It’s a nightmare state of affairs: your Mac has been enjoying up for weeks and also you’ve been ignoring it, or simply haven’t been in a position to determine tips on how to repair it. Then it refuses to begin up. Why didn’t you make that backup? Is there any approach you will get again the misplaced information out of your Mac? Fortunately there are apps that may get well your misplaced pictures and broken information out of your failed Mac’s onerous drive.
Knowledge restoration apps, like those now we have reviewed under, can get well information with relative ease, so long as the listing indicating the place information had been initially saved is salvageable. If that isn’t the case, the software program can scan the information for acquainted patterns that may denote a file kind. As soon as it finds a file kind, there’s a superb probability that there shall be information in that file.
Whether or not you’re an off-the-cuff consumer scrambling to get well your misplaced information in your Mac, or a full-time tech store doing all the pieces it might to retrieve a consumer’s most important paperwork from a dying onerous drive, these are the information restoration apps that get our advice.
PROMOTION
Knowledge restoration software program for Mac – EaseUS
Get well misplaced information in 3 easy steps: automated scan, preview, and one-click restoration. Cowl any file format and take care of information loss points. Undelete information from the Mac-based onerous drive, fusion drive, SSD, USB drive, reminiscence card, digital digicam, and extra. Macworld really helpful, and an excellent alternative for each Mac and Home windows customers.
Now 25% OFF Unique Code: MACWORLD25
Seeking to get well information from a iPhone? Learn: Greatest information restoration apps for iPhone.
Greatest information restoration software program for Mac 2025
Right here’s our choose of the perfect restoration software program for Mac now we have reviewed.
Recoverit, Wondershare: Greatest Mac information restoration software program

Professionals
- Clear, inviting consumer interface
- Good set of instruments
- Good efficiency
Cons
- Downside with USB boot drive creation module
Worth When Reviewed:
1 month/2 Macs: $79.99 (often $109.99); 1 yr/2 Macs: $89.99 (often $139.99); perpetual license/2 Macs: $139.99 (often $169.99)
Greatest Costs Right this moment:
Recoverit by Wondershare is centered across the normal modules that you simply would possibly see in this type of suite: Exhausting Drives and Areas and SD Card for file restoration, Enhanced Restoration and Corrupted Video Restore for video and picture restoration and System Crashed Pc and NAS and Linux for extra restoration options.
There’s a pleasant residence display screen and consumer interface and the modules work as anticipated. Knowledge restoration for onerous drives, areas, and SD playing cards is easy and dependable, with Recoverit executing each a fast scan and diving right into a deep scan.
The video and picture restore modules work nicely with broken information. The SD Card module was in a position to sift via a broken 8GB SD card, pull some video information thought misplaced, and ship the information again cleanly to a restoration folder with out challenge.
Distant-based utilities enable for network-based drives to be positioned or accessed manually to have information recovered from them. This system may also save recovered information to a NAS drive or Google Drive, which is a pleasant characteristic.
We had some issues with the USB boot drive creation module, however this is perhaps because of Apple’s issues.
Wondershare Recoverit presents a superb information restoration bundle at a not-unreasonable, value. The corporate additionally gives reductions for college kids and educators, and small and medium companies. Whereas no trial model exists, the free model permits for all of Recoverit’s options for use, with information restoration capped at 100 megabytes.
Learn our full
Wondershare Recoverit evaluation
Stellar Knowledge Restoration for Mac: Greatest for sophisticated recoveries

Professionals
- Fast, clear interface
- Good information restoration instruments and modules
- Spectacular net-based restoration module
Cons
- Repeated crashes for Clear Up Junk Information module
- Activation bugs
Worth When Reviewed:
Customary version: $79.99 (at present $69.99) a yr, or $129.99 (at present $99.99) for a lifetime license. Skilled model: $129.99 (at present $99.99) a yr, or $199 (at present $149) for a lifetime license. Premium version: $209.99 (at present $99.99) a yr, or $319 (at present $199) for a lifetime license.
Greatest Costs Right this moment:
Stellar Knowledge Restoration for Mac focuses on recovering information through commonplace scans, deep scans, drive picture creation, and different restoration instruments. It’s out there as a free trial, with commonplace, skilled, and premium editions out there on yearly or lifetime contracts. The software program helps each HFS+ and APFS quantity codecs and may be put in simply.
Stellar Knowledge Restoration’s important energy is its intensive information restoration engine, which helps a whole bunch of file codecs and permits customers to look and get well by file kind, headers, and attributes. It additionally incorporates a good scan administration engine that enables customers to save lots of and work from earlier scans, and a picture creation characteristic that enables customers to create a byte-for-byte picture of a quantity that may be restored later.
One fascinating characteristic is the Get well Non Booting Mac module, which permits customers to log into their Mac’s restoration partition, load Terminal, and enter a command to open a distant model of Stellar Knowledge Restoration (extra particulars in our full evaluation). Different modules reminiscent of Search Giant Information and Search Duplicate Information carry out nicely and supply a complete have a look at your drive.
The whole array of modules labored nicely with check drives, recovering information as wanted, and snagging as a lot as potential.
Sadly, we did expertise some issues. Stellar’s Clear Up Junk Information crashed the applying repeatedly and needed to be pressure give up.
Different points included activating the serial quantity, which took a number of days and a number of calls and emails to kind out. Moreover, Stellar Knowledge Restoration refused to seem within the macOS Current Objects menu, stopping it from being rapidly launched. Even after activating a Skilled tier account, the software program nonetheless presents an “Improve” button on its important menu, which appears to be asking for more cash to be thrown within the firm’s common course.
Regardless of these failings, Stellar Knowledge Restoration for Mac is an efficient program in a position to dig deep to assist reconstruct and get well deleted information. There’s additionally Stellar Knowledge Restoration for iPhone.
Learn our full
Stellar Knowledge Restoration for Mac evaluation

Professionals
- Glorious toolset and restoration system
- Useful Scan Administration
Cons
- Excessive subscription value
- Final replace (v6) in 2023
- Insufficient tech help
- Unable to create Sonoma restoration drive
Worth When Reviewed:
Customary license: $79 for a 30-day; Skilled license: $399 for one yr
Greatest Costs Right this moment:
Knowledge Rescue gives some glorious drive administration and information restoration options, albeit at a steep value for infrequent customers.
The software program helps older variations of macOS and requires macOS 10.12 (Sierra) or later. Customers can obtain the software program and assign full drive entry, with a trial providing as much as 1GB of knowledge restoration without cost. The corporate gives a 30-day commonplace license in addition to a pricy skilled license.
The software program has a compelling toolset, together with Fast Scan or Deep Scan, view hex tables, safe erase, set drive parameters, handle digital RAID setup, and work with numbered sectors on drives and allocation blocks. It permits customers to work with as much as 15 scans, pausing and resuming as wanted – helpful for those who’re a number of hours right into a Deep Scan. The software program runs nicely within the background.
Knowledge Rescue 6 can create clone and restoration drives, dealing with totally different information methods reminiscent of Straight, Reverse, Bisect, and Section. Nevertheless, it doesn’t supply an choice to create a macOS Sonoma restoration drive as of July 2024.
There are different limitations. If the drive is mechanically failing, it’ll be more durable for information to be pulled and reconstructed.
Technical instruments in Knowledge Rescue 6 supply lots to work with, however can get you in hassle for those who aren’t acquainted with them. For instance, setting the incorrect drive parameters or boot level can require troubleshooting.
General, Knowledge Rescue 6 gives glorious instruments, however Prosoft ought to deal with points like lack of buyer responsiveness, the prolonged time between updates, the excessive, subscription-based price ticket, and a scarcity of a tutorial system.
Learn our full
Knowledge Rescue evaluation
Disk Drill Professional, CleverFiles: Dependable and pleasant information restoration

Professionals
- Pleasant interface
- Useful YouTube movies
- Good information restoration efficiency
- Knowledge Shredder utility
Cons
- Occasional crashes
- Didn’t create viable boot drive
Worth When Reviewed:
Fundamental: Free; Professional: $89; Enterprise: $499 (pay further for lifetime upgrades)
Disk Drill Professional from Cleverfiles is designed to get well information and rebuild deleted information on Macs and numerous different platforms and gadgets. It really works with commonplace macOS file codecs like HFS+, Mac OS Prolonged, and APFS.
The fundamental model is obtainable without cost and may get well as much as 500 megabytes of knowledge. There’s a Professional model that helps one consumer and as much as three simultaneous activations, paid for as soon as with an extra expense for lifetime upgrades. The Enterprise version has an analogous further expense for lifetime upgrades and helps 10 customers and infinite activations with precedence technical help and DFXML forensic information help.
Disk Drill Professional requires macOS 10.15 Catalina or later and gives a number of new options, together with a RAID utility, NAS & Linux through SSH utility, instruments for recovering information from iPhones, iPads, and Time Machine volumes, a scan session supervisor, S.M.A.R.T. monitoring, a macOS boot drive creator, a backup utility, a Clear Up utility to map drive storage, a replica file remover, a knowledge shredder, and a free area erasure software. YouTube-based tutorial movies can be found.
Gadgets may be scanned over a Wi-Fi community, and the S.M.A.R.T. operate gives information about drive temperatures, drive situation, and life share left. Disk Drill Professional runs the scan within the background and may bypass file permission errors on the information being erased. Throughout our information restoration scans, greater than 90% of deleted information had been readily recovered.
Disk Drill Professional has some points, such because the macOS Installer utility failing to supply a bootable quantity after a number of exams, the Current Classes scan supervisor solely sporadically working, and Disk Drill Professional crashing into the spinning rainbow wheel if a course of is interrupted. Nevertheless, it gives dependable information restoration from all kinds of gadgets.
Learn our full
Disk Drill Professional evaluation
EaseUS Knowledge Restoration Wizard for Mac: First rate free model

Professionals
- Free model (as much as 2GB)
- Nice information restoration instruments, file group, categorization
- Video Restore software
Cons
- Excessive value
- Unbootable Mac module didn’t find drives
- Unable to log into cloud-based providers
Worth When Reviewed:
$89.95 a month for one Mac, $119.95 a yr for one Mac, $169.95 for a lifetime improve plan for one Mac
EaseUS Knowledge Restoration Wizard for Mac is a Mac port of the Home windows restoration software program.
There’s a free model with a good 2GB recovered information cap in addition to a paid model, which gives further options reminiscent of 1-on-1 distant help, is obtainable as a free trial, and requires Mac OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) or later to run. The paid model gives one license for one Mac paid month-to-month, yearly or as a lifetime improve plan that covers one Mac. The month-to-month and annual license funds auto-renew.
The software program helps over 1,000 file varieties and gives particular modules for SD playing cards, cloud-based restoration, and storage. It helps APFS, HFS+, HFS, XFAT, FAT16, FAT32, exFAT, and NTFS, making it helpful for working with drives from Home windows and Linux machines.
The core functionalities of knowledge restoration, reconstruction, and group are its strongest factors. A pleasant interface guides customers in selecting the quantity to get well from and designating the goal restoration drive or folder. This system organizes recovered and restored information logically into classes reminiscent of All Sorts, Footage, Paperwork, Audio, Movies, Emails, Archives, and Others.
The SD Card operate is helpful, and the iCloud module makes it straightforward to log into iCloud (requiring Two Issue Authentication). The Video Restore module is fulfilling for exporting cleaner copies of previous movies. Nevertheless, some points want consideration, together with the Unbootable Mac module, which has the consumer shut down their Mac, boot into Restoration Mode, then boot off an exterior server run by EaseUS. Whereas it is a good concept in principle, the software went right into a steady loop of being unable to mount my M2 Mac inside and exterior drives. I allowed this course of to run in a single day, and after I wakened within the morning, the drives had nonetheless not mounted and the software couldn’t be labored with.
The cloud software was unable to efficiently log into Dropbox for restoration, and the applying required an administrator password each time the consumer launched it. Moreover, the software program introduced a buyer suggestions survey each time the consumer exited this system, which was infuriating.
Knowledge Restoration Wizard for Mac excels at its core features and presents a gorgeous technique of recovering information from Mac, Home windows, and Linux volumes with a pleasant array of platform and file format help. Nevertheless, the excessive value level, Unbootable Mac module failures, fixed want for an administrator password, and repeating buyer suggestions survey window let it down.
Learn our full
EaseUS Knowledge Restoration Wizard for Mac evaluation
Knowledge Restoration for Mac, iBeesoft: Knowledge restoration and backup mixed

Professionals
- Pleasant consumer interface
- Good information restoration
- Backup and video restore modules
- Good value
Cons
- Crashed Mac module didn’t work
- Imprecise 60-day money-back assure phrases
Worth When Reviewed:
Private License: $59.95; Lifetime License for $129.95
Greatest Costs Right this moment:
iBeesoft’s Knowledge Restoration for Mac features as a knowledge restoration and backup utility and in addition features a video restore utility for the AV nerds on the market.
The app relies round a number of modules: Storage Gadgets, Crashed Mac Restoration, Video Restore, File Backup, and Search Information. There’s a user-friendly interface and useful file categorizations, reminiscent of All Sorts, Footage, Paperwork, Audio, Video, Emails, Archives, Others, and Unsaved Paperwork.
The software program can scan via your listing of mounted drives, searching for deleted information, reconstructing and recovering all the pieces it might. It’s straightforward to pick particular information or all information for a given restoration to an exterior quantity as soon as a scan is full.
The Video Restore module permits you to drag and drop previous video clips and improve their high quality earlier than exporting them. The Backup module permits you to specify information, folders, or a complete quantity and again up a replica as a .dmg file, which may be simply restored later.
That is to date so good, however there are some components to kind out. The Crashed Mac module is designed to supply an simply downloadable .dmg file to create a boot drive to make use of as an emergency disk to assist get well information to an exterior onerous drive, however the net server that hosted the file not working so the characteristic couldn’t be examined.
There’s a Private License and a Lifetime License, in addition to a free model (with a 500MB restrict).
Knowledge Restoration for Mac hones in on its core options nicely and is price a glance.
Learn our full
iBeesoft Knowledge Restoration for Mac evaluation
Alsoft DiskWarrior

Professionals
- Good consumer interface and efficiency
- Locates and kinds out file and listing errors
- Customization and configuration choices
Cons
- Lack of APFS help
- Excessive value
- Time Machine quantity restore requires booting from included flash drive
Worth When Reviewed:
$119.95 (plus $8.95 for transport flash drive)
Alsoft has been producing high-quality utility software program for over 20 years. DiskWarrior, a preferred utility for recovering broken onerous drives, has been in use since 1998. Nevertheless, the most recent model of DiskWarrior 5.3.1, launched in 2024, appears to be falling behind in software program and file system help.
The software program nonetheless helps the HFS+ format, FireVault 1 and a pair of, Core Storage for Fusion dries, RAID configurations, and disk photos and sparse bundles, nevertheless it has not been upgraded to help the APFS format, which is more and more prevalent on new Macs and Apple’s push in direction of this file system commonplace.
DiskWarrior is obtainable as a bootable USB flash drive that may boot Macs operating HFS+ format volumes. Its ease of use stays unchanged, making it straightforward to mount and unmount drives and volumes, carry out fast exams, entry technical specs, arrange automated diagnostics, and obtain notifications via alerts, emails, AppleScript applications, or textual content messages.
Nevertheless, there’s dangerous information: DiskWarrior 5.3.1 nonetheless lacks help for the APFS commonplace. As extra drives are shifting in direction of this file system, the corporate’s silence on this matter is regarding. A consultant inside the firm confirmed that Alsoft is engaged on model 6.0, which is able to supply full APFS help. Nevertheless, adjustments from Apple’s aspect, reminiscent of not permitting third-party kernel extensions and different technical adjustments, have made the event course of harder and created extra roadblocks than earlier variations of DiskWarrior.
The dearth of a free trial model of DiskWarrior 5.3.1 raises considerations in regards to the steep new consumer value and improve value, particularly when the software program lacks APFS help and may solely work with sure volumes.
Generally an excellent utility will get caught in improvement. There’s nonetheless an excellent utility available right here, however Alsoft must put itself ready the place it might readily announce that an up to date model shall be out at a given date and that it’ll supply APFS help.
Learn our full
DiskWarrior evaluation
What’s the greatest Mac information restoration app?
Our best choice proper now’s Recoverit from Wondershare as a result of it does a superb job recovering information, and at an inexpensive value.
How we select the perfect Knowledge Restoration app for Mac
We strategy this not solely from an ease-of-use perspective for the consumer, but additionally by way of which software program can genuinely pull one thing helpful from a catastrophe. It’s not all the time the perfect marketed or costliest restoration utility that succeeds, however one thing that may work with a quantity, proceed to check it, and never quit on it by way of {hardware} situation and slowdowns. The software program that you may depart to run in a single day to get well information and have the perfect probability of waking up and discovering one thing helpful recovered, that marks the perfect software program the place Macworld is anxious.
One other issue we take into account is that the most suitable choice will rely upon a selected set of wants. For instance, one choice is perhaps the perfect in case you have a good finances, whereas an alternative choice shall be higher for somebody who will solely use this software program as soon as, whereas the most suitable choice for somebody who expects to want to make use of the software program many times will in all probability be fairly totally different.
For that purpose we specify who we advocate the app for. We additionally are likely to solely embody the apps that we advocate in our group exams. If the app isn’t included right here it might be as a result of we don’t price it in addition to those on this spherical up.
What you need to take into account when selecting the perfect Knowledge Restoration app
Exterior of the worth level (some functions may be significantly costly, particularly given the providers they’re tied into), ease of use and general strategy are essential components to contemplate. Some functions will give you all of the choices on this planet, however via a nigh-terrifying consumer interface that asks you to establish particular onerous drive sectors you’d wish to establish and work with, which is past what a panicked consumer who might need misplaced their life’s information desires to take care of.
What you’re searching for is one thing highly effective, able to coping with your broken onerous drive/quantity, and able to preserving it mounted in your Mac because it’s working via broken sectors on a tough drive mechanism that will itself be failing.
As soon as that is full, it’s a matter of whether or not the applying can work steadily for the hours, days, or weeks that could be concerned in slowly pulling the information to an exterior onerous drive. From there, it’s a query of how the recovered information may be reconstructed and the way rapidly and simply the recovered information may be labored with (i.e., will it’s a must to rename and reorganize hundreds of information, will a selected file be capable of be opened by the applying that created it, and many others.?)
In brief, it’s a query of “Properly, I’ve recovered a whole bunch of gigabytes of knowledge, can I really work with it or do I’ve to babysit it and rebuild the information and the way a lot time have I saved in the long term?” This, mixed with the anticipated value you’ll pay (both from an outright one-time buy or annual or multi-year subscription), and greatest practices reminiscent of settings up native Time Machine and on-line backups assist type what you need to take into account for a best-of-breed information restoration utility, or a set of them. It’s not a query of if a tough drive will fail however when, and we’ll do all the pieces we are able to right here at Macworld to maintain you knowledgeable and prepared for when it will definitely occurs.
How we check Knowledge Restoration software program for Mac
After we check information restoration software program we simulate the expertise of those that lose information in actual world situations. This contains all the pieces from recovering by accident deleted information, to trying to get well information from a formatted disk.
We check with each rotational and solid-state media, utilizing each newer and used drives. Throughout the exams, we work to get well each massive and small information in addition to information that’s been deleted from a number of drive format features. We evaluate ease of use, the software program’s strategy, what’s recovered, and the way this meets the consumer’s expectations.
We additionally think about reconstruction strategies, and the place this leaves the consumer (i.e., can a recovered picture be simply opened, or will it require a number of further steps to rename and open the file?) to find out what to make of the software program and the way greatest to price it.
Why you possibly can belief Macworld’s suggestions
Macworld’s Knowledge Restoration app reviewer, Chris Barylick is an Apple-Licensed Macintosh Technician with greater than twenty years expertise fixing Macs, coping with individuals, and writing about it. On this time, he’s seen nearly each state of affairs that may be conceived of, heard the wailing of individuals whose Macs had been working nice simply the opposite day and whose onerous drives are making unusual clicking sounds and never booting, and all the pieces in between. All through this time, his purpose was all the time the identical: Get the onerous drive out of the pc, get it mounted, and work out one of the simplest ways to get well their information and their work, it doesn’t matter what.
FAQ
Why does Knowledge Restoration take so lengthy?
Count on the information restoration course of to be time-consuming because the app items the bits of information again collectively. With persistence, most information that haven’t been overwritten ought to, in principle, be saveable.
Some drives can take days to totally scan, and the upper capability they’re, the longer the method. But when it’s irreplaceable pictures or essential paperwork which are misplaced, you possibly can afford to attend.
Is there a free approach to get well my misplaced Mac information?
Sadly, this form of software program is just about all the time going to have a excessive value related to it earlier than you possibly can get well what you want–however for those who’ve misplaced a whole bunch of treasured pictures or the primary 1,000 pages of your novel, then no value is just too excessive, in all probability. Generally you possibly can pay for the software program for a month, do what you should do after which cancel. Generally you should subscribe for a yr. Different choices help you purchase it outright, however pay further for future updates. Your personal circumstances will affect which choice is greatest for you. Moreover, many of those instruments supply a trial so you possibly can a minimum of see what you need to be capable of get well earlier than you spend your cash.
There are a number of strategies you possibly can attempt earlier than you spend cash on an app although, as you’ll see in our The right way to get well information from a broken Mac article.
The right way to keep away from information loss
Are information restoration apps/providers secure, are you able to belief them?
Sure, they’re secure, however you’re going to need to perform a little research and/or learn some opinions to seek out one thing that works greatest for you. It does the software program corporations no good to have their information restoration software program be one thing that damages your Mac’s information, and information restoration functions use extraordinarily low-level {hardware} code to entry information from failing gadgets, so there’s that to contemplate.
Nonetheless, there are a number of information restoration functions that supply free or trial intervals to check the software program, and you’ll all the time attempt these out for your self. Learn and hearken to trusted sources, attempt numerous functions out for your self (you possibly can all the time attempt recovering information you’ve deleted from thumb drives with the trial variations of those functions), keep in mind to arrange Time Machine and on-line backups and your information needs to be secure. There’s a world of choices on the market and we’ll do what we are able to that can assist you discover the perfect one for you.
How does information restoration software program work?
Most information restoration software program works to mount the potentially-failing quantity that your information is on, then it has to work to maintain it mounted and operating because it scans the drive’s sectors, gives you choices as to what you’d love to do with it, carries out the exams and information restoration choices, and works to save lots of the information to a practical drive previous to reconstructing it.
There’s quite a bit for it to hold out, and every information restoration utility and the corporate behind it approaches it in a different way. Some would possibly present a really common, consumer pleasant interface in direction of information restoration whereas others would possibly supply extraordinarily particular, technical features to work with exact sectors of your onerous drive. Some would possibly present an choice to boot type an exterior USB thumb drive or Net-based working system to attempt to get well your information, and every strategy can yield totally different outcomes
Why is information restoration software program costly?
Knowledge restoration software program has all the time been infamously costly, however there are logical causes for this. First, there’s an especially important quantity of analysis and improvement concerned in creating and updating this software program, because it delves into low-lying system and firmware features as to how the pc communicates with its onerous drives and reads and writes information to and from them.
Moreover, information restoration software program usually isn’t the sort of factor that’s initially bought with a brand new laptop (reminiscent of a replica of Microsoft Workplace, Adobe Artistic Cloud, and many others.), and tends to solely be bought within the occasion of a catastrophe whereby your information is vulnerable to loss.
As such, the information restoration software program market tends to promote fewer copies and typically costs the next value for the copies it does promote.
Lastly, there are occasions the place the software program corporations present higher-end providers and tech help, together with transport a broken drive off for disassembly and information restoration. This may be thought-about a brand new service altogether and that rather more costly to reclaim broken information.
For extra recommendation about software program to your Mac, iPad or iPhone see all our Greatest Picks and our newest macOS and iOS software program opinions.