# DriveSavers Data Recovery — Find Deleted Photos & Files

> Simulates hard drive and SSD failures for educational purposes. (iPhone/iPad app by DriveSavers, Inc..)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/drivesavers-data-recovery/id317700244 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [DriveSavers, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/317700247)
- Category: Utilities, Education
- Price: Free
- Rating: 3.60/5 from 427 App Store ratings · 30 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 17.0 · 50 MB
- Languages: American English, European Spanish
- Released: 2009-06-09
- Data updated: 2026-11-13
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/drivesavers-data-recovery/id317700244/reviews.md

## What is DriveSavers Data Recovery?

DriveSaver is the free app from DriveSavers Data Recovery, the data recovery lab in Novato, California, recovering data since 1985. It helps you do the right thing in the first few minutes after data goes missing, and shows you what happens inside a drive when it fails.

LOST DATA? START HERE
What Happened? asks one question and gives you the steps for the next 10 minutes: deleted by mistake, got wet, won't turn on, dropped, clicking drive or ransomware. The wrong move in the first hour (a reboot, a rice bag, a recovery tool run on a failing drive) is what turns a recoverable case into a lost one.

HELP YOURSELF FIRST
- Find Deleted Items: every Recently Deleted folder on iPhone (Photos, Messages, Notes, Files) in order, with a reminder before the 30 day window closes.
- Backup Health Check: five quick checks to find out if this iPhone is actually backed up, plus an optional monthly reminder.
- Media Check: connect a memory card, USB drive, external drive or NAS share and the app reads every file to find damaged, blank, encrypted and partly encrypted files, ransom notes and virtual machine disks (VMDK, VHD, VHDX, QCOW2, VDI). It reads only. Nothing is changed or deleted.

TOOLS FOR TECHS AND IT TEAMS
- Inspect a Device: point the camera at a drive or device label to read the maker, model, serial number and capacity, with next steps. Text is read on the device.
- Before You Erase: what not to do with a Mac, iPhone, drive or RAID before the data is safe.
- Ransomware Response: a first hour checklist and a shareable incident summary.
- RAID Calculator: add drives and compare usable capacity and protection for two RAID levels side by side.
- Siri and Shortcuts: call DriveSavers, check a memory card or start a recovery by voice, plus Control Center buttons.

SEE HOW DRIVES FAIL
Interactive simulators for a hard drive, SSD, USB flash drive, SD card and iPhone. Crash them on purpose: head crash, seized motor, contamination, SSD failure and more. Then play Keep the Head Flying and try to beat the shop high score.

FOR PARTNER SHOPS
- Shop Mode: a counter QR code tied to your DS code, so every case a customer starts is credited to your shop.
- Wallet referral card: your DS code and shop name in Apple Wallet.
- Shop QR widget for the home and lock screen.
- App Clip: customers who scan your QR open DriveSavers instantly, no install needed.

LEARN
Data recovery services for 11 device types, from phones to RAID, protection strategies, a tour of the ISO 5 certified cleanroom, and DriveSavers certifications including the annual SOC 2 Type II audit and HIPAA security compliance.

Main screens are available in English and Spanish. Works on iPhone and iPad.

DriveSaver gives guidance and diagnostics. It cannot undelete or decrypt files; iOS does not give apps that level of access. When the data matters, call DriveSavers 24/7 at 800.440.1904 or start a case from the app.

## Key features

- Hard drive failure simulation
- SSD failure simulation
- Explore drive parts and functions
- Data recovery dos and don'ts
- Realistic failure visuals and sounds

## What do users think of DriveSavers Data Recovery?

Reviews of DriveSavers Data Recovery are mostly positive: the Utilities app is rated 3.6/5 from 427 App Store ratings. What users like most: highly educational for users, great for explaining technical concepts. Top complaints: app is just an ad, sounds not realistic. Summarized from real user reviews.

**Pros**

- 💡 Highly educational for users
- 👍 Great for explaining technical concepts
- 🚀 Excellent visual aid for clients
- 👍 Clear data storage explanations
- 👍 iPhone module is valuable
- 👍 Inspires data backup
- 👍 Informative and well-designed
- 👍 Fun animations
- 👍 Helpful and well-made
- 👍 Makes explaining HD failure easier
- 👍 Useful for understanding drive mechanics
- 👍 Good protection tips
- 👍 Illustrates HDD workings
- 👍 Useful info for everyone
- 👍 Free and cool
- 👍 Works as advertised
- 👍 Awesome window into drive workings
- 👍 Cool to see drive crashes
- 👍 Gnarly pics of destroyed drives

**Cons**

- 👎 App is just an ad
- 👎 Sounds not realistic
- 👎 Limited usefulness
- 👎 Half the app is an ad

**Most requested features**

- Improvements to liquid and physical damage simulations
- More realistic sounds
- Needs free play
- Hard disk simulator feature

## Is DriveSavers Data Recovery safe?

DriveSavers Data Recovery appears mostly safe based on user ratings. The AppsHunter Safety Score for DriveSavers Data Recovery is 72 out of 100. This assessment is based on 427 user ratings, with an App Store average of 3.6 out of 5. Of 427 App Store ratings, 56.7% point to a safe experience, 19.7% suggest some concerns, and 23.7% point to a risky experience.

## Is DriveSavers Data Recovery legit?

DriveSavers Data Recovery appears to be a legitimate app. The AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for DriveSavers Data Recovery is 88 out of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data.

## Recent user reviews (10 of 30)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/drivesavers-data-recovery/id317700244/reviews.md

### 1/5 — Ad

*2026-03-07, version 3.8.2*

It's just an ad. Don't  waste your time

### 5/5 — Far above what I expected

*2020-07-28, version 3.6.1*

The iPhone module alone is worth the free download. Chipset clusters are clearly identified and the data storage differences between SSD, HDD, and Raid, couldn’t have been more clear.

I would love to see improvements to the liquid and physical damage simulations. I think people would understand why liquid damage is so destructive to device hardware with better hardware. 

Great app and worth the download

### 2/5 — Hard drive simulator?

*2019-09-30, version 3.3*

What happened to the hard disk simulator feature of the app? I used to always use the DriveSavers simulator app to demonstrate to people the importance of backing up data and how there were many different ways drives could fail at any time.

### 5/5 — Very Educational

*2019-03-07, version 3.0*

I'm always amazed at how little people know about how their data is stored. Irreplaceable memories or data are just spinning away on a hard drive, or sitting on flash on a phone. This app goes a long way to bridge that knowledge gap, so you can show people what's happening with their data. Great app!

### 5/5 — Blowing my mind

*2013-11-11, version 1.1*

This app could possibly be the best thing to happen to data managers everywhere!

### 3/5 — Good sounds aren't great

*2012-05-17, version 1.1*

Good app for demonstrating however the sounds don't sound realistic at all it'd be nice to have them sound more accurate

### 1/5 — I like it!

*2010-05-19, version 0*

Sure beats hearing your own hard drive fail!!! I've been inspired to backup today.

### 5/5 — Great app

*2010-04-18, version 0*

What a great app to show people who are not in the know what is wrong with their computers!!! Love it!!

### 5/5 — Great Product!

*2010-03-04, version 0*

Very informative application and well designed to illustrate the various symptoms associated with hard drive failure. There is really something to be said about how well designed this application is. Most importantly, it's a visual aid that can be used to show clients what some of the physical and mechanical issues are that affect hard drives. Bravo!

### 5/5 — I saw a tech using this

*2010-02-24*

Took my machine to an apple hardware guy to find out what was wrong, and saw him use this app. Really interesting to find out how your own machine works when something bad is happening. Fun animations too.

## Frequently asked questions about DriveSavers Data Recovery

### What does DriveSaver do?

DriveSaver is a hard drive and SSD simulator that provides a realistic virtual experience of data storage device failure. It allows users to see and hear how drives fail, explore their components, and learn about data recovery best practices to prevent catastrophic data loss.

### What are the key features of DriveSaver?

The app features a "Crash a Hard Drive" simulation where you can witness a head crash damaging platters, and an SSD simulation showing circuit board failures. It also allows exploration of different drive parts and their functions, along with guidance on data recovery dos and don'ts.

### Is DriveSaver free to use?

Yes, DriveSaver is a free application. There are no in-app purchases or advertisements mentioned, indicating it is completely free for users to download and utilize its simulation features.

### What devices is DriveSaver compatible with?

DriveSaver is designed for Apple devices, specifically compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. This allows a wide range of iOS users to access the simulation and educational content.

### Who would benefit from using DriveSaver?

Anyone curious about the internal workings of hard drives and SSDs, or those who want to understand the potential causes and consequences of data loss would benefit. It's also useful for learning basic data recovery prevention tips.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 62 — 2026-11-11

DriveSaver is rebuilt from scratch for iOS 17 and later, on iPhone and iPad.

New:
- What Happened? Pick what went wrong and get the steps for the next 10 minutes.
- Find Deleted Items and Backup Health Check.
- Ship It In: free FedEx label, packing steps for each device, and the nearest FedEx locations.
- Call DriveSavers widget for the Home Screen and Lock Screen.
- Media Check: find damaged, blank, encrypted and partly encrypted files on cards, drives, NAS shares and VM disks.
- Inspect a Device: read a drive label with the camera.
- Before You Erase, Ransomware Response and a new RAID Calculator.
- Keep the Head Flying game.
- Kiosk Mode: a full-screen demo loop for in-store iPads.
- For partner shops: Shop Mode QR, Apple Wallet referral card, Shop QR widget and an App Clip.
- Siri and Shortcuts: call DriveSavers, check a memory card or start a recovery by voice, plus Control Center buttons.
- Larger text, Increase Contrast and VoiceOver support throughout.
- Spanish for the main screens.
- New design with a sidebar layout on iPad.

The hard drive, SSD, USB, SD card and iPhone simulators and crash demos are rebuilt and now fill the screen on iPad.

### 3.8.2 — 2021-07-07

- Beautifully redesigned in SwiftUI for an enhanced app experience (iOS 14 and later). Best experience in dark mode!
- New animations
- Misc. UI/UX upgrades
- Bug fixes
- iOS 15 ready

### 3.8.1 — 2020-12-09

• Beautiful new icons!
• Added swipe to go back gesture
• Lots of UI/UX design changes
• Bug fixes

### 3.8 — 2020-12-04

• Beautiful new icons!
• Added swipe to go back gesture
• Lots of UI/UX design changes
• Bug fixes

### 3.7 — 2020-09-16

• iOS 14 ready to go!
• All-new, crisp, modern dark mode color scheme
• A boatload of UI/UX fixes and enhancements

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-11-13.*