Stellar Photo Recovery Review [Windows Version]

Data recovery software is a great utility to recover lost and deleted data from PCs or external devices. However, such software may charge heavy recurring fees which costs a lot in the long run. If you run a data recovery business or deal with a lot of data then it’s fine to go for such expensive software.

However, if you are a content creator, photographer, or videographer who only deals with multimedia files then investing so much in a data recovery software of which most features you are never going to use is not advisable.

Keeping this thing in mind Stellar has come up with its Photo Recovery software that lets you recover only multimedia files i.e. photos, videos, and audio. And this software will cost you way less than the Stellar Data Recovery Software For Windows.

In this article, I am putting this software to the test and trying to find out whether it works or not. So, let’s start the Stellar Photo Recovery review.

Note: Stellar Photo Recovery was earlier known as Stellar Phoenix Photo Recovery, they rebranded themselves in 2018. So don’t get confused with the names.

Stellar Photo Recovery Software Overview

Stellar Photo Recovery is a lightweight software that lets you recover your lost or deleted multimedia files which may be of great value to you. The software is easy to use and can recover files that were deleted intentionally or due to irresistible circumstances like virus attacks, power failures, or hardware failures.

Also, you can recover recently deleted files as well as files that were deleted years ago using this software given that the files are not overwritten. Once the data is overwritten no data recovery software can recover it and that’s the hard truth.

Besides that, this software works really well and it has helped me recover multimedia files that were deleted up to 7 years ago. Actually, I had an old corrupted hard drive that was not used for years.

For testing purposes, I connected it to my PC using an HDD enclosure and luckily I was able to recover my old photos and videos using it. Following are some features you get with this image recovery software.

Pause and resume scan: Sometimes the image recovery process can take time, but you don’t have to complete the entire process at once. With the pause and resume scan feature, you can recover the deleted multimedia files in multiple batches at your convenience.

Preview: With the preview function you can be sure that you are recovering the right file among various other files that are recovered during the scan process.

File Repair: This software not just recovers the deleted photos and videos for you but also acts as a video and Jpeg repair tool which fixes the issues in corrupted multimedia files.

Why I Recommend Stellar Photo Recovery

Stellar Photo Recovery is a great tool for photo and video recovery, it can recover all types of file formats from internal as well as external devices. I really like it because apart from recovering the deleted multimedia files it also helps me repair the corrupted ones. Also, it is really easy to use and has no learning curve to it. So if you’re a beginner then you will love it.

Why I Don’t Recommend Stellar Photo Recovery

There are not many reasons why I don’t recommend Stellar Photo Recovery. However, it is missing the feature to recover data from specific folders. Hence you have to scan the entire drive to recover the data which can take a lot of time and that’s the only thing I don’t like about it.

Stellar Photo Recovery Quick Review

In my humble opinion, I feel that Stellar Photo Recovery is a software that everyone should own especially people who capture lots of photos and videos on a daily basis, for example, content creators. The best part is that it can even repair your corrupted multimedia files besides recovering them. Also, the price of the software falls in the affordable category.

So you must give it a try. If you are still not convinced or are in a dilemma about whether or not you should get this software then I would recommend you read my complete Stellar Photo Recovery Software review to get a better idea.

Specs	Remark
Free Trial	Yes
Money Back Guarantee	30 days
Price	Starts at $49.99
Supported Operating System	Windows & Mac
Data Recovery Adviser Rating	8.5

Click Here to Try Stellar Photo Recovery

Detailed Stellar Photo Recovery Review

So in this review, I will test this software in every aspect. If you don’t have much time to read the entire review you can skip to a specific part of the article. Here are the quick links for that:

• Software Requirements
• How To Install Stellar Photo Recovery?
• Dashboard
• Setting Up The Software
• How To Use Stellar Photo Recovery?
• Stellar Photo Recovery Features
• Performance
• Stellar Photo Recovery Pricing
• Stellar Photo Recovery Review: Final Verdict
• FAQs

Software Requirements

This software can run on even the oldest PC that meets minimum requirements which are; you must have a Pentium PC that has at least 2 GB of RAM and 250 MB of free space in the hard drive. I have tested the Stellar Data Recovery Software on a 9-year-old PC and it ran smoothly on that and the same is true for this software as well.

So in terms of system requirements, you wouldn’t have any problem as long as you are meeting the minimum requirements and I can guarantee you that!

How To Install Stellar Photo Recovery?

You can download the software by visiting their official site. Once downloaded, installing this software on your PC is one of the easiest things you could do. You need to follow the simple installation process as you would do with any other software and it will be installed within a few minutes. Also, the software is lightweight( 25 MB) so it will be downloaded in a blink of an eye.

Overall, downloading this software and installing it on your PC is no big deal anyone can do it without any help.

Dashboard

 

Once the software is installed on your PC you can launch it by clicking on its shortcut logo on the home screen. It will be launched immediately and you will land on the dashboard of this software. The dashboard looks clean and minimalist without anything fancy which is a good thing. Even if you are a beginner you will find this dashboard easy to understand and operate.

There are three scan locations  shown on the dashboard from where you can recover your multimedia files:

Removal Disk: The removal disk as the name suggests is a location/device that is externally connected to the PC like a MicroSD card, Pendrive, External hard drive, etc.

Local Disk: All the disk partitions on your PC are shown under Local Disk.

Physical Disk: If you want to scan the entire hard drive attached to your PC at once then you can select this location.

Setting Up The Software

There are a bunch of advanced settings provided in this software that makes your experience of recovering your multimedia files even more streamlined and user-friendly. Once you have launched the software you can set the advanced settings to set up the software as per your needs. Here are the different settings you get on this software.

1. Preview

The preview option is by default turned ON in this software which you can turn OFF before starting to recover the multimedia files. The benefit of turning OFF the preview option in advance is that the software uses fewer resources and completes the scan in less time. When the Preview is kept ON the software takes more time to scan the location and may lag if you are using an old PC. So before starting the scan, you can turn OFF the preview.

2. File Type Selection

If you want to make the scanning process more streamlined and faster then you can select only those file types that you want to recover. By default, all the file types are preselected which may end up recovering files you don’t even need. So it’s better you only select the files that you want to recover. Doing so will make your file recovery process easier and faster.

3. Adding A New File Type

If by any chance the file you are looking to recover is not available in the software’s directory then you can also add it manually to the software. For that, you will have to add 10 samples of that particular file type to the software and it will automatically fetch that file type and add it to its library.

4. Resume Recovery

If you have an incomplete scan that you saved on your PC the last time you ran the software, you can also resume it from the advanced settings tab. The incomplete scan file will be saved in .DAT format, you can add it to the software and click on the Resume Recovery button to start the scanning process from the point you left it the last time.

5. Change Language

The software also gives you the option to change the language of the software if you don’t want to use it in English but in your native language. It supports 4 more languages other than English which include French, German, Italian and Spanish. So if you are not comfortable with the English language you can change it to the one you are comfortable with.

6. Offline Activation

One of the best things about this software is that it lets you do everything offline, you don’t need an active internet connection in order to recover your file. Also, if you are using the trial version of the software you can upgrade to the paid version offline. For that, you can place the activation code that you get from the company after buying the software in the offline activation box and you are good to go.

Click Here to Try Stellar Photo Recovery

How To Use Stellar Photo Recovery?

Using the Stellar Photo Recovery Software to recover your photos, videos, and audio is a simple process and it takes only a few steps to actually recover your lost files. You can either recover files from the internal storage of your PC or connect an external storage media to retrieve data from it.

You can follow these simple steps to recover multimedia files using this software:

1. The first step to recovering files is to select the location you want to scan for data recovery. Once you have selected the location or device you can click on the Scan button at the bottom right corner to start recovering the file.

You may see the option to turn on the Deep Scan mode. You can turn it ON or keep it the way it is if you want to quickly scan the location for recently deleted files.

2. Now depending on the size of the file and the scan mode you select it may take some time to show you the scan results. You need to be very patient to recover files using the deep scan because it digs deep in the location and scans it completely which may take a few hours.

3. Once the files are recovered you can select the one which you want to recover and also see the preview to be sure that the file you are recovering is right or not. Once you have found the file you were looking for you can select it and click on the Recover button to recover those files.

And that’s it with just this much effort you have successfully restored your lost photos and other multimedia files using the Stellar Photo Recovery software.

Things To Remember When Recovering Files Using This Software:

1. Overwritten Files Can’t Be Recovered

2. Never recover the files to the same location it was deleted from because it may overwrite the existing data which can cause trouble.

3. Files that are not recovered in the quick scan can be recovered using the deep scan but it takes a while.

Verdict:

Using this software to recover lost media files is super easy. Even a first-timer can use it to recover their lost multimedia files without visiting a data recovery lab.

Click Here to Try Stellar Photo Recovery

Stellar Photo Recovery Features

1. Scans The Location Thoroughly

This software supports two scan modes; quick scan mode and deep scan mode. The quick scan is for recovering intentionally deleted files that were deleted recently. It takes less time than the deep scan mode but I am not a big fan of it because it’s not that powerful and can’t recover data that was deleted some time ago.

The deep scan, on the other hand, does take more time but it is powerful and can recover files that were deleted even a decade ago depending on whether the file is overwritten or not. So I recommend you go for a deep scan whenever possible because this way you will have more chance of recovering your lost files.

2. Pause And Resume Scan

This feature you will find on most of the data recovery software these days, which helps you to pause an ongoing scanning process to resume it later. Sometimes the deep scan may take up to 10 hours or more so it’s not possible to keep the scan running for such a long time. But with this feature, you can stop and save the scanning process and resume it later from the same point.

3. Easy To Find Recovered Files

Once you have successfully completed the scanning process you will be shown thousands of recovered files out of which most will be of no use to you. Now finding your desired photo or video from the sea of files is not easy. But not with this software as you can simply search the file by entering its name or file format on the search bar at the top right corner and the file will be shown in front of you.

You can also sort the files from the left side panel of the software into File Type, Tree View, and Deleted List. Finding a recovered photo or video this way is a super simple process.

4. Preview The Photos Before Recovering

Without previewing the recovered files you can’t be sure whether you are about to restore the right file or not. But that’s not the problem here because you can preview the photo, video, or audio file before restoring it you your computer. It’s a great feature and I really like it a lot and encourage you to use it as well.

5. Supports Recovery From Various External Devices

Be it a Pendrive, MicroSD cards, or External hard drives, this software can identify all external storage media devices and allows you to recover data from them. We have tried it on an external hard drive and a Pendrive and it was able to recover deleted photos, videos, and audio from both of them.

Also, you can recover deleted photos or videos shot from a DSLR, which are deleted by mistake or due to the MicroSD card getting corrupted. Simply, eject the card from the DSLR and insert it in a card reader and then connect it to the PC. The software will identify the MicroSD card and will let you recover data from it.

Stellar Photo Recovery software supports DSLRs from all the major brands including Nikon, Canon, Samsung, Sony, and more. So you can rest assured. Besides DSLRs it also allows you to recover data shot from drones, action cameras, and VR cameras.

6. Photo Recovery From Encrypted Devices

Keeping your storage devices encrypted with a password is a good practice to protect your data from others. However, it is really tough to recover data from an encrypted device in case you forgot your password. But using Stellar Photo Recovery you can easily retrieve your lost photos, videos, or audio from a device that is encrypted with BitLocker.

7. Photo And Video Repair

In the advanced version of this software, you get the option to repair your photo and videos that may have been distorted during the data recovery process. I think it is a great feature to have in data recovery software because multimedia files may get corrupted while recovering them. But, you don’t have to worry because now you can easily repair those distorted photos and video files with this software.

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Performance

In terms of performance, Stellar Photo Recovery stays true to its name and provides the value one would expect from a Stellar product. I have tested this software for quite a few days and I found that it does recover multimedia files that were deleted or lost due to mistakes or accidents.

It works fast and can run in the background without lagging your PC. Also, in my test, I found that the longer you wait after a file deletion the lesser the chance to recover it. However, I was also able to recover some photos and videos that were deleted 6 to 7 years ago using this software, which again proves that if the data is not overwritten no matter when it was deleted it will recover it for you.

Also, what I noticed is that the deep scan mode takes a lot of time to complete. However, if you already find the file you can stop the ongoing process and restore the recovered file without even completing the whole scanning process.

So, in terms of performance, Stellar Photo Recovery is a winner as it can recover all your deleted photos, videos, and audio files without using a lot of resources.

Stellar Photo Recovery Pricing

 

It is available in three versions, Standard, Professionals, and Premium. The standard version starts at $49.99 yearly, while the Professional and Premium versions will cost you $59.99 and $69.99 respectively.

The standard version can recover deleted media including photos, videos, and audio. While on the professional version, you can recover media as well as repair corrupted photos and thumbnails. The Premium version can do all that Standard and Professional versions do and in addition, it can repair videos as well.

You can settle for the Professional version if you are a photographer because it helps you repair photos along with recovering them. And if you are a videographer the Premium version is better for you because it can repair distorted videos.

Click Here to Try Stellar Photo Recovery

Stellar Photo Recovery Review: Final Verdict

So finally the review is complete and I am nothing but impressed with this software. If you are a photographer or videographer then I would highly recommend it to you. It has some shortcomings, but then nothing is perfect in this world! It works well and that’s what matters in the end, isn’t it?

FAQs

1. Do I Need An Internet Connection To Recover Deleted Photos?

No, the software works without an active internet connection so you can recover your lost photos without being online.

2. Do They Give Money Back Guarantee?

Yes, you get a 30-day money-back guarantee on this software so you are in safe hands.

3. Can I Install The Same Software On Windows And Mac?

No, for both Windows and Mac, there are different versions offered by Stellar.

4. Can I Recover Data In The Trial Version?

No, you can only preview your lost and deleted files but can not recover them using the trial version.

5. Does It Support Nikon DSLR?

Yes, it supports Nikon and all other DSLRs from other brands.