Mac Hard Drive Recovery: 6 Ways to Recover Your Mac Disk

Recover a hard drive using Mac Disk Utility:

• Open Disk Utility on your Mac, choose “View,” then click “Show All Devices”... • Select the volume you want to recover, then click the “Restore” button... • Choose the volume you want to copy. • Click “Restore,” then “Done.”  See a more detailed tutorial >>

Overview of Mac Hard Drive Recovery

Losing important business files, music, photos, or videos from your Mac or Windows PC can be very frustrating. The good news is that Mac data recovery software makes it easy to get your data back. When you need to recover files from a Mac hard drive, whether internal or external, you can perform hard drive recovery quickly.

Usually, data loss from Mac hard drive can be caused by the following reasons:

• Reinstalling or upgrading macOS/Mac OS X.
• Corrupted hard drive file system.
• Accidentally formatting the hard drive without a backup.
• Loss of partitions due to improper operations.
• Damaged partition table, making data inaccessible.
• Malware or ransomware attack.

Regardless of the data loss scenario you encounter (as mentioned above), the most effective and reliable solution is to use Mac data recovery software to retrieve files from your Mac disk. Disk Drill is a wise choice as it can help you recover over 200 file types from your Mac disk with a high success rate. Nonetheless, there are still other methods that can assist you in retrieving lost data when faced with hard drive data loss, even if your hard drive won't boot.

Perform Mac Hard Drive Data Recovery with 6 Ways

You may need to recover data from the built-in Mac hard drive or perform a Mac external hard drive recovery. Don't worry! We'll provide 6 ways to help you recover data from a Mac drive, even from a non-bootable hard drive. Read on and find the right method for you!

Method 1: Recover Data from a Mac Hard Drive with Recovery Software

With the help of the Mac Data Recovery Wizard Pro tool, it's no issue to restore permanently deleted or lost data from your Mac hard drive. Plus, you're free to choose to recover files back to the original built-in Mac disk or a secure external drive, and even restore data from a Mac disk to a PC.

It's not a completely free Mac data recovery software, but you can download the trial version to have a try.

Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is an ultimate tool that's very user-friendly and easy to use, with no advanced technical requirements needed. With just a few clicks, you can use this software to recover unlimited data from your macOS or Mac OS X device.

Use the tool Data Recovery Wizard for Mac to recover lost data from an external/ internal hard drive on Mac:

Step 1: On the interface of Data Recovery Wizard for Mac, select the hard drive where you want to recover data from. Then click on “Start Find”.

Step 2: The hard drive recovery software will scan all lost files on the Mac disk. You can use the “Filter” feature to easily locate your lost data.

Some files might have lost their filenames; you can preview them to check. Select all the Mac files and click “Recover” to retrieve them.

Don't you think the tool is both useful and easy to use? This recovery utility can help you restore deleted files on Mac without Time Machine. Please feel free to share this post on social media to help more Mac users!

Method 2: Recover Lost Data from a Mac Hard Drive with a Data Recovery Service

When your Mac or MacBook's hard drive is severely damaged, or data cannot be recovered through normal means, you can try seeking assistance from a data recovery service. The price is not fixed, and it may be higher if a significant amount of data needs to be recovered from the storage device.

The advantages of using Data Recovery Services for file recovery include no time constraints, no restrictions on storage devices, high success rates for recovery, and personalized services. If you have any questions, you can consult professional recovery experts at any time.

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Tool Data Recovery Services

Contact our experts for a free evaluation now

Consult with Tool Data Recovery specialists for one-on-one manual recovery services. After a free diagnosis, we offer the following services:

• Repair damaged RAID configurations, unbootable macOS and Windows operating systems, and corrupted virtual disk files
• Recover files after resetting Mac to factory settings or reinstallation of macOS
• Recover from formatted hard drives and repair raw drives (including BitLocker encrypted drives)
• Fix a corrupted hard drive on your Mac without data loss

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Method 3: Recover Your Mac Disk in Disk Utility

You can use the Mac Disk Utility to restore a Mac disk volume from one to another. You should be aware that when the old volume is restored, any data on the new volume will be immediately erased. It's recommended to back up your Mac to an external drive using Time Machine or a tool like Data Recovery Wizard for Mac before proceeding.

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Backup Your Mac and Never Lose Data

Back up and restore your MacBook/iMac without using Time Machine, iCloud, or an external hard drive.

Now, follow the instructions in Disk Utility to restore your Mac's disk:

Step 1. Open Disk Utility on macOS, click the View tab, and select Show All Devices.

Step 2. Then, select the target disk volume and click “Restore.”

Step 3: After clicking “Restore,” a window will appear. In Disk Utility, select the volume, and then follow the prompts to restore the disk.

If your hard drive is damaged, you can also try repairing it using Disk Utility and then recover data. Check out this detailed guide to repair the disk:

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[Solved] How to Repair Mac Disk with Disk Utility

Users can fix their Mac disk by opening Disk Utility in macOS Finder. Read More >>

Method 4: Recover data with Target Disk Mode or Target Share Mode

Mac users can transfer data from a damaged Mac hard drive using Target Disk Mode or Shared Disk Mode. You don't need to worry about a cracked Mac screen or a non-bootable hard drive. By the way, you'll need to choose different modes for different Macs. You'll also need a healthy Mac to save the recovered data:

For an M1 Mac: Connect the two Macs with a cable. On the Mac from which you want to recover data, press and hold the power button until you see Startup Manager. Click Options > Continue > Utilities > Share Disk. Select the network disk to begin sharing.

⭐ For Intel Macs: Connect the two Macs with a cable, press the T key on the one you want to use as a target, and a disk icon will appear. You can then access the other Mac's desktop or Finder to copy data over.

Read more to fix Target Disk Mode not working and transfer data from Mac to Mac.

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Target Disk Mode Not Working on macOS Ventura/Monterey

Having issues with Target Disk Mode not working on your Mac? Try these solutions to fix Target Disk Mode problems. Read More >>

Method 5: Copy Files from a Mac Hard Drive Using Terminal If you're an advanced user familiar with the command line interface, you can use the built-in Terminal app on your Mac to copy files. Here's how: 1. Open Finder, then navigate to `Applications` > `Utilities`, and launch `Terminal`. 2. In the Terminal window, type the following command to navigate to the source location where the file you want to copy is located: ``` cd /path/to/source/directory ``` Replace `/path/to/source/directory` with the actual path of the file or directory. 3. Once you're in the correct directory, enter the following command to copy the file or entire directory to the destination: ``` cp -r /path/to/source /path/to/destination ``` Here, `/path/to/source` is the path of the source file or directory, and `/path/to/destination` is where you want to copy it to. 4. Press Enter to execute the command. If prompted for an administrator password, as some operations might require permissions, enter it and press Enter. Please note that this method requires a basic understanding of command-line usage, as incorrect commands could lead to data loss. If you're unsure, it's recommended to use one of the more intuitive methods mentioned above.

If you're comfortable with terminal command lines, the Terminal on a Mac is a handy tool. We'll show you how to use it to copy files from a non-bootable Mac hard drive, but you'll need an external disk to store the data.

Step 1. Boot your Mac into Mac Recovery Mode and open the Terminal.

Step 2: You can use the following command to copy the file from your Mac's hard drive to the external disk:

If you're not comfortable with the command line, you might want to go back to Method 1, which is probably a better choice for you. Don't forget to share this article on social media!

Method 6: Recover from Bootable Media with a Hard Drive

Need to recover data from unbootable Mac? You can create a bootable media and start up your Mac from a USB drive or an external disk.

It takes just four simple steps to create a bootable USB drive and boot your Mac from a USB flash drive:

Step 1: Use Disk Utility to format the USB drive.

Step 2. Download macOS Sonoma or another version to the USB drive.

Step 3. Use Terminal to create a bootable macOS USB drive.

Step 4. Boot from the USB drive and access data on your Mac's hard drive.

You can view the step-by-step instructions in the following paragraphs. If you find some files missing, use professional Sonoma Data Recovery Software to retrieve your data.

Of course, more can and should be done.

How to Create a macOS Sonoma Bootable USB ✨

If you've already installed macOS Sonoma, it's crucial to create a bootable USB for backup purposes in case of OS issues. Read More >>

How to Fix an Undetected or Damaged Mac Hard Drive

If your Mac suddenly loses power and shuts down, you could have a problem. Your Mac's hard drive might crash, or your Mac may not recognize an external hard drive. To fix Mac hard drive errors, try these solutions.

Method 1: Repair Your Mac's Hard Drive with Disk Utility

Step 1. Restart your macOS while holding down the “Command + R” keys.

Step 2: You can now start up in Recovery Mode. Click on “Disk Utility” to open Disk Utility.

Step 3: Select your failed Mac's hard drive, and run First Aid to repair a damaged drive on your Mac.

In most cases, your failed hard drive can be successfully rescued.

Method 2: Repair the Mac Startup Disk with FSCK

If Disk Utility can't fix a disk, you can use the fsck command. FSCK (File System Consistency Check) is a command-line tool that checks and repairs the low-level structure of a hard drive.

Step 1: Restart your Mac and press “Command + S” to enter Single User Mode.

Step 2: Type the following command: /sbin/fsck_hfs -fy and press the “Return” key.

The command line can be made to analyze Macintosh HD and return messages about what it does.

When FSCK finishes repairing a damaged disk drive, it reports Volume (name) appears to be OK. You can run FSCK again until the file system is repaired.

Method 3: Other Quick Fixes to Try

If none of the above works, try these quick fixes to repair your Mac's HDD.

1. Format HFS Drive

1. Open Disk Utility and select the drive you want to format. 2. Click “Erase,” then choose exFAT as the volume format.

2. Connect the Mac hard drive to the PC

If your hard drive isn't detected, you may need to remove it and connect it to your computer externally.

• Safely eject the Macintosh HD from your Mac. • Get an external hard drive enclosure. • Place the hard drive in the enclosure, and connect it to your computer via USB.

Now you can check your hard drive and copy off whatever data you need.

3. Recover Data from Mac Hard Drive Again

Tool Data Recovery is an advanced software that supports APFS, HFS, and HFS+ formatted hard drive recovery. It can help recover data from the hard drive of your PC, USB drives, external hard drives, or any other device you use to store data. It's the best hard drive recovery software for both Windows and Mac computers. For a full guide, refer to Method 1 in Step 1.

In sum

Recovering data from Mac hard drive is effortless with the Mac Data Recovery Wizard tool. You can quickly restore Mac hard drive data on Windows or Mac-based systems. By the way, use Time Machine to back up your data on the disk. It's best to restore your Mac from a Time Machine backup.

People also ask – Questions related to Mac hard drive recovery

What is the best Mac data recovery software? How long does the data recovery process take? You can find the answers here.

What is the best data recovery software for Mac?

Here are the 5 best data recovery software for macOS:

• Data Recovery Wizard
• Stellar Data Recovery Professional
• Disk Drill
• Data Rescue 5
• Ontrack EasyRecovery

How can I recover files for free on my Mac?

Recover Lost Files from External Hard Drive on Mac:

Step 1. Download and install the Mac recovery software.

Step 2. Select the disk location and hit the “Scan” button.

Step 3: Select the files and tap on “Recover Now” to get them back.

How long does data recovery take?

The time it takes to recover data can vary depending on the scope and type of recovery being performed. The amount of data being recovered can also affect the speed of the process.

How does data recovery software work?

Data recovery takes advantage of the way that modern operating systems delete files: they mark them as inaccessible, but leave their contents on the disk, to be released by the system when needed. Such files can be recovered with specialist software.