diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/cats/MonadError.scala b/core/src/main/scala/cats/MonadError.scala
index bed0990728..4541a44751 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/cats/MonadError.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/cats/MonadError.scala
@@ -1,13 +1,79 @@
 package cats
 
-/** A monad that also allows you to raise and or handle an error value.
-  *
-  * This type class allows one to abstract over error-handling monads.
-  */
+import cats.data.{Xor, XorT}
+
+/**
+ * A monad that also allows you to raise and or handle an error value.
+ *
+ * This type class allows one to abstract over error-handling monads.
+ */
 trait MonadError[F[_], E] extends Monad[F] {
+  /**
+   * Lift an error into the `F` context.
+   */
   def raiseError[A](e: E): F[A]
 
-  def handleError[A](fea: F[A])(f: E => F[A]): F[A]
+  /**
+   * Handle any error, potentially recovering from it, by mapping it to an
+   * `F[A]` value.
+   *
+   * @see [[handleError]] to handle any error by simply mapping it to an `A`
+   * value instead of an `F[A]`.
+   *
+   * @see [[recoverWith]] to recover from only certain errors.
+   */
+  def handleErrorWith[A](fa: F[A])(f: E => F[A]): F[A]
+
+  /**
+   * Handle any error, by mapping it to an `A` value.
+   *
+   * @see [[handleErrorWith]] to map to an `F[A]` value instead of simply an
+   * `A` value.
+   *
+   * @see [[recover]] to only recover from certain errors.
+   */
+  def handleError[A](fa: F[A])(f: E => A): F[A] = handleErrorWith(fa)(f andThen pure)
+
+  /**
+   * Handle errors by turning them into [[cats.data.Xor.Left]] values.
+   *
+   * If there is no error, then an [[cats.data.Xor.Right]] value will be returned instead.
+   *
+   * All non-fatal errors should be handled by this method.
+   */
+  def attempt[A](fa: F[A]): F[E Xor A] = handleErrorWith(
+    map(fa)(Xor.right[E, A])
+  )(e => pure(Xor.left(e)))
+
+  /**
+   * Similar to [[attempt]], but wraps the result in a [[cats.data.XorT]] for
+   * convenience.
+   */
+  def attemptT[A](fa: F[A]): XorT[F, E, A] = XorT(attempt(fa))
+
+  /**
+   * Recover from certain errors by mapping them to an `A` value.
+   *
+   * @see [[handleError]] to handle any/all errors.
+   *
+   * @see [[recoverWith]] to recover from certain errors by mapping them to
+   * `F[A]` values.
+   */
+  def recover[A](fa: F[A])(pf: PartialFunction[E, A]): F[A] =
+    handleErrorWith(fa)(e =>
+      (pf andThen pure) applyOrElse(e, raiseError))
+
+  /**
+   * Recover from certain errors by mapping them to an `F[A]` value.
+   *
+   * @see [[handleErrorWith]] to handle any/all errors.
+   *
+   * @see [[recover]] to recover from certain errors by mapping them to `A`
+   * values.
+   */
+  def recoverWith[A](fa: F[A])(pf: PartialFunction[E, F[A]]): F[A] =
+    handleErrorWith(fa)(e =>
+      pf applyOrElse(e, raiseError))
 }
 
 object MonadError {
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/cats/data/Xor.scala b/core/src/main/scala/cats/data/Xor.scala
index ee15175da0..083d4fbd51 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/cats/data/Xor.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/cats/data/Xor.scala
@@ -176,13 +176,18 @@ sealed abstract class XorInstances extends XorInstances1 {
       def foldRight[B, C](fa: A Xor B, lc: Eval[C])(f: (B, Eval[C]) => Eval[C]): Eval[C] = fa.foldRight(lc)(f)
       def flatMap[B, C](fa: A Xor B)(f: B => A Xor C): A Xor C = fa.flatMap(f)
       def pure[B](b: B): A Xor B = Xor.right(b)
-      def handleError[B](fea: Xor[A, B])(f: A => Xor[A, B]): Xor[A, B] =
+      def handleErrorWith[B](fea: Xor[A, B])(f: A => Xor[A, B]): Xor[A, B] =
         fea match {
           case Xor.Left(e) => f(e)
           case r @ Xor.Right(_) => r
         }
       def raiseError[B](e: A): Xor[A, B] = Xor.left(e)
       override def map[B, C](fa: A Xor B)(f: B => C): A Xor C = fa.map(f)
+      override def attempt[B](fab: A Xor B): A Xor (A Xor B) = Xor.right(fab)
+      override def recover[B](fab: A Xor B)(pf: PartialFunction[A, B]): A Xor B =
+        fab recover pf
+      override def recoverWith[B](fab: A Xor B)(pf: PartialFunction[A, A Xor B]): A Xor B =
+        fab recoverWith pf
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/cats/data/XorT.scala b/core/src/main/scala/cats/data/XorT.scala
index 45ffda62f8..0fab1b522b 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/cats/data/XorT.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/cats/data/XorT.scala
@@ -216,14 +216,22 @@ private[data] trait XorTMonadError[F[_], L] extends MonadError[XorT[F, L, ?], L]
   implicit val F: Monad[F]
   def pure[A](a: A): XorT[F, L, A] = XorT.pure[F, L, A](a)
   def flatMap[A, B](fa: XorT[F, L, A])(f: A => XorT[F, L, B]): XorT[F, L, B] = fa flatMap f
-  def handleError[A](fea: XorT[F, L, A])(f: L => XorT[F, L, A]): XorT[F, L, A] =
+  def handleErrorWith[A](fea: XorT[F, L, A])(f: L => XorT[F, L, A]): XorT[F, L, A] =
     XorT(F.flatMap(fea.value) {
-      _ match {
-        case Xor.Left(e) => f(e).value
-        case r @ Xor.Right(_) => F.pure(r)
-      }
+      case Xor.Left(e) => f(e).value
+      case r @ Xor.Right(_) => F.pure(r)
+    })
+  override def handleError[A](fea: XorT[F, L, A])(f: L => A): XorT[F, L, A] =
+    XorT(F.flatMap(fea.value) {
+      case Xor.Left(e) => F.pure(Xor.Right(f(e)))
+      case r @ Xor.Right(_) => F.pure(r)
     })
   def raiseError[A](e: L): XorT[F, L, A] = XorT.left(F.pure(e))
+  override def attempt[A](fla: XorT[F, L, A]): XorT[F, L, L Xor A] = XorT.right(fla.value)
+  override def recover[A](fla: XorT[F, L, A])(pf: PartialFunction[L, A]): XorT[F, L, A] =
+    fla.recover(pf)
+  override def recoverWith[A](fla: XorT[F, L, A])(pf: PartialFunction[L, XorT[F, L, A]]): XorT[F, L, A] =
+    fla.recoverWith(pf)
 }
 
 private[data] trait XorTSemigroupK[F[_], L] extends SemigroupK[XorT[F, L, ?]] {
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/cats/std/future.scala b/core/src/main/scala/cats/std/future.scala
index 26ef6638e1..e689ed822c 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/cats/std/future.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/cats/std/future.scala
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@ package cats
 package std
 
 import cats.syntax.all._
+import cats.data.Xor
 
+import scala.util.control.NonFatal
 import scala.concurrent.{ExecutionContext, Future}
 import scala.concurrent.duration.FiniteDuration
 
@@ -16,9 +18,17 @@ trait FutureInstances extends FutureInstances1 {
 
       def flatMap[A, B](fa: Future[A])(f: A => Future[B]): Future[B] = fa.flatMap(f)
 
-      def handleError[A](fea: Future[A])(f: Throwable => Future[A]): Future[A] = fea.recoverWith { case t => f(t) }
+      def handleErrorWith[A](fea: Future[A])(f: Throwable => Future[A]): Future[A] = fea.recoverWith { case t => f(t) }
 
       def raiseError[A](e: Throwable): Future[A] = Future.failed(e)
+      override def handleError[A](fea: Future[A])(f: Throwable => A): Future[A] = fea.recover { case t => f(t) }
+
+      override def attempt[A](fa: Future[A]): Future[Throwable Xor A] =
+        (fa map Xor.right) recover { case NonFatal(t) => Xor.left(t) }
+
+      override def recover[A](fa: Future[A])(pf: PartialFunction[Throwable, A]): Future[A] = fa.recover(pf)
+
+      override def recoverWith[A](fa: Future[A])(pf: PartialFunction[Throwable, Future[A]]): Future[A] = fa.recoverWith(pf)
 
       override def map[A, B](fa: Future[A])(f: A => B): Future[B] = fa.map(f)
     }
diff --git a/js/src/test/scala/cats/tests/FutureTests.scala b/js/src/test/scala/cats/tests/FutureTests.scala
index 47e6cf484a..9460682575 100644
--- a/js/src/test/scala/cats/tests/FutureTests.scala
+++ b/js/src/test/scala/cats/tests/FutureTests.scala
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import cats.tests.CatsSuite
 
 import scala.concurrent.{ExecutionContext, Future}
 import scala.concurrent.duration._
-import scala.util.control.NonFatal
 
 import scala.scalajs.concurrent.JSExecutionContext.Implicits.runNow
 
diff --git a/jvm/src/test/scala/cats/tests/FutureTests.scala b/jvm/src/test/scala/cats/tests/FutureTests.scala
index 9b3f68c169..9b5e9bba0d 100644
--- a/jvm/src/test/scala/cats/tests/FutureTests.scala
+++ b/jvm/src/test/scala/cats/tests/FutureTests.scala
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import cats.tests.CatsSuite
 import scala.concurrent.{Await, ExecutionContext, Future}
 import scala.concurrent.duration._
 import scala.concurrent.ExecutionContext.Implicits.global
-import scala.util.control.NonFatal
 
 import org.scalacheck.Arbitrary
 import org.scalacheck.Arbitrary.arbitrary
diff --git a/laws/src/main/scala/cats/laws/MonadErrorLaws.scala b/laws/src/main/scala/cats/laws/MonadErrorLaws.scala
index 26723da911..3a2acbaf44 100644
--- a/laws/src/main/scala/cats/laws/MonadErrorLaws.scala
+++ b/laws/src/main/scala/cats/laws/MonadErrorLaws.scala
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 package cats
 package laws
 
+import cats.data.{Xor, XorT}
+
 // Taken from http://functorial.com/psc-pages/docs/Control/Monad/Error/Class/index.html
 trait MonadErrorLaws[F[_], E] extends MonadLaws[F] {
   implicit override def F: MonadError[F, E]
@@ -8,11 +10,35 @@ trait MonadErrorLaws[F[_], E] extends MonadLaws[F] {
   def monadErrorLeftZero[A, B](e: E, f: A => F[B]): IsEq[F[B]] =
     F.flatMap(F.raiseError[A](e))(f) <-> F.raiseError[B](e)
 
-  def monadErrorHandle[A](e: E, f: E => F[A]): IsEq[F[A]] =
-    F.handleError(F.raiseError[A](e))(f) <-> f(e)
+  def monadErrorHandleWith[A](e: E, f: E => F[A]): IsEq[F[A]] =
+    F.handleErrorWith(F.raiseError[A](e))(f) <-> f(e)
+
+  def monadErrorHandle[A](e: E, f: E => A): IsEq[F[A]] =
+    F.handleError(F.raiseError[A](e))(f) <-> F.pure(f(e))
+
+  def handleErrorWithPure[A](a: A, f: E => F[A]): IsEq[F[A]] =
+    F.handleErrorWith(F.pure(a))(f) <-> F.pure(a)
 
-  def monadErrorPure[A](a: A, f: E => F[A]): IsEq[F[A]] =
+  def handleErrorPure[A](a: A, f: E => A): IsEq[F[A]] =
     F.handleError(F.pure(a))(f) <-> F.pure(a)
+
+  def raiseErrorAttempt(e: E): IsEq[F[E Xor Unit]] =
+    F.attempt(F.raiseError[Unit](e)) <-> F.pure(Xor.left(e))
+
+  def pureAttempt[A](a: A): IsEq[F[E Xor A]] =
+    F.attempt(F.pure(a)) <-> F.pure(Xor.right(a))
+
+  def handleErrorWithConsistentWithRecoverWith[A](fa: F[A], f: E => F[A]): IsEq[F[A]] =
+    F.handleErrorWith(fa)(f) <-> F.recoverWith(fa)(PartialFunction(f))
+
+  def handleErrorConsistentWithRecover[A](fa: F[A], f: E => A): IsEq[F[A]] =
+    F.handleError(fa)(f) <-> F.recover(fa)(PartialFunction(f))
+
+  def recoverConsistentWithRecoverWith[A](fa: F[A], pf: PartialFunction[E, A]): IsEq[F[A]] =
+    F.recover(fa)(pf) <-> F.recoverWith(fa)(pf andThen F.pure)
+
+  def attemptConsistentWithAttemptT[A](fa: F[A]): IsEq[XorT[F, E, A]] =
+    XorT(F.attempt(fa)) <-> F.attemptT(fa)
 }
 
 object MonadErrorLaws {
diff --git a/laws/src/main/scala/cats/laws/discipline/Arbitrary.scala b/laws/src/main/scala/cats/laws/discipline/Arbitrary.scala
index 06397ac4b3..25f7320c89 100644
--- a/laws/src/main/scala/cats/laws/discipline/Arbitrary.scala
+++ b/laws/src/main/scala/cats/laws/discipline/Arbitrary.scala
@@ -78,4 +78,8 @@ object arbitrary {
 
   implicit def writerTArbitrary[F[_], L, V](implicit F: Arbitrary[F[(L, V)]]): Arbitrary[WriterT[F, L, V]] =
     Arbitrary(F.arbitrary.map(WriterT(_)))
+
+  // until this is provided by scalacheck
+  implicit def partialFunctionArbitrary[A, B](implicit F: Arbitrary[A => Option[B]]): Arbitrary[PartialFunction[A, B]] =
+    Arbitrary(F.arbitrary.map(Function.unlift))
 }
diff --git a/laws/src/main/scala/cats/laws/discipline/MonadErrorTests.scala b/laws/src/main/scala/cats/laws/discipline/MonadErrorTests.scala
index e9cf492aca..5bde73b282 100644
--- a/laws/src/main/scala/cats/laws/discipline/MonadErrorTests.scala
+++ b/laws/src/main/scala/cats/laws/discipline/MonadErrorTests.scala
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ package cats
 package laws
 package discipline
 
+import cats.laws.discipline.arbitrary.partialFunctionArbitrary
+import cats.laws.discipline.eq.unitEq
 import org.scalacheck.{Arbitrary, Prop}
 import org.scalacheck.Prop.forAll
 
@@ -15,10 +17,8 @@ trait MonadErrorTests[F[_], E] extends MonadTests[F] {
   implicit def eqE: Eq[E]
 
   def monadError[A: Arbitrary: Eq, B: Arbitrary: Eq, C: Arbitrary: Eq]: RuleSet = {
-    implicit def ArbFEA: Arbitrary[F[A]] = arbitraryK.synthesize[A]
-    implicit def ArbFEB: Arbitrary[F[B]] = arbitraryK.synthesize[B]
-    implicit def EqFEA: Eq[F[A]] = eqK.synthesize[A]
-    implicit def EqFEB: Eq[F[B]] = eqK.synthesize[B]
+    implicit def arbFT[T:Arbitrary]: Arbitrary[F[T]] = arbitraryK.synthesize
+    implicit def eqFT[T:Eq]: Eq[F[T]] = eqK.synthesize
 
     new RuleSet {
       def name: String = "monadError"
@@ -26,8 +26,16 @@ trait MonadErrorTests[F[_], E] extends MonadTests[F] {
       def parents: Seq[RuleSet] = Seq(monad[A, B, C])
       def props: Seq[(String, Prop)] = Seq(
         "monadError left zero" -> forAll(laws.monadErrorLeftZero[A, B] _),
-        "monadError handle" -> forAll(laws.monadErrorHandle[A] _),
-        "monadError pure" -> forAll(laws.monadErrorPure[A] _)
+        "monadError handleWith" -> forAll(laws.monadErrorHandleWith[A] _),
+        "monadError handle" -> forAll(laws.monadErrorHandleWith[A] _),
+        "monadError handleErrorWith pure" -> forAll(laws.handleErrorWithPure[A] _),
+        "monadError handleError pure" -> forAll(laws.handleErrorPure[A] _),
+        "monadError raiseError attempt" -> forAll(laws.raiseErrorAttempt _),
+        "monadError pure attempt" -> forAll(laws.pureAttempt[A] _),
+        "monadError handleErrorWith consistent with recoverWith" -> forAll(laws.handleErrorWithConsistentWithRecoverWith[A] _),
+        "monadError handleError consistent with recover" -> forAll(laws.handleErrorConsistentWithRecover[A] _),
+        "monadError recover consistent with recoverWith" -> forAll(laws.recoverConsistentWithRecoverWith[A] _),
+        "monadError attempt consistent with attemptT" -> forAll(laws.attemptConsistentWithAttemptT[A] _)
       )
     }
   }