Free Digital Forensics Tools & Guides

Here you will find practical, field-tested tools and guides built to support digital forensic work. From iOS backup normalization to VarInt decoding, these utilities help you work faster and more precisely. We update the collection regularly.
Digital forensics training material — Elusive Data
digital forensics free tools

Field-tested, free tools

free tool | backup 2fs

Backup 2FS. A free tool to recover and normalize files from iOS backups.

Backup 2FS is a free Windows tool that helps you recover and normalize files from iOS backups.

free tool | varint calculator

VarInt Calculator. A free tool for calculating and decoding VarInts.

A free utility designed to help forensic analysts interpret and work with variable-length integers (VarInts), commonly found in app databases, protobufs, and messaging data.

digital forensics free guides & e-books

Free guides & e-books

free guide

Forensic Guide to GPT Partitioning

This free guide provides a practical walkthrough of GPT-partitioned disks, covering the Protective MBR, GPT Header, and Partition Entry Array. It’s designed to help forensic professionals understand disk structures, recover data, and validate evidence.

free guide

How to decrypt Locked Apple Notes on iOS 16.x. A step-by-step Workflow.

This free guide provides a practical walkthrough for forensic analysts dealing with encrypted Apple Notes in iOS 16.x. It focuses on identifying and decrypting locked notes stored in the NoteStore.sqlite database extracted from iOS backups.

news and articles

Latest news and articles

Dive into our curated articles, case studies, and guides designed to empower forensic professionals with the latest techniques and industry developments.

The idea behind Elusive Data Firefly

The idea behind Elusive Data Firefly

James Eichbaum on the idea behind Elusive Data Firefly, why provenance matters after extraction, and why honesty is a forensic feature.

Elusive Data announces Firefly, a new forensic workspace for app data investigations

Elusive Data announces Firefly, a new forensic workspace for app data investigations

Elusive Data announces Firefly, a forensic workspace for modern app data evidence, launching August 31 with recovery, validation and reporting workflows.

SQLite Forensics Explained

SQLite Forensics Explained

SQLite forensics explained in simple terms. Learn how SQLite databases store data, where evidence is hidden, and why it matters in digital investigations.

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