| Tool | Key Feature | VMFS version | |------|-------------|---------------| | (Windows/Linux) | Full VMFS journal replay, RAID reconstruction, remote over iSCSI | 3,5,6 | | UFS Explorer Professional Recovery | Excellent for complex SAN/NAS, supports storage adapters | 3,5,6, plus VSAN | | DiskInternals VMFS Recovery | Built-in preview of VMDKs, wizard-driven | 3,5,6 | | Stellar Data Recovery for VMware | Recovers from formatted or corrupted VMFS | 5,6 | | Runtime GetDataBack for VMFS | Fast scan, simple UI | 3,5,6 |
Ubuntu/Debian/CentOS, access to the raw disk/partition (e.g., /dev/sdb1 ).
If the VM is business-critical, stop touching the datastore immediately and contact a professional data recovery service with VMware experience. Attempting free tools incorrectly can overwrite the very data you need. Last updated: 2025 – for VMware ESXi 7.x/8.x with VMFS6. Always test recovery procedures in a lab before an emergency.
Accidentally deleting a virtual machine file (VMDK, VMX, VSWP, etc.) from a VMFS datastore can be a nightmare. Unlike a standard Windows or Linux file system, VMFS is a proprietary, clustered file system designed for block-level access by multiple ESXi hosts. Standard undelete tools (Recuva, TestDisk, PhotoRec) do NOT work on VMFS.
