, here's our list of the best RAID recovery software. For home users or even small businesses using basic RAID configurations like RAID-0, 5, 6, or basic nested RAID configurations, Stellar Data Recovery Technician is the most suitable tool. It is easy to use, automatically detects RAID parameters, and virtually rebuilds the RAID for recovering files. For recovering data from various RAID arrays over a local network, you can rely on DiskInternals RAID Recovery. It is powerful and easily recovers data from different RAID configurations without much hassle.

For advanced users, R‑Studio and UFS Explorer remain the best options. Both offer support for a wide range of RAID types and levels. However, UFS Explorer dominates for its extensive support for Linux storage recovery. It can also recover data from BSD and Solaris file formats. Finally, if you don't want any risks during the rebuild or recovery, you can opt for Hetman RAID Recovery software. It lets you create a full or partial backup image of your RAID volumes before you begin the recovery process. However, it is an expensive software with limited disk support, unless you go for the Business version.