What are the primary features and productivity benefits of Wondershare Dr.Fone Data Recovery Android?
Android Recovery – Restores deleted contacts, messages, photos, and documents.
WhatsApp Retrieval – Recovers chats, attachments, and important media files.
Preview Selection – Lets users choose files before restoring data.
Device Coverage – Supports many Android brands and recovery scenarios.
Computer Export – Saves recovered files securely to your computer.
Digital Reliability – Keeps mobile recovery workflows safer and organized.
Direct Device Scan – Recovers deleted photos, videos, contacts, messages, documents.
WhatsApp Recovery – Restores chats, attachments and View Once media.
Google Drive Extraction – Pulls SMS, call logs and calendar backups.
Broken Phone Mode – Extracts data from cracked or unresponsive devices.
Core Capacity – Over 6,000 Android models, 14+ data types.
Important – Commercial use rights require a separate Business License.
Dr.Fone – Data Recovery (Android) is a desktop recovery tool that scans a connected Android phone, tablet, SD card or Google Drive backup and pulls back deleted files. It is the Android-only module of the Dr.Fone family and does not cover iPhone or iPad recovery.
Free Preview – Scan and view recoverable files before buying.
Selective Export – Recover single chats instead of whole backups.
Read-Only Scanning – Phone contents stay untouched during the scan.
Readable Chat Export – Saves WhatsApp threads as HTML or CSV.
Cloud Fallback – Reads Google Drive backups without wiping the phone.
Wide Brand Coverage – Samsung, Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, OnePlus, Motorola.
It runs a deep scan on a connected Android device and returns deleted items you can preview and export to your computer. Supported data includes contacts, SMS, call history, photos, videos, audio, documents, and WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business messages with their attachments, across more than 6,000 Android models. Typical cases are a gallery emptied by mistake, a chat thread cleared before it was archived, or files lost after a failed system update. Scanning and preview are free; a paid license is needed to write the recovered files to your PC.
Not always, but on some devices recovering deleted items from internal storage requires elevated (root-level) access, and Wondershare states this openly. Existing files and Google Drive backup content can be read without root; deleted fragments buried in internal memory are the part Android's security model protects. Before you buy, run the free scan: if the preview shows your deleted files, the export will work on your device. If the scan only lists data that is still present on the phone, root access is the limiting factor, not the software.
Direct internal-storage recovery after a factory reset is usually not possible on current Android devices, because the reset discards the encryption keys needed to read the old data. The practical route is the Google Drive recovery mode, which signs in to your account and extracts contacts, SMS, call logs, calendar entries and WhatsApp backups without overwriting the phone you restore to. That distinction matters for support work: a reset handset with a Drive backup is recoverable, a reset handset without one usually is not. The same logic applies after a ROM flash or a wipe performed by a repair shop.
The "screen on but unresponsive" case, for example a cracked display where the phone still boots and is detected over USB, works across the major Android brands. The deeper extraction for black-screen or non-booting devices is far narrower: Wondershare's own support pages limit it to selected Samsung models, mainly the Galaxy S and Note lines. A phone that no longer powers on or is not recognised by the computer at all is generally outside what any software tool can reach. Check your exact model against the supported list before you count on the broken-device mode.
Three constraints decide whether this is the right key. First, the license is Android-only – iPhone and iPad recovery is a separate Dr.Fone product. Second, Windows and Mac licenses are sold separately and are not interchangeable, so buy the version for the computer you will actually run the scan on. Third, overwritten sectors cannot be rebuilt: stop using the phone the moment data goes missing, because new photos, app updates and downloads will bury the deleted blocks.
Both belong to the Dr.Fone family and share the same scan-preview-recover workflow, but they cover different platforms and are licensed separately. The Android edition adds Google Drive backup extraction and the broken-Samsung mode; the iOS edition works from the iPhone itself and from iTunes or iCloud backups. If you support a mixed device fleet, you need both, not one.
| Feature | Data Recovery (Android) | Data Recovery (iOS) |
|---|---|---|
| Android phone scan | ✓ | ✕ |
| iPhone / iPad scan | ✕ | ✓ |
| Google Drive backups | ✓ | ✕ |
| iTunes / iCloud backups | ✕ | ✓ |
| WhatsApp recovery | ✓ | ✓ |
| Broken-device extraction | Samsung only | ✕ |
| Commercial use rights | See note | See note |
Note: the standard license is a personal license. Wondershare offers a separate Business License for professional and multi-device use, which is what a repair shop or IT department needs.
It pays off for anyone whose evidence lives inside chat apps rather than in a file system: the exported WhatsApp thread lands on your PC as HTML or CSV, with media in the original format, so a deleted conversation can be read, archived or handed over. Phone repair technicians use the Samsung broken-device mode to pull data off a handset with a dead display before board work begins. Everyday users mostly need the two-minute free scan to answer a single question – are my photos still there, or already overwritten? For business or paid recovery work, the personal license is not sufficient and a Business License must be purchased instead.
Yes. Internal storage and a removable SD card are handled as separate scan targets, which is useful when photos were saved to the card but the gallery database sat in internal memory. Card scans are also less affected by Android's storage protections than internal-memory scans.
Wondershare describes the scan as read-only, and recovered files are written to your computer, not back over the source. That is why you should never install new apps or take new photos on a phone you still hope to recover from – the overwrite risk comes from normal phone use, not from the scan.
WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business are the app types Wondershare documents explicitly for this module, including attachments, starred messages and View Once media. Other messengers may surface as media or database fragments during a deep scan, but the structured, exportable chat recovery is specific to WhatsApp. If a different messenger is your priority, verify it in the free preview before purchasing.
No. Connecting the device, running the scan and previewing what was found are free; the key is required to export the results to your computer. Use that free preview as the buying test – it tells you in advance whether the deleted data still exists on the device.
| Operating Systems | Windows 11: Home / Pro / Education / Enterprise Windows 10: Home / Pro / Education / Enterprise Windows 8.1: Core / Pro / Enterprise Windows 8: Core / Pro / Enterprise Windows 7: Starter / Home Basic / Home Premium / Professional / Ultimate / Enterprise |
| Processor | 1 GHz or faster Intel or AMD CPU. |
| Memory RAM | 1 GB RAM or more. 2 GB RAM or more recommended. |
| Hard Disk | 7 GB of available hard disk space. |
| Display | Standard display compatible with the respective operating system. |
| Special Features | Recover deleted Android photos, videos, contacts, messages, call logs, audio files, and documents. Preview and selectively recover Android data before export. Recover Android data directly from phone or tablet storage. Recover Android data from Google Drive backups including WhatsApp backups. Extract data from broken Android phones in supported scenarios. Supports 6000 plus Android devices. Supports Android 16. |
| Note | Windows 7 or newer required. USB connection required to connect the Android device to the computer. Internet connection required for download, activation, updates, and Google Drive recovery workflows. Some Android recovery functions have device model and Android version limitations. Trial version can scan and preview lost data, but full recovery requires a paid license. |
| Operating Systems | macOS Tahoe 26 macOS Sequoia 15 macOS Sonoma 14 macOS Ventura 13 macOS Monterey 12 macOS Big Sur 11 macOS Catalina 10.15 macOS Mojave 10.14 macOS High Sierra 10.13 |
| Processor | 1 GHz or faster processor. |
| Memory RAM | 1 GB RAM or more. 2 GB RAM or more recommended. |
| Hard Disk | 7 GB of available hard disk space. |
| Display | Standard display compatible with the respective operating system. |
| Special Features | Recover deleted Android photos, videos, contacts, messages, call logs, audio files, and documents. Preview and selectively recover Android data before export. Recover Android data directly from phone or tablet storage. Recover Android data from Google Drive backups including WhatsApp backups. Extract data from broken Android phones in supported scenarios. Supports 6000 plus Android devices. Supports Android 16. |
| Note | Requires macOS 10.13 or later. Apple silicon processor support is not separately specified by Wondershare. USB connection required to connect the Android device to the computer. Internet connection required for download, activation, updates, and Google Drive recovery workflows. Some Android recovery functions have device model and Android version limitations. Trial version can scan and preview lost data, but full recovery requires a paid license. |
| Operating Systems | Android 5.0 or later |
| Memory RAM | Requirements met by any device running the supported OS version. |
| Hard Disk | Available storage depends on the size of the data to be recovered. |
| Display | Standard display compatible with the respective operating system. |
| Special Features | Recover deleted Android photos, videos, contacts, messages, call logs, audio files, and documents. Preview and selectively recover Android data before export. Recover Android data directly from phone or tablet storage. Recover Android data from Google Drive backups including WhatsApp backups. Extract data from broken Android phones in supported scenarios. Supports 6000 plus Android devices. Recover data without rooting in supported workflows. Save supported WhatsApp View Once photos, videos, and voice messages in supported scenarios. |
| Note | Android 5.0 or later required. USB connection required when using the desktop recovery workflow. Android storage permissions and device protections may limit recoverable data. Some severe broken phone recovery scenarios are supported only on specific older Samsung models. Recovery results depend on device model, Android version, device condition, and whether deleted data has been overwritten. Internet connection required for Google Drive recovery workflows. |