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Free Image Format Conversion"I have an important file on my Mac that suddenly became inaccessible yesterday. How can I repair this corrupted file?"
When a computer file suddenly stops working or becomes useless, we call it a corrupted file. Digital files can become corrupted for a variety of reasons, like if your Mac shut down or froze while it was saving information. Knowing what file types are compatible with your Mac can help prevent headaches in the future. This article will teach you how to check and fix corrupted files on your Mac.
There can be numerous reasons for file corruption on macOS:
- File system issues
- Corrupted header
- Virus infection
- Hardware failure
- User error
How to Check if a File Is Corrupted on a Mac
If you have previously checked the file's integrity on a Mac, things might be simpler. While there can be other reasons, when a large file fails to import and is not recognized as a valid file, it usually points to corruption and data loss. This often happens when transferring large files and when dealing with a corrupted hard drive on a Mac.
On a Mac or any other device, file corruption can be detected or diagnosed through certain symptoms. If a file is corrupted or damaged, you might experience annoying symptoms when playing it. Some possible signs include:
- Slow response times, such as when opening or closing a file.
- No response to user actions, like clicking on a damaged file.
- Error warnings appear when performing actions or opening files.
- Interruptions while playing MOV or MP4 files, or audio sync issues.
- Fuzzy images when opening or interacting with PNG, JPG, or other file types.
[PNG File] What is a PNG File? Everything You Should Know
When an image is corrupted, you might notice color changes, gray patches, or it might be completely unviewable.
How to Repair Corrupted Files on a Mac
There are built-in Mac features you can use to access a corrupted Word file. You need to know how to invoke the recovery process to open the file, as the system is entirely different from Windows. Usually, the problem lies with the application itself, as it doesn't respond to commands. You can force-quit the program, but you should attempt to reopen the file.
Solution 1: Repair Damaged Files on Mac with Software Method 1: Repair Damaged Files on Mac Using Software
If you haven't already tried using First Aid or Time Machine to fix damaged files, you can try using a repair tool made for your Mac. Software often makes it easy to fix all sorts of files on your Mac. Fixo is a powerful file repair app that helps you quickly and effectively select and fix any corrupt, damaged, broken, or inaccessible files.
If you're having problems opening corrupted files, don't panic. We're here to help. We offer the best file repair software. Download the trial version by clicking the button if you want to make sure you can recover damaged files and preview them on your Mac.
The software supports the repair of most file types and is also a powerful Mac Video Repair tool. You can easily fix corrupted videos, documents, and images with the Fixo tool. This software is compatible with all Macs and external storage devices, including external HDD/SSD, fusion drives, USB drives, Mac SD card recovery, CF cards, digital cameras, video players, and more.
You might try using the Fixo File Repair tool and follow these steps to fix the corrupted file.
Step 1: Launch the Document Repair Software
Run the "Fixo Document Repair" tool. Select "File Repair" on the left. This program can fix corrupted Office documents, including Word, Excel, and PDF files.
Step 2: Select and Repair the Damaged Document
Click “Repair All” to fix all the added documents. If you want to repair a single document, hover your mouse over it and click “Repair.” You can preview the repaired document by clicking the eye icon.
Step 3: Preview and save the repaired document
When the repair is done, click “Save” to save the selected files. You can also click “Save All” to save all repaired files. To view the repaired folder, click “View Repaired Files.”
If you think the file repair utility works well on your Mac, share the product immediately on social media!
Solution 2: Use “First Aid” to Repair Corrupted Files on Mac
An built-in utility called Disk Utility can scan for and fix errors. Formatting issues with your Mac's storage device, a corrupt file structure, or damaged files can all cause these problems. You can run "First Aid" to resolve disk-related issues on your Mac.
1. On your Mac, open Disk Utility.
Step 2. Click on "View" - "Show all devices".
Step 3: Select a volume from the sidebar, then click the “First Aid” button.
Step 4: After clicking "Run," follow the instructions on the screen.
Step 5: After the “First Aid” is complete, click “Finish”.
When it's finished, you can choose “Show Details.” If Disk Utility says that the drive seems to be working normally or that it has repaired the drive, you should be able to keep using it. If Disk Utility is only finding duplicate files and showing “Overlapping Range Allocation” issues, you have a damaged file. You can recreate, delete, or replace this file.
If Disk Utility can't fix the drive, you may be able to recover such files from a Time Machine backup of your Mac.
Solution 3: Repair Corrupted Files from Mac Time Machine
Time Machine is Apple's built-in backup program, which keeps hourly copies of everything you create or modify during the previous 24 hours. The sooner you act to repair a damaged file, the better.
Step 1. Open Time Machine on your Mac. You can access it by selecting the Time Machine option from the menu bar in System Preferences.
Step 2: You'll then see a list of all the folders and files that Time Machine has backed up. Choose the folder where the corrupted file used to be.
Step 3: Next, search for the file you need within the folder. If there are too many files, use the wheel on the right to scroll through them until you find the one you need.
Select the “Time Machine Backup disk” and click on the “Scan” button to start scanning for lost files.
Step 4: To restore a file from a Time Machine backup, select the file you want to restore and click “Restore” at the bottom of the screen.
How to Recover Lost or Damaged Files on a Mac
If you have accidentally deleted or damaged the files, try to recover trash on Mac first to see if the files can be retrieved that way. If that does not work, use a professional Mac data recovery tool like tools Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Pro as your alternative choice.
Here, we have a video prepared for you that shows how to recover data and files from various storage devices on a Mac.
No matter how careful or vigilant you are as a Mac user, your Mac files can get corrupt at any time, leading to loss of all your data and files. Therefore, backing up Mac data is the best safety strategy since you can restore them immediately in case of any unforeseen incident.
If you back up your Mac regularly, you don't have to worry about recovering damaged files. In that case, you can:
- Time Machine
- iCloud Drive
- Third-party cloud storage
- External storage devices
Last Words
When your Mac files are corrupted, you have several file repair options to choose from. Feel free to try any of the tricks provided here. They might help you access a previous version of your documents, and even if they don't come with a 100% success rate, they'll save you time and effort.
Use the Fixo File Repair tool to recover corrupted files. It can fix damaged, broken, and corrupted Word, Excel, PPT, PSD documents, as well as various types of images and videos.
Frequently Asked Questions for Repairing Corrupted Files on a Mac
Here are 4 additional questions about fixing corrupted files on a Mac. Click here to view the answers.
1. How to Recover Deleted Video Files on Mac?
Corrupted video files can be easily and quickly repaired on Mac. The good news is that most video recovery is very effective when using the methods above. The Mac Data Recovery Wizard can also help you recover videos and restore deleted video files on Mac.
2. Can corrupted files be repaired?
You can achieve this with a video recovery tool such as tools Data Recovery Wizard. It comes with many advantages, is easy to use, and is suitable for all user levels, including those with little computer knowledge. With this powerful program, you can quickly recover corrupted files with just a few clicks.
3. How to Find Corrupted Files on a Mac?
There are several ways to check for damaged files on a Mac:
- Start up while holding Command+S to enter Single User Mode.
- Run Disk Utility on the Mac to check for file system damage.
- Manually check each file.
4. How to fix a corrupted PDF file on Mac?
Repairing a PDF can be challenging. Sometimes the data is corrupt to begin with, and other times it might have become damaged in transit. In those cases, macOS's default PDF viewer, Preview, won't be of any use. You may be able to recover the data with a recovery tool or by getting a new copy.