Does Geek Squad do data recovery?

Short answer

Yes. Best Buy sells data recovery as a Geek Squad service: a $49.99 store diagnostic, then published tiers of $200 for Level 1, $450 for Level 2, $550 for Level 2 Advanced and $1,450 for Level 3. Only Level 1 work is done in the store; the rest is shipped to the company's Geek Squad City service center. Best Buy publishes no turnaround times, and the checked pages carry no no data, no fee promise.

A small ceramic dish holding a single brass key beside a closed silver laptop on a pale oak counter

Yes. Best Buy sells data recovery as a Geek Squad service. You take the device to the Geek Squad counter at a store, where an agent diagnoses it for a published $49.99 charge, and the recovery itself is priced in published tiers: $200 for Level 1, $450 for Level 2, $550 for Level 2 Advanced, and $1,450 for Level 3. Only Level 1 work is done in the store; everything more complex is shipped to the company's own service center, which its pages call Geek Squad City.^[1]

Two things Best Buy's pages leave open, so confirm both at the counter before handing anything over. The tier chart carries no effective date, so check today's prices in person. And the service page publishes no turnaround times at all: it says only that the time it takes can vary as much as the price does.^[1]

How the Geek Squad service works

The four steps Best Buy describes

Meet with a Geek Squad Agent at a store and have the device diagnosed, for the published $49.99 charge.
Get an estimate. Simple fixes are done in the store; complex cases are sent to a service center.
The recovery is performed, either in store or at the service center.
Receive your data on an external drive shipped to your store. You can supply your own drive or buy one there.

^[1]

The store can only do so much: Best Buy states that in-store data recovery services are for units that fall under the Level 1 scope of work only, and that devices needing more are shipped to its main service center. Coverage is broad but not total. The page's FAQ says "If it holds data, we will take it", listing laptops, desktops, hard drives, camera systems, SD cards, DVRs, flash devices and voice recorders, while indicating mobile devices are excluded. Password-protected files can be recovered if you supply the password.^[1][2]

What Best Buy publishes about price and speed

The tier chart on Best Buy's Geek Squad data recovery page, as displayed on September 13, 2026

Tier	Published price	What Best Buy says it covers	Where it is done
Level 1	$200	Deleted files, a reformatted drive, or basic access problems	In store (Level 1 scope only)
Level 2	$450	A corrupted file system, an OS restore, or drive imaging for recovery or decryption	Shipped to the main service center
Level 2 Advanced	$550	Cases where advanced hardware is needed to make a precise image, including firmware alteration or physical modification	Shipped to the main service center
Level 3	$1,450	Physical damage from an accident, house fire, or wear, needing the drive opened in a clean room	Shipped to the main service center

The chart also carries membership notes, "Included with My Best Buy Total" and "Save 20% with My Best Buy Total", so a membership changes the math. On speed, the checked pages publish no days-or-weeks turnaround for today's service. The only number on record is a 2015 corporate post about the Level 1 rollout, which quoted a Geek Squad manager citing about two days on average for in-store Level 1 work. Treat that as history, not a promise.^[3][1]

When a lab you choose yourself fits better

Best Buy's prices are a fixed published menu, which is convenient and leaves nothing to compare or negotiate. Independent labs quote per job after evaluating your actual drive, so for anything above Level 1 it is worth collecting two or three quotes first. Check what happens if nothing is recovered: many specialist labs advertise a no data, no fee policy, while Best Buy's checked pages take the $49.99 diagnostic up front and publish no refund promise. And if the device is a phone or tablet, the service FAQ indicates mobile devices are excluded, so a lab of your own choosing is the route.^[1][2]

Try the simple fixes first

If the problem is files you deleted from a drive that otherwise works normally, note where that sits in Best Buy's own tiering: deleted files are Level 1, the entry tier, $200 plus the $49.99 diagnostic. That is also the case where self-service recovery software is most likely to succeed, so try that first, and write nothing further to the drive meanwhile. If the software finds nothing, or the drive clicks, will not spin, or is not detected, stop and use a service rather than retrying.^[1]