How to Recover Data from a Broken Mac Screen [2024 Solutions]

Whether for personal or professional use, Mac devices are popular and are often used for work on the subway or for watching movies in the bath. Accidents can happen, and the screen is often the most fragile part of a Mac. Valuable photos and important files are stored on your Mac, and if the screen breaks, you may still need to extract files from the computer.

To recover data from a Mac with a broken screen, you'll need either an external display or a new Mac. The next section will teach you how to connect an external display.

How to Connect an External Display to Your Mac If the Screen Is Broken

Some Mac computers can connect to five external displays, while others can only connect to one. The first thing you'll want to do is figure out what ports your Mac has Identify the ports on your Mac, and which adapters your Mac will need. Once you have the right display ready, you'll be able to connect an external monitor to your screen-broken Mac. Let's take a look at a video that shows how to connect your Mac to an external display and transfer files, with a timeline of key moments below:

1. 02:03 Connect an external display
2. 03:51 Transfer files with Migration Assistant
3. 07:57 Other ways to recover your files

Broken MacBook Screen - Transfer Files From MacBook Air And Recover Data Using Migration Assistant

Now, there's a written guide that walks you through how to connect an external display to your Mac:

Step one: Hold down the power button for ten seconds to turn off your Mac.

Step 2: Connect an external display using an adapter and cable.

Step 3: Press the power button again to turn on your Mac.

Step 4: Your Mac's screen should appear on the external display. If it doesn't, you may need to try resetting the NVRAM or PRAM on the damaged Mac.

Warning: The next three methods require an external display, while the fourth one does not.

Recover Data from a Mac with a Broken Screen Using Software

After connecting an external monitor to a Mac or MacBook with a broken screen, you can use your Mac as usual. Whether you're fixing the Mac or replacing it, you'll need to get the data off the damaged one. The tool “Mac Data Recovery Wizard” is designed for Mac and MacBook data recovery, and you can use this tool to quickly retrieve data from a Mac hard drive.

There are several situations where you might need this powerful Mac data recovery software:

• ❌ Your Mac encounters issues during startup and fails to boot successfully, requiring you to recover data from this unbootable Mac.
• ? Malware or a computer virus attacks your iMac or MacBook, deleting your files and folders maliciously.
• ?️ You accidentally delete crucial files and empty the Trash. In such cases, you'll need to use a data recovery tool.
• ?️ You need to restore lost files after formatting the internal hard drive, external hard drive, SD card, USB flash drive, or other storage devices.

Step 1: Select the location to scan

Run the Mac Data Recovery Wizard and select the hard drive, SSD, SD card, USB flash drive, or TF card from which you've lost data. Click Search Lost Files to start scanning.

Note: Before data recovery, it's better to click “Disk Backup” from the left sidebar and create a backup for your Mac to prevent further data loss. After the backup, the software can recover data from the Mac backup, and your computer can write new data again.

Step 2: Filter Lost Mac Data

The software will automatically scan for lost data on your MacBook or iMac. Once the scan is complete, you can filter the required data by clicking the “Type” and “Path” buttons.

Step 3: Recover Lost Data or Files

Preview the files and then click the “Recover” button to restore the lost data to another location.

Restore data from a Mac with a damaged screen using Time Machine

If you regularly back up your entire Mac to an external hard drive or the Mac's built-in disk using Mac's Time Machine feature, you can recover most of your files from a broken Mac.

Step 1 Connect an external display to your Mac.

Step 2: Use Spotlight to find and launch Time Machine.

Step 3: You will see and select the backup for the specific time you want to restore.

Step 4. Hit the “Recover” button to restore the files quickly with a Mac Time Machine Backup.

Note: If you have a backup on an external drive and need to replace a damaged Mac, connect the external drive to your new Mac and restore your files directly from there.

Restore/Transfer Data from a Mac Using Migration Assistant

The macOS Migration Assistant makes it easy to move your content between Macs. You can use Migration Assistant to copy and move your files and folders from a damaged-screen Mac to your new Mac.

Step 1: Connect an external display to your old Mac.

Step 2: On both Macs, use Spotlight to launch Migration Assistant.

On the new Mac, choose the first option; on the damaged Mac, choose the third one.

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Step 4: On your new Mac, choose the damaged one, and you should see a six-digit code on its screen.

Select the problematic Mac whose data you want to recover on the new Mac:

Step 5: Choose the content you want to transfer to your other Mac, then click “Continue.”

Step 6: Be patient, and keep both Macs turned on.

Recover Data in Target Disk Mode from a Mac with a Bad Screen

Target Disk Mode is useful for transferring files between two Macs, migrating data, or recovering data. You'll need two Macs and a cable to connect them. When you're ready, read on to learn how to do it.

Step 1: Connect the broken MacBook to the new one.

Step 2: Make sure your damaged Mac is turned off. (You can force it to shut down by holding the power button for 10 seconds.)

Step 3: Turn on your Mac and press the “T” key to boot it into Target Disk Mode.

Step 4: Click the disk icon on your new Mac to restore files and folders from the damaged Mac.

Frequently Asked Questions on Recovering Data from a Cracked Mac Screen

After reading through how to connect an external display to your Mac and the four methods to recover data, hopefully, you've been able to retrieve your data from a damaged MacBook screen. Here are some frequently asked questions for further insight:

How to Get Files Off a Non-Bootable Mac or MacBook

If your Mac won't start up with macOS Ventura, you can retrieve data from your Mac in six ways:

1. Use the Mac Data Recovery Wizard. 2. Recover from a Time Machine backup. 3. Create a Mac disk image. 4. Restore files with APFS snapshots. 5. Utilize Target Disk Mode. 6. Contact Apple Support.

How to recover a Mac with a damaged screen in Target Disk Mode?

You can use Target Disk Mode to recover files from one Mac to another:

1. Connect the Mac with the damaged screen to the new Mac. 2. Make sure the damaged Mac is turned off. (You can shut it down by holding the power button for ten seconds.) 3. Turn on the damaged Mac and press the 'T' key to enter Target Disk Mode. 4. On the new Mac, click on the disk icon to access and recover files and folders from the damaged Mac to the new one.

How can you retrieve data from a bricked Mac?

You can take your damaged Mac to a local repair shop, or use a portable data recovery tool like Data Recovery Wizard for Mac.

1. Create a bootable installer using this recovery tool for your malfunctioning Mac.
2. Protect your files on the faulty Mac.
3. Select and recover files from your faulty Mac.

How can I recover data from a Mac with a broken screen without software?

There are three ways to recover data from a Mac with a broken screen without software:

• 1. Use macOS Target Disk Mode.
• 2. Back up with Time Machine.
• 3. Use Migration Assistant.