Sonda
en ▾
Download
100% free No ads Fast

Recover deleted files from USB drives and SD cards in minutes.

Sonda is a free, fast, and simple tool to recover photos, videos, and documents that were deleted or corrupted. No size limits, no ads, no upsell.

Download for Windows How it works
sonda.exe
Sonda device selection screen showing detected USB drives and SD cards with capacity and usage indicators
USB drives and SD cards grouped by type. System disks marked in amber to prevent operating on the wrong one.

Why Sonda

A recovery tool that respects your time and your data.

No 24-hour trial, no 100 MB limit, no upsell to a Pro version. Everything that exists is here, always.

  • Truly free

    No paid version, no file size limits, no signup, no ads. Always.

  • Straight to the point

    Recovery of deleted and corrupted files. Not a suite of 14 tools — just one tool that does one thing well.

  • Truly fast

    Optimized engine with raw I/O. Lists the root of a 32 GB USB drive in under half a second.

  • Easy for anyone

    Open it, pick the drive, mark the files, recover. Three clicks. No setup, no command line, no manual.

  • Your files stay with you

    Recovery happens locally on your machine. Recovered files are written to the folder you choose — we never upload them anywhere.

  • Safe read-only access

    The source device is opened in read-only mode. Sonda never writes to the drive you are recovering from.

Screen by screen

Simple to use, every time.

Plug in the device, pick the files you want back, save them to a destination folder. Done.

Step 1 — Pick a device
Sonda device selection screen showing detected USB drives and SD cards with capacity and usage indicators
USB drives and SD cards grouped by type. System disks marked in amber to prevent operating on the wrong one.
Step 3 — MBR + FAT32 listing
Scan screen showing MBR partition table and FAT32 file listing with deleted entries highlighted
Detected partitioning and FAT32 root files. Deleted entries are highlighted and ready to recover.
File preview
Side drawer showing a preview of a recovered JPG file with cluster metadata and confidence score
Preview images, PDFs, and hex before recovering. No writes on the source disk.
Recovery in progress
Recovery screen showing a progress bar, detailed log of copied files, and real-time throughput
Stream-based copy with real-time progress. Destination always on a disk other than the source.

Captures from the preview build. The final layout may change.

How it works

Recover your files in 5 steps.

No complex setup, no manual to read. Plugged the drive in? In under a minute you are looking at your files.

  1. Connect the device

    Plug the USB drive, SD card, or external HDD into your computer. Sonda detects it automatically, even when Windows cannot open it.

  2. Open Sonda and pick the device

    Click the drive in the list. System disks appear highlighted in amber to prevent operating on the wrong one.

  3. See the detected files

    Sonda shows the partition table and the file list, with deleted files highlighted. No waiting, no long loading bar.

  4. Mark what you want to recover

    Select one file, several, or all of them. Preview available for images, PDFs, and text before copying.

  5. Pick a destination folder

    Always on a disk other than the source (Sonda warns if you try). Files are copied without altering the original drive.

Verifiable download

Download it and confirm the file is the real one.

Each binary publishes its SHA-256 hash. Run Get-FileHash before executing to make sure the file is intact.

Windows 10 / 11

x64 · 2.35 MB

available
Download v0.1.0

SHA-256

790494219fdd94300cc60cab49f27bea529ef57b8ed0a47ac4ef49335e050661

Linux

x64 · —

coming soon

SHA-256

Waiting for first release

macOS

universal · —

coming soon

SHA-256

Waiting for first release

Frequently asked questions

Straight answers to the most common questions.

Is Sonda really free?

Yes. Sonda is 100% free — no paid version, no file size limit, no signup, no ads. We do not ask for your email, we do not show ads, we do not charge for extra features.

Do my recovered files leave my machine?

No. Device reading and recovery happen locally on your computer. Recovered files are written to the destination folder you choose, on your own disk. Sonda does not upload files anywhere.

What kinds of files can Sonda recover?

Photos (JPG, PNG, RAW, HEIC), videos (MP4, MOV, AVI), documents (PDF, DOCX, XLSX, TXT), audio (MP3, WAV, FLAC), archives (ZIP, RAR), and any other kind. Filesystem-based recovery preserves the original name; carving (deep mode) extracts by header signature.

Which filesystems are supported?

FAT32 (fully supported, including long file names and detection of deleted files). exFAT and NTFS are in development. Carving mode works on any device, regardless of filesystem, because it scans the raw disk looking for file signatures.

What kind of devices does it work on?

USB pen drives, SD/microSD cards (via reader), CF cards, CFexpress cards, and any other removable storage Windows recognizes as a block device. External USB HDDs also work. SSDs with TRIM enabled may have limited recovery — that is a physical limitation, not a Sonda limitation.

Why can Sonda (or any software) not recover files from SSDs with TRIM?

When the operating system deletes a file from an SSD, it sends a TRIM command telling the controller that block can be physically erased. The SSD wipes the cells at its convenience. When recovery software tries to read, the controller returns zeros. It is not a software limitation — it is hardware. USB drives and SD cards typically do NOT implement TRIM, so recovery works well on them.

Is it hard to use?

No. In three clicks you pick the drive, choose the files to recover, and pick the destination folder. There is no required setup, no command line, no hidden menu. If a file appears with a readable name in the list, just click to recover.

How do I know the download is the official file and was not tampered with?

Each release publishes a SHA-256 hash of the binary. Before running it, open PowerShell and run: Get-FileHash sonda-setup-x64.exe. Compare the result with the hash shown on the download page. If they match, the file is intact. Always download from the official site.

Why does Sonda need administrator permission?

Raw disk access (raw block device) requires elevated privilege on Windows. Without it, no software can read sectors directly — only files on the mounted filesystem, which would make recovery impossible. The Windows UAC asks for permission once when you open the app.

How is it different from Recuva, Recoverit, EaseUS?

Sonda is genuinely free — no paywall, no file size limit, no "trial mode", no upsell to a Pro version. The free alternatives in those suites always have some restriction (10 MB, 1 GB, or partial recovery). Sonda is simple to use: plug in the drive, it shows the files, you pick which to recover.

Can I recover to the same device?

No, and Sonda explicitly blocks that. Recovering to the source disk can overwrite the very data you are trying to recover. Always pick a destination on another device (internal drive, another USB stick, a folder on your machine).

When will it be released for Linux and macOS?

The engine architecture is already prepared for both platforms — disk reading and device enumeration interfaces are abstracted. Only the platform-specific layers remain. No promised date, but it is the next step after stabilizing the Windows version.

Did not find your answer? Contact us at contato@sonda-recover.com.