One of the originals in the cloud storage space, Box has been busy doing file syncing and storing long before the likes of Apple and Microsoft jumped on the bandwagon. As a result, it's long been considered one of the best cloud storage services out there, packed with loads of features and options, and available just about everywhere you're going to need it.

Standing out from the crowd are Box’s business packages that make Box, but it does cater to consumers also. With a focus on syncing files inside of a dedicated folder, and not backing up entire systems and hard drives, here’s what you need to know. 

• You can sign up for Box here

Box: Pricing & plans 

The options are aplenty from Box of paid-for plans to choose from, and that even includes a free tier – provided you can get by with 10GB of free cloud storage and a file size limit of 250MB.

An upgrade to the Personal Pro plan costs $14 a month and offers 100GB of storage with 5GB upload limits. This isn't as good value as offers from mainstream competitors like Apple, Microsoft, Google and Dropbox, with 2TB generally being available for around $10 a month. 

A cheaper option is available for teams of three users or less in the form of the Starter plan, which can be useful for families. It offers a similar prospect to the Personal Pro account, with 100GB of storage. However, the file size limit is reduced to 2GB. This costs $7 per user, per month. 

Business plans offer unlimited storage, higher file size limits, and deeper integration with productivity tools, among other features. They all require a minimum of three users, starting with the Business plan ($20 per user, per month), moving up to the Business Plus plan ($33 per user, per month) and the Enterprise subscription ($47 per user, per month). A top-spec Enterprise Plus plan is available, though this requires Box getting to know your business needs in order to provide a quote. 

Regardless of plan type, discounts are to be had for annual plans, currently with 25% savings. But owing to the 100GB maximum storage allowance imposed on individual users, it’s hard to recommend Box for personal use. Businesses will get the most out of this service.

Box: Interface 

The Box interface tends to stay basic and minimal across its multiple apps, but that's not necessarily a negative. It’s decidedly polished and straightforward to use, although we would like to see a few more options and features up front rather than hidden behind menus. That simple design carries through to the mobile apps for Android and iOS too, making file access easy on the go.

Box really does feel fully integrated into the Windows and macOS operating systems. We really can't give it much higher praise than that. A downside to mention is that there's no way of throttling bandwidth use when you've got a pile of files to transfer. We did find the syncing process speedy and responsive though, providing some of the best upload and download speeds we’ve tested among other competitors.

The web experience is slick and easily navigated. Pulling up the most recent changes to your files can be done with ease, for example, along with creating a list of favorite locations within your Box folders that can get done with a click. It’s clear that a huge portion of the company’s investment has been poured into its user experience, which goes a long way towards streamlining the process and making it an easy service to use. 

Also appreciated is the auto-delete feature to set some files and folders to go away on a specific date (though you can only access this if you're on one of the paid-for packages).

The mobile app looks great, and integrates well with native file management, however the best functionality comes from using the Box app directly. Unlike the desktop client, there is some degree of control when it comes to network usage, but even this is just a warning for smartphones when uploading or downloading files over 20MB in size.

The automatic camera backup - disabled by default and buried deep in the settings - makes it one of the best photo cloud storage services for securely saving images and videos. But remember that videos may not upload due to the 250MB limit on free accounts or up to 5GB limit for personal plans. 

Additionally, Box interfaces well with third-party apps and plug-ins, blending into the background and feeling like a native feature and not an add-on. In plenty of situations, there isn't really a Box interface as such, which might be a plus or a minus against the service, depending on your perspective. Taken as a whole, the years that Box has had to refine its software offerings definitely is apparent.

Box: Features 

Taking the Dropbox approach to cloud storage, Box sets up a specific folder on your Windows or macOS computer, and then keeps all of its contents in sync with the cloud along with any other devices with Box installed. 

Similar to Dropbox, Box neatly integrates itself with File Explorer on Windows or Finder on macOS. When we installed the Windows client on our test machine, it automatically created a 'Box' mounted volume to which we could store files and folders. 

You're also given the choice to have all of your files downloaded for offline access, or to keep them online and transfer them when needed. This is useful as while you can still access files and folders in your cloud drive when online, they won't take up extra space on your local hard drive. 

Although it's not a solution to back up absolutely everything on your hard drive with OS, settings and all, Box has different strengths. This is a cloud storage platform, not a cloud backup solution.

The sharing of files and folders is a simple and straightforward task, whether you need to collaborate with other people on something or just for generating a link to be distributed to whoever needs it. Businesses can benefit as Box integrates smoothly with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and Adobe Creative Cloud, among other software packages. And it's really at the business end of the spectrum where the service is most impressive. You’ll find plenty of other integrations, including Slack, Airtable, Tableau. In fact, for the most well-rounded cloud storage that’s capable of handling the ultimate workflow and sharing needs, it’s easy to recommend Box. 

The best way to see the myriad of extra features Box can incorporate is to sign in via the web interface and open the 'App Center'. From here you can see all the online services with which Box is compatible, like Slack. You don't need to install extra tools to open documents in the free online version of Microsoft Office Apps or GSuite apps. 

Keeping this in mind, the team management features are par excellence: controlling access to files and folders, seeing who is collaborating on what, checking the use of files and data across an entire country, and so on. For a large company that has a need to manage cloud storage data in complex ways, Box is easily one of the best options out there, while remaining aware that for everyone else, it's not quite as compelling.

It’s worth mentioning that the free account is fairly limited in its uses, but the 10GB of storage is up there with some of the best, with no need to provide payment details. Currently, you can increase this by another 5GB simply by installing the Android or iOS app on a mobile device and signing in. If you use a business email address to do this, you're given an extra 20GB of storage. 

File uploading for the free version is limited to a rather small 250MB, unlike the 2GB or 5GB limits imposed on paid-for personal accounts, and up to 150GB for business accounts. Note this limit only applies to individual files as during our test with a free Box account we were able to upload 625MB of data spread across multiple files. 

According to Box.com's support pages, free accounts can access only one previous version of a file. Our tests didn't bear this out. Still, if you sign up for a Personal Pro or Starter subscription you can access up to 10 or 25 previous file versions respectively.  

Box: Security 

Box takes security very seriously indeed – there's AES 256-bit encryption as standard and data is transmitted via TLS. The platform also supports other encryption ciphers such as RC4, although this is generally considered very insecure and we recommend sticking with the default options unless you're a power user. If you need full end-to-end encryption (so not even Box can get at your files in an emergency), it's available via Box KeySafe.  

Two-factor authentication is included here as well, which adds another layer of security to your account- even if someone manages to have your username and password.

The mobile app adds an extra layer of security with a passcode or biometric barrier - and this can be a different passcode to the one you would usually use to log in to your tablet or smartphone. 

Each and every file transfer, login and even a Box application installation is tracked and logged, and by the addition of the full Admin console, you get even greater auditing and control options. Anytime a file or folder is accessed, you can be informed by email (so for example, when someone says they read your report, you’ll know that they're being less than truthful). Finally, a full range of compliance and regulatory tools are on offer as well, and it all adds up to a very secure and comprehensive service indeed.

Box: Our tests 

We measured Box’s sync speed, file recovery and versioning on a Windows 11 virtual machine running the Box desktop client. Our VM was connected to the internet via fiber broadband and a VPN server, which in our speed tests showed average upload speeds of 70 Mbps  

• Test 1 - Sync speed 

We were pleased to see that Box is one of the speediest cloud storage clients we've reviewed. 

Our test folder containing 22 files (625MB of data in total) synced in just under 90 seconds which is exactly what we'd expect given the connection upload speed of our test device.

We noticed that once the test folder was copied to the Box volume by default it was stored in the cloud only, not locally on the device. However, as mentioned, you can configure Box to store an offline copy, too. 

• Test 2 - File recovery

In this test we  wanted to see if, after deleting the files from the application directory, it was possible to recover them. 

We deleted the test folder from the Box mounted volume, and received a warning that this would permanently remove the files from our device as there wasn't an offline copy.

We used the Box client to open the Box cloud web page. From there it was easy to see deleted files in the Trash and choose Restore. The website reminded us that by default deleted items are held in the trash for 30 days, though certain business/admin accounts can apply to have this extended.

We used the Box.com website's preview feature to open a few restored images and audio files to check all our data had been recovered and were pleased to see how slick and intuitive it was. 

• Test 3 - Versioning

Versioning - the ability to view a file’s previous states (and useful for rolling back any changes) - took us by surprise here. The Box website states it’s possible to recover one previous version of a file with a free account.

So, we placed our test Word document in the Box mounted volume and edited it just once before opening the Box Cloud online portal. The file was there and we could even see a tag next to it saying V2 to show that Box had multiple copies of it. 

However when we tried to open the file to restore it, Box informed us that we'd need a paid subscription to restore V2. There's no doubt this service works perfectly but it's a shame we weren't able to recover the original file, since only one change was made.

Box did offer to open our test document in Microsoft Word online or Google Docs. Had we made our changes there, it's likely we could have restored the document without paying for a subscription.  

Box: Verdict 

Box certainly tailors its offering for the business market, even though it does have a couple of plans for consumers too. It's stacked with collaboration, data compliance and automations, and makes plenty of APIs available in case you need something bespoke. Certainly with one of the more expensive plans, with unlimited storage and useful tools, it's an appealing overall package.

Alternately, for consumers that want to stretch every dollar, that money is arguably better spent elsewhere. Box's apps aren't quite as user-friendly as the ones offered by its rivals, and it gets expensive depending on what you need. While it's a great option for cloud storage and syncing,  it's not a great option for everyone.

• Best cloud backup  - tested, reviewed, and rated 

One of the original companies to truly understand what the best cloud storage means is Dropbox. First released back in 2008 to replace the then-ubiquitous flash drive - a goal that it's definitely managed to succeed in reaching - it's become one of the most popular online storage sites in the world.

Working seamlessly with Windows, macOS, Android and iOS, Dropbox keeps your files backed up to the web and in sync across multiple machines without any additional user effort. Fire-and-forget, indeed. The question is, how does one of the originals in the cloud storage space compare to younger competitors?

• Want to try Dropbox? Check out the website here

Dropbox: Pricing & plans 

Full credit to Dropbox for offering a free tier, although even 2GB of the best free cloud storage space really isn’t much to write home about. However, it provides an opportunity to try the service for free, forever, which is something a lot of rivals won't allow. Your capacity can even be expanded somewhat through doing things like installing the mobile client and making referrals of other people to Dropbox, with the understanding that you'll miss out on some of the more advanced features offered by the service, such as offline folder access when mobile.

Personal plans have access to 2TB of storage - individual users get this for $11.99 a month or $9.99 a month when billed annually. The Family plan, letting you share your 2TB space among up to six users, is $19.99 a month or $16.99 a month when billed annually. 

There are several plans for businesses, starting with the Professional plan. This bundles 3TB storage and limited-access eSign software at $19.99 a month or $16.58 a month, billed annually. There are also subscription plans for small and large teams, with greater security features. The Standard plan delivers 5TB for $18 per user month (or $15 a month on the annual plan); the Advanced plan offers unlimited cloud storage for $30 per user per month, or $24 a month annually). 

It’s worth noting that, like many subscription-based models, savings are to be had for annual commitments. In the case of Dropbox, a 20% saving is pretty good. 

Dropbox: Interface

It’s hardly unexpected from a service and app that's been around through the ages, and Dropbox has grown up to offer a very clean, elegant interface that can manage all your files. Well, it always has offered one of the nicest experiences in terms of user experience, but consumer needs have meant that Dropbox has had to keep up with the trends. For sharing a folder of pictures or returning files back from digital death, Dropbox has a straightforward process no matter the device.

Client apps for Windows and macOS are kept up to date, and have a modern-looking interface. Recent changes to your files are listed, which provides a good overview of what you (and your team) are doing inside Dropbox. 

To manage syncing settings and bandwidth use is quite straightforward, with strong performance all-round. Uploading both the browser and desktop client provided near identical speeds, which were up to twice as quick as some other services we tested using the same network parameters. 

While the desktop clients are somewhat basic in what they offer, the web interface is rather impressive, so good that some other cloud storage services would do well to emulate it, with files and folders at the ready, media ready to be played directly from the web, tons of options available with a click of the mouse, and smart touches spread throughout, such as your most recent file changes displayed up top.

On the mobile front, the Dropbox apps also have a clean layout with slick functionality. You can get at all of your files and folders easily, along with uploading files from phones and tablets. These apps offer integration with native document management systems like the Files ecosystem on iOS.

Like many other cloud-based apps, the mobile versions of Dropbox offer some of the best photo cloud storage, with background support for image library backup, which is especially useful on trips where your smartphone or tablet becomes your one and only device. We especially liked the built-in document scanner, which proved great for archiving bills, invoices, and receipts. Remember, you can select for these not to sync onto your computer to minimize the impact on your desktop, and to help keep things running smoothly. 

Put simply, Dropbox’s crisp aesthetics provide a welcoming sight regardless of how you access the service.

Dropbox: Features 

With Dropbox installed on Windows or macOS, everything is then put into your designated Dropbox folder to get synced with the cloud. This may sound familiar, as Windows and macOS natively support this in conjunction with their own cloud services OneDrive and iCloud Drive. However Dropbox was one of the initial apps to trailblaze this, and despite a whole host of new competition, it still performs incredibly well offering a slick experience.

One limitation of Dropbox is that you can't include network drives or external drives in your Dropbox, because anything that you want to be synced should be moved into this dedicated space on your desktop. However, you can certainly select which files and folders are synced to which device, choosing to keep files only in the cloud which saves space on your hard drive. 

We were incredibly impressed how quickly the Windows Dropbox app installed itself after download (less than 20 seconds). One of the first options you need to choose is whether to make files 'local'. In other words, they will exist on both your device and the Dropbox cloud or 'online only.'

You're also asked which other folders you want to sync besides the Dropbox one that's created in your home directory. By default your 'Desktop', 'Documents' and Downloads are selected but you can change this during setup. 

When it comes to sharing and collaboration, Dropbox excels at giving other people access to files and folders. It even has its own Google Docs clone which is called Dropbox Paper. This lets you collaborate with other people to work on documents in real-time. There are also built-in search capabilities that are powerful, enabling you to search text within documents with one of the paid-for Dropbox options.

Previous versions of files stretch as far back as 30 days on the free plan or 180 days on the paid plan. During our testing, we found it's possible to beyond this for certain plans using add-ons. 

Dropbox even throws in a file sharing tool called Dropbox Transfer for sharing large files online. It’s worth noting that to get the full 100GB allowance here, users need to be subscribed to the Professional or Advanced business plans - otherwise, this is capped to a less-impressive 2GB. The feature list is great, however, and even better, all these functions are well thought out and intuitively presented.

One of the company’s newest features is what it calls Dropbox Passwords. A password manager available to all subscribers, offering an unlimited number of saved passwords for paying customers and a limit of 50 for free accounts, which is still respectable. It works in conjunction with a browser extension that, in our experience, worked well. The autofill process wasn’t quite as slick as the native support which - in our case - used Safari with iCloud Keychain to sync passwords across all devices. 

Dropbox: Security  

Dropbox provides 256-bit AES encryption for your data. However, the files aren't fully end-to-end encrypted like on some other services, which means in a pinch, Dropbox staff can get at your files. But it also means that the files are not always secured from anyone looking. 

The company also claims that any data transmitted between your devices and Dropbox servers is encrypted by SSL/TLS, so it can't be deciphered during transit. 

We leave it up to you as to how concerned you should be about this limitation, but it's worth noting that not having end-to-end encryption makes it an easier process for Dropbox to offer a polished, fully-featured web app. 

Other, fully end-to-end encrypted cloud drives and backup services that we’ve tested are a little more clunky to use, at best. Dropbox is also compatible with a number of third-party cloud encryption tools like Boxcryptor, which let you encrypt files locally before upload. If set up correctly, this means not even Dropbox staff will be able to read your data. 

Two-step authentication is another option Dropbox offers to accounts to keep them better protected. You can do this via SMS but we always recommend using the best authenticator apps instead, as it's more secure. 

It’s worth pointing out that a serious data leak did occur in 2012, although it wasn't publicly disclosed until 2016. The company has focused on security ever since, so things should be at least a little more secure by now.

Dropbox: Our tests

To test Dropbox, we measured sync speed, file recovery and versioning. This was conducted on a Windows 11 virtual machine running the desktop client. Connected via fiber broadband and a VPN server, our speed tests showed an average upload speed of 70 Mbps  

• Test 1 - Sync speed

To test sync speeds on the service, we placed a 625MB test folder into the Dropbox folder in our home directory. We then launched the Dropbox client. We were pleased to see each of the files that were being uploaded, each listing individual progress bars.

Dropbox synced all files in the test folder in 85 seconds - the fastest cloud storage client we've reviewed to date by a comfortable margin.

• Test 2 - File recovery

In this test we wanted to see if we could retrieve files after they were removed from the directory. 

During setup, we chose Local storage of Dropbox files. So, when we copied our test folder to the Dropbox directory after upload, it existed both on our device and in the cloud.

When we deleted the test folder, Dropbox gave us a helpful warning that it would be deleted from all our Dropbox devices. After going ahead, we used the client to launch Dropbox.com where we could easily find the Deleted File section.

From here we clicked Restore and confirmed we wanted to restore all files. They synced back to the local Dropbox folder on our device in less than 45 seconds. Again, this is the fastest speed we've seen in all the cloud storage clients we've tested.

• Test 3 - Versioning

To see how Dropbox performs for file versioning, we placed a test document - a .docx file - in the Dropbox folder on the device. We waited for the client to sync. It took less than 2 seconds. Next, we opened the document in Wordpad, removed all text except the intro and let it sync again with Dropbox.

The file appeared as Edited Now in the Activity tab in the Dropbox client. We chose ‘View on Dropbox.com' to preview the Word document on the website. When we clicked Options we saw Version History, which we used to restore the original.

Customers on the free plan, as well as 'Plus' and 'Family' subscribers can store any number of file version histories for 30 days. Dropbox Professional and Standard subscribers benefit from 180 days. Advanced and Enterprise customers can restore file versions up to 365 days after upload. Some paid subscribers can make use of Dropbox add-ons to extend version history for up to 10 years.  

Dropbox: Verdict 

Dropbox is at the top at what it does. While it lacks the online office suite capabilities of Google Drive, and the tight iOS and macOS integration of iCloud Drive, it excels when you need to sync files and folders between devices running different operating systems. In short, Dropbox is just about the best in the business – and has been for a while, which is why OneDrive and iCloud have been playing catch up for too long - but they are.

It's not quite perfect. But the desktop, mobile and web apps can leave a lot of Dropbox's rivals in the dust, both in what they can do and how well they do it. Dropbox has more than succeeded with its mission to make USB flash drives redundant. It also has gone on to do considerably more besides, as it offers intelligent, reliable, secure file syncing and cloud storage that anyone can use. 

The lack of client-side encryption isn't unusual for a major cloud storage provider. The fact that Dropbox is so popular also means that it's compatible with a number of cloud-encryption products, so if security is a concern for you, you can protect your files before uploading. 

Really it is not an overstatement to say that Dropbox can genuinely change the way you work.

For a while now, Microsoft’s OneDrive has been quietly improving and integrating in the office space. It was a slow start. But thanks to a stream of regular updates and features, OneDrive now comfortably rivals the likes of Dropbox and Google Drive in the best cloud storage stakes 

It helps that OneDrive is tightly integrated with the Microsoft 365 Office apps and the Windows operating system. You’ll find the cloud storage tool built into Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices - whether you want to use it or not. Separate client tools are available for macOS, Android, and iOS, and a web browser portal.   

• You can sign up for Microsoft 365 here

Cloud storage deals

OneDrive: Pricing & plans 

Microsoft OneDrive offers 5GB free cloud storage to personal users, and a range of subscription plans.  It’s also worth noting that the free plan does have access to online-only versions of the Office apps, much like Google’s offer of an online G Suite.

A 100GB storage plan costs $1.99 per month and offers very little more than an ad-free version of Outlook. 

A pair of Microsoft 365 plans come in the form of the 1TB Personal plan ($6.99 a month) and the 6TB Family plan ($9.99 a month), which offers 1TB of storage each for up to six people. Both add access to Skype and the suite of Office apps, including Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, which can be downloaded on up to five computers. It’s a touch more expensive than iCloud Drive and Google Drive, which both offer 2TB of storage.

Annual subscriptions offer small discounts. However, this doesn’t help to undercut many of OneDrive’s rivals as they also offer similar incentives. 

For those that need business features, like user management and advanced file auditing, a variety of business plans are available too. Prices start at $5 per user per month, if you pay annually. That gets each user 1TB of space, but doesn't include Microsoft Office apps. 

More expensive packages are available, that add in unlimited cloud storage for every user, or the Microsoft 365 apps, but somewhat enigmatically, not both. Prices climb to $12.50 per user per month. 

OneDrive: Interface & experience 

When running Windows, OneDrive shows up in the navigation pane, right alongside Documents, Desktop, and everything else, to quickly right-click on files and folders to move them to the cloud or make sure you've got local copies available. It's seriously slick and easy to use.

Alternatively, the web interface, which can be accessed from any computer using your Microsoft ID, lacks a level of sophistication. It doesn't have the stylish simplicity Google Drive or Dropbox. But it does get the job done of displaying your media, sharing your files, and letting you move files around, but it hardly has any panache.

On other interfaces, it's a mixed bag. The syncing client for macOS isn't anything that notable, but like the web interface, it covers everything you're going to need without getting too confusing, running from the menu bar, and can optionally start up with macOS. Unfortunately, it tends to get a little bit in the way of Apple iCloud Drive though.

That said, the desktop client does offer extra control for things like throttling bandwidth and saving files to your computer or storing them in the cloud only, both of which help you to free up space or speed on your computer.

Perhaps on the mobile front is where OneDrive does its best work. The apps for Android and iOS are elegant and intuitive to use. Users are enabled to jump around folders and files with a few swipes and taps. There’s a decent level of control within them for passcode protection and mobile data use, though some other cloud drive apps offer more thorough management.

We found the apps particularly strong at syncing and displaying photos and videos that have been snapped on the smartphone. Although OneDrive has plenty of competition in this area, not least from Google Photos and a host of the best Google Photos alternatives, it’s one of the best photo cloud storage apps out there.

By the very nature of a cloud drive, users will be minimizing their use of physical devices in favor of an access-anywhere nature. Part of this may involve eliminating the home printer, which has long served as a scanner, too. We like the handy document scanning feature in the app, and while it will never match the quality of a dedicated scanner, it does its job very well. 

OneDrive: Features 

Microsoft OneDrive works similarly to other well-known consumer cloud storage options, such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and Apple iCloud Drive. You specify the files and folders you want to be backed up, and they get automatically synced with copies in the cloud, along with the other computers and devices that you've got OneDrive set up on.

On initial setup OneDrive will create a dedicated folder in your home directory, though you can change the location of this if you wish. Any files you place there will automatically be synced to the cloud.

It should come as no surprise that OneDrive works best on Windows. Much like iCloud Drive is closely intertwined with the macOS experience, OneDrive offers seamless performance for those running Microsoft’s operating system.

What it doesn't do is provide unlimited, bare metal backup of devices. This means that you'll need to reinstall operating systems, settings and applications should the worst happen in a catastrophic drive failure, as OneDrive only takes care of your files. External drives and NAS drives aren't supported. So, it’s not a full cloud backup service. In fairness, this is common for this consumer-facing type of cloud storage service. Google Drive and iCloud Drive also only backup files and not an entire hard drive. OneDrive can also bring back previous versions of your files from as far back as 30 days ago.

Drop a file or folder into OneDrive, and it gets synced to the cloud and your other devices. If you want to save space on your local machine, the option is to just keep a copy in the cloud, which is handy. During our tests, we noticed that files copied to the OneDrive folder were stored in the cloud only by default. However you can right click files or folders and choose ‘Always Keep on this Device’.

Sharing files and folders with other people is a breeze too, as OneDrive can generate a link for you.

For sharing, when you opt to store Office files like Microsoft Word and Excel in OneDrive, extra features are unlocked. This includes auto-saving, so you never lose your work, and advanced online collaboration tools. These let you work on files simultaneously with other people, right inside the desktop applications or on the web. 

Additional tricks include being able to play audio and video files directly from the web, and using AI-enhanced search on your photos.

We especially like OneDrive’s Personal Vault. Whether you’re a personal or business user, or using it as a family, security needs to be top of mind for cloud storage. This vault adds an extra layer of security when it’s required. Files, including photos and videos, can be protected with additional authentication like biometrics, a pin, or a one-time code sent by SMS or email.

OneDrive: Security 

With the whole Microsoft account and Microsoft 365 subscription running, OneDrive gets protected by 2FA, which is reassuring. This means that even if your username and password are exposed, access to your files and your account is still going to be blocked. 

The Personal Vault feature requires yet another layer of authentication, like a fingerprint or a PIN, for access. However, currently, OneDrive doesn't protect the names or hashes of files, even when they're locked in your personal vault. The Microsoft Support pages also doesn't say exactly how the data is protected inside the vault, for example through more robust encryption. 

AES 256-bit encryption protects files in transit and at rest, which is not the same as end-to-end encryption, meaning that Microsoft engineers can access your data when needed such as for a restoration. Microsoft promises this is tightly controlled. Microsoft stores the files across multiple data servers as well, to further guard against data loss, and overall, we consider it an impressively robust system. 

As OneDrive isn't open source, there's no way to be certain that encryption and authentication is being done in the most secure way. Still, the platform is compatible with popular cloud encryption tools like BoxCryptor, so you may want to use this with OneDrive for extra peace of mind.  

OneDrive: Our tests 

We ran three key tests measuring sync speed, file recovery and versioning on OneDrive. Tests were conducted on a Windows 11 virtual machine running the OneDrive desktop client.  Our VM was connected to the internet via fiber broadband via VPN server, which in speed tests consistently showed an average upload speed of 70 Mbps  

• Test 1 - Sync speed

To test OneDrive’s sync speeds, we copied a 650 MB folder containing 22 files of assorted file types, into the application directory. We then measured how quickly the desktop client was able to sync the files to the cloud. 

In our original tests, we found upload speeds to be as expected, however in our tests downloading the same file for offline access took longer than the upload. This was more notable using the desktop client, which should be less of a concern because this is typically left to run in the background. 

In our most recent tests we found that OneDrive's performance had improved considerably, both for download and upload.

We added the test folder to Onedrive/Documents. The client displayed the upload progress of each file, as well as a progress report at the top of the window to show the number of files remaining.

Our average upload speed was 70Mbps and we were very pleased to see that the data in total took just under 75 seconds to upload. This is around 10% faster than other cloud storage clients we've reviewed.

• Test 2 - File recovery

To test file recovery, we deleted the test folder from the application directory, removing it from the device. We checked to see if the files had been removed from the cloud drive, and whether we could recover them.

We noticed our version of OneDrive would place any files copied to the Sync folder into the cloud only by default. To make this a fair test, we right clicked our test folder and chose ‘Always keep on this device’.

We allowed the files to sync then deleted the test folder. Upon opening the Onedrive desktop client, we immediately saw the Recycle Bin option. We clicked this to launch the OneDrive web portal and saw all the deleted files listed immediately. We chose Restore, only to find the empty folder in the OneDrive directory - without any files.

We returned to the OneDrive web portal and selected all the deleted files this time and chose to restore. This time they were synced back to the device in under a minute. 

• Test 3 - Versioning 

Although Microsoft 365 apps are capable of keeping different versions of files, we wanted to see how the OneDrive client itself fared with our test document.

Testing OneDrive’s versioning capabilities, we copied a .docx file to the cloud application folder. Once it synced, we deleted all text except the introduction, then saved and closed. We then tried to restore the document back to its original form. 

After saving and closing the document we opened the client app and saw the file listed. Upon clicking on it, we saw Version History right away. Clicking this, a helpful popup window showed the various versions of the document, including the original that we chose to restore. This version of the file opened without issue. 

OneDrive: Verdict 

OneDrive really deserves to be considered in context, as for a dedicated Windows user, and for those that make regular use of the Microsoft 365 suite, then OneDrive follows as a cloud storage extension to other Microsoft products. However, as an add-on for macOS, Android, or iOS, we found it less useful - unless you’re looking at cloud storage for photos. 

Put another way, it's not about the features or the pricing of OneDrive that makes it a good or a bad deal, it's really more dependent on what software and services you're currently using. 

We appreciated the extra security features such as 2FA and the Personal Vault. On the other hand, we would’ve appreciated more information and transparency on exactly how OneDrive protects your data both within the vault and in transit. Ideally this would be done through making the client app 'open source', so the code could be reviewed by the community, but frankly this is very unlikely to happen considering Microsoft Windows itself is proprietary software. 

What we can say for sure is that OneDrive has matured to reliably take care of all your file backup and syncing needs across multiple platforms.

If you're looking for a free file recovery tool, one of the first suggestions you'll come across is TestDisk and PhotoRec. Since 2008 this open source file recovery tool has grown in popularity, thanks to its flexibility and ease of use. That's despite TestDisk and PhotoRec relying on a command line interface rather than a mouse-driven user interface.

Also check out our standalone PhotoRec review.  

Free, open source, and almost universal

One of the main draws of TestDisk and its companion photo recovery app PhotoRec is support for a wide range of platforms.

Beyond Windows 11, TestDisk and PhotoRec can be run on Linux, macOS, Mac OS X on PowerPC, and various ARM-based platforms. Available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions, there is even a Windows 9x/MSDOS build of TestDisk and PhotoRec. Source code for the software is also available to download and compile. It can also be run as 'Live' CD or DVD in case your OS isn't recoverable.  

Key recovery features

With TestDisk and PhotoRec, recovery is split into two broad groups: partitions and filesystems, and photos and other images.

Many recovery issues concern missing partitions. TestDisk can find many lost filesystems, including NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, ext2, ext3, ext4, HFS, JFS, and many others. Furthermore, TestDisk can also undelete files on certain filesystems, namely FAT, exFAT, NTFS, and ext2.

Meanwhile, PhotoRec can find a vast selection of file formats, such as common image files (JPG, PNG, etc.), Microsoft Office files, OpenOffice file formats, PDFs, and TXT files. Over 440 file types have been recorded, meaning that if the data is intact, it can in theory be recovered with PhotoRec.

In addition, PhotoRec has a GUI option. In Windows this is qphotorec.exe. This works in largely the same way as the CLI tool, with the options displayed in a single window rather than a step-by-step series of commands. Recovered partition images can be checked in TestDisk using the terminal.

Find files with TestDisk and PhotoRec

In our original tests with TestDisk and PhotoRec 7.2 in September 2022, we used an unmountable 16GB SanDisk Cruzer Blade USB thumb drive with files of various types was connected to a standard USB 2.0 port on a Dell G5 5505 SE laptop running Windows 10. 

Recovery with the command line TestDisk was attempted first. After opting to Create a new log file and selecting the correct disk, the Proceed option was selected followed by the partition table type. We selected "Image Creation" to search for a location to save the file, using the arrow keys and then hit Enter to navigate. Finally we hit C to choose the recovery destination directory and waited as the partition was recovered as a disk image.

Throughout the recovery process, TeskDisk selects the default options that are typically most suitable for the recovery media. These may or may not be correct but they do give the best results if you don't know what you're doing. Various additional settings can be found using the Options menu before commencing recovery.

Images stored on the USB thumb drive were sought out for recovery using the PhotoRec tool. After identifying attached disks, and selecting the correct device, PhotoRec presented a File Opt submenu. Here, the various compatible filetypes can be selected, covering everything from Skyrim save games to FLAC audio. As with TestDisk, a recovery location must be selected for the files to be saved to. When recovery commences, an estimated time to completion is displayed along with various statistics concerning recovered filetypes.

How we tested this time 

For our data recovery tests this time we used a virtual machine with a clean install of Windows 11. The only third-party tools installed besides TestDisk and PhotoRec were VLC Media Player and GIMP. 

For the sake of simplicity we also used the graphical frontend for TestDisk : QPhotoRec. 

This is much easier than using the command line. You can start by selecting a disk device to recover from the drop-down menu, then select a partition. After you confirm the filesystem type, you can then hit Browse to find (and create, if required) a destination to save the recovered files to. After that hit Search and wait. 

The simplicity of the QPhotoRec interface can save time, particularly if you're unfamiliar or uncertain with command line interfaces. 

Data files

The files we chose for our most recent recovery tests were an album of Mozart's Music available from the Internet Archive. 

We did this as we wanted to see how the utility performed with a wide variety of files.The album included 4 music files (2 in Mp3 and 2 in FLAC) format, 6 JPG image files of album covers (with thumbnails) and 4 PNG image files. The files also included 2 XML files, a torrent file and an 'SQLite' file containing details of the album. There were 25 files in total. 

We copied the files in the music album to a 512MB virtual NTFS-formatted hard drive, which was then attached to the Windows 11 virtual machine.

Data tests

The tests were performed one after the other on three separate virtual drives:

1. File deletion: the album files were simply deleted from the drive and the Recycle Bin emptied. No other data was copied to the drive. We then tried to recover the files. 

2. Delete & format: The files were deleted as outlined above and we also performed a 'Quick Format' using the 'Disk Management' utility built into Windows 11. We then tried to recover the files from the formatted partition. 

3. Recover corrupted files: We used the freeware program 'Victoria' to overwrite the volume header of the drive containing the files with zeroes. The drive didn't mount automatically in File Explorer and showed as being unpartitioned in Windows "Disk Management" utility. We then checked if the utility could see it and if so, recover the files. 

We do not believe that running data recovery tools in a virtual environment has a significant effect on how they function. Still, if you're considering buying software we encourage you to read all reviews thoroughly and make sure that the developer offers a refund policy.

Recovery Performance

In our previous tests, we found that Partition recovery with TestDisk was relatively straightforward, despite reliance on the command line interface. Browsing for a directory is slightly disorientating for anyone unused to the CLI, but the recovery process itself is efficient. A progress bar charts how far through recovery the process is. 

Sadly, with the recovery media, TestDisk was unable to complete creation of the disk image, stopping at 74.5%. Instead, an incomplete image was created. Disappointingly, this would not open in TestDisk or PhotoRec.

Using PhotoRec was similarly uncomplicated, interface aside. We used the software to dig out complete and incomplete files alike in a fresh recovery process. 

Unfortunately, it can also over-deliver as the filetype options don't always give you the results you need. The list of recoverable formats is as complete as it is long to browse through. Consequently, you can end up recovering every type of data to find specific and unusual filetypes – the resulting index of files can take a long time to sort.

On the other hand, QPhotoRec passed our most recent tests with flying colors. The first test was performed on a drive attached to the virtual machine where the files had simply been deleted.

The utility detected all 25 files within seconds and even listed them by type. When we went to the folder we'd created earlier to save recovered files, we found all of them were intact and opened without any issue.

Our next test was on the drive which had been given a "quick" NTFS format after the files had been deleted. Once again we selected the drive from the top down menu and selected  a new folder to save recovered files. Once again QPhotoRec didn't disappoint. It recovered a total of 37 files, amongst which were all 25 original files intact. The extra files were duplicates of some of the JPG files but all opened without issue.

The final test was performed on the drive with a corrupted volume header. Although it wasn't visible in Explorer, QPhotoRec still displayed it as a "missing" partition in the drop down menu. This time we chose to extract files from the "whole partition" via the menu option. 

Recovery this time was a little slower, taking just under a minute but again all 25 files were successfully saved to the new folder. We tested each of the files and found they opened or played without any problems whatsoever.

As stated in the online documentation PhotoRec is a file carver in that it analyzes data for known patterns without paying attention to missing file headers and other data. This means that while all the files were recovered intact each time, the filenames were missing.

Still, to date, this is one of the very few data recovery utilities on the market that has passed all three of our battery of tests when it comes to retrieving files. 

We were also particularly pleased to see that QPhotoRec has a handy "File Formats" button. While virtually every extension is highlighted by default, you can click "Reset" to clear these and then search only for specific file types such as JPG images.

The only bug we came across during testing is that if we tried to choose a "File System" for a disk that was different to the one actually used e.g. ext2 instead of NTFS, the app would crash. This is only a small point and by default the utility selected the correct partition type. 

Multi-language support

No recovery tool is without its problems. If you run into issues recovering files with TestDisk or PhotoRec, you can refer to the support forum. 

Both these utilities are the brainchildren of French developer Chrisophe Grenier, so it's no wonder that the subforums are available  in English, German, and French, you should find all the help you need.

Of course, there is a small shortcoming – the possibility of a problem and solution being discussed in the French subforum that might prove useful to a user in the English or German subforums. 

Fortunately the main website itself is able in a variety of languages beyond these including Italian, Japanese, Turkish and Russian. 

For the time being it seems the online documentation is only available in English however but if you are an Anglophone then you can learn about basic operations like data recovery as well as how to do more exotic tasks with the utility like create a bootable USB. The ZIP file we downloaded from the main website with the program also included a PDF in English of the online documentation. 

The only downside of TestDisk that we could see is that the installation files are downloadable only in ZIP format. This caused Microsoft Defender SmartScreen to highlight the software as unrecognized and prevent us from downloading it. For a recovery tool that has been around for as long as TestDisk and PhotoRec have, this is unfortunate. However, SmartScreen has been hurting independent developers for years, so this is nothing new. 

The fact that the app can be run from the folder from where it's unzipped also means it can easily be made 'portable' by copying it to a USB. 

Final verdict

As a free partition and file recovery solution, TestDisk and PhotoRec does everything a domestic user might expect. They're as suitable for standard PC workstations as they are for laptops, but you wouldn't rely on these tools for recovering servers or specialist and business critical data.

While the command line interface is straightforward, the QPhotoRec option maximizes the usability, and it would be nice to see this replicated for TestDisk in a future release, for those not comfortable with the CLI. 

The QPhotoRec app itself has a very basic GUI but is easy to follow. We were extremely impressed that it passed all of our data recovery tests, retrieving all deleted files even from formatted and corrupted drives. 

Very few of the commercial data recovery products for which people pay annual subscriptions have been able to do the same, so we certainly recommend using this free and open source utility. 

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