Aug 25, 2021 Supported OS: Disk Drill 4.1 requires Mac OS X 10.11.6+. TestDisk for Mac. TestDisk for Mac is an open-source data recovery utility developed by CGSecurity, the same software company that’s behind PhotoRec. The main purpose of TestDisk for Mac is to recover lost partitions and make non-booting disks bootable again. Highlighted Features: # 1. All-in-one data recovery software. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free is fully compatible with the latest macOS 11.0 (Big Sur), 10.15 (Catalina), 10.14 (Mojave) and all the former versions. It enables all Mac users to perform a full recovery of lost valuable data in only 3 steps: Scan Preview Recover.

Summary: Check out the 10 best and free data recovery software for Mac in 2021 found in most online searches. The curated list will help you make an informed decision and save your time, effort.

It's apparent you are hereafter facing a data loss event. And rightfully, you look forward to a Mac data recovery software that is reliable, compatible with your system and offers you with Free Data Recovery. Isn't it? Trust this; you won't be disappointed.

1. Stellar Data Recovery Free Edition for Mac

Price: Free

It is one of the best free Mac data recovery software that people mostly pick. “Old wine tastes better with age.” And Stellar Data Recovery fulfills this adage by serving the world from the past 26 years with complete customer satisfaction.

The software provides you with hope to recover your deleted Word, Excel, Powerpoint and PDF documents, photos, videos, audio files, and emails from any Mac device—MacBook Air, iMac, Mac mini, or their Pro models. The UI of the software resembles the newer macOS dark theme, so you’ll feel at home.

Download the *free edition of the Stellar Data Recovery software from here.

Free Mac Data Recovery Software How-to Steps

The software recovers lost files in 3 necessary steps—Select, Scan, and Recover.

1. Select the type of file and drive location.
2. Scan the drive for lost or deleted files.
3. Recover and save the recoverable files.

*The free edition allows free scanning, free previewing, and up to 1 GB data recovery. To recover more, upgrade it. Check out the various editions. They all have a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Advantages:

The free Mac data recovery tool is replete with features. For instance, “Deep Scan” assures up to100% of the lost data recovery using file signatures. Customization of key data-scan parameters, including drive area selection, type of data, and file format, helps accelerate the recovery process.

The laundry list of data recovery capabilities is just enormous— free deleted file recovery, free external drive recovery, free external drive recovery, encrypted and corrupt hard drive recovery, Boot Camp Partition recovery, and recovery from latest MacBook Pro.

The tool supports data recovery in macOS Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, and earlier versions. In terms of storage-specific data recovery, it does perfectly well with all types of Mac storage devices, namely external hard drives, SSDs, Fusion Drives, pen drives, and SD cards. Plus, it is compatible with APFS, HFS+, FAT/ex-FAT, and NTFS formatted storage drives.

Disadvantages:

The free edition doesn’t have unlimited data recovery capability. Also, there is no option to recover a non-booting Mac. For exclusive advanced features, you need to upgrade the Free Edition to Professional version.

2. Tenoshare 4DDiG (Mac)

Price: Lifetime license @ $69.95

A powerful Mac file recovery software used to recover unlimited deleted, lost, and formatted data viz. photos, videos, email, web file, audios, archives, documents, and other files from Mac and external storage devices.

Advantages:

The software provides lost file recovery, partition recovery, and raw recovery. It supports Mac T2 chip data recovery. By using the software, you can handle any logical data loss scenarios reasonably. Also, you can preview photos and audios before recovering.

The software also recovers data from failed, crashed, or dead MacBook. It fully supports macOS Big Sur 11 and other lower versions. And is compatible with APFS, HFS+, FAT32, and exFAT. Moreover, it is backed with 24 by 7 help center.

Disadvantages:

It does not provide file repair functionality.

3. Recoverit Data Recovery for Mac

Price: Essential version at $79.95

Recoverit for Mac is quite useful & safe to recover your lost data from Mac. It recovers lost office files, graphics, videos, audio, outlook & archive files, and document files from your Mac’s internal HDD, external HDD, memory cards, USB flash drive, SD card, etc. The standard version of the software can create bootable media that relieve you in recovering data from a crashed Mac.

Advantages:

Allows data recovery from various data loss scenarios, including power failure, accidental emptying of Trash, factory reset with no backup, inaccessibility or raw state, partition imperfection or error, virus attack, hard disk drive crash, and re-installation or upgrade of the operating system.

The software is fully compatible with macOS 10.9 to 10.15 (macOS Catalina). It supports APFS, ExFAT, FAT16, FAT32, HFS+, NTFS, Ext2, Ext 3, Ext4, and other file systems. The software comes with 24 by 7 professional technical support.

Disadvantages:

It has no support for Mac Crash Recovery. For that, you need to upgrade to the Standard or Advanced data recovery plan.

4. Ontrack Easy Recovery for Mac

Price: Home Edition at $99

This Mac file recovery software helps you recover your deleted files either from Mac’s internal storage drive or from Apple’s external Time Machine backup drive. The software uses advanced scanning techniques to quickly locate and recover your videos, photos, music, etc. You can use this Data Recovery tool on various Mac machines, including iMac, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, and Mac Pro.

Advantages:

The tool provides raw recovery on lost volumes and has the option to stop and start recovery at a convenient time. It supports any APFS data recovery, HFS+, HFS, FAT, NTFS, or exFAT formatted drive and supports macOS Catalina 10.15.

The software allows you to preview recoverable files, create an image of volumes, perform encrypted disk recovery, and get back data from Boot Camp partition.

Disadvantages:

Free trial of the software is available after you fill out the form with your complete information.

5. Data Rescue for Mac

Price: Pro version at $471.95

Data Rescue can easily find, preview, and recover lost data, reformatted drive, or deleted files. The software’s recovery function works beyond hard drive recovery and provides comprehensive recovery from numerous devices, including SSDs, USB drives, SD cards, CF cards, and many more.

Advantages:

The software’s interface allows you to start recovering files, view previous scan results, clone, and create recovery drive options. Using the software, you can recover images, movies, audio, mail, documents, text, archives, and various file formats.

You can use a quick scan or deep scan mode to scan your storage drive. And even get email notifications for your current or completed scans and know your duplicate files. The software is compatible with macOS 10.12 and later versions.

Disadvantages:

Expensive.

6. Softtote Data Recovery Mac

Price: Free

Softtote Data Recovery Mac is an all-in-one Mac data recovery software for your lost or deleted files, formatted drives, and missing partition. The tool recovers data from corrupt or erased HDD, USB flash drive, camera, memory card, and MP3 or MP4 player.

Advantages:

The software provides unparalleled ease of use, timesaving and enhanced scanning method, file classification, filter and preview, and raw file searching. Plus, the tool has the option of Photo Recovery, File Recovery, and Lost Partition Recovery.

The utility is compatible with macOS High Sierra 10.13 and lower versions up to Mac OS X 10.6. It supports data recovery from HFS+, HFS Wrapper, HFS, HFSX, NTFS, and FAT file system volumes in the original file structure.

Disadvantages:

The tool has no support for macOS Catalina and APFS.

7. Disk Drill for Mac

Price: Pro version at $59.02

This DIY recovery software recovers data even if Mac’s internal or external hard drive has trouble accessing the data. With over 200+ file types, the software engine is powerful enough to retrieve music files, photos, videos, and other data.

Advantages:

You can use the software to rescue data even in case of a corrupted or missing files system. The GUI of software is straightforward to use, and its recover button can get back all your deleted data.

The software cleans up Mac, finds duplicate files from a storage drive, backs up data, creates a bootable USB drive, protects data with a recovery vault, monitors the drive’s health, and analyzes disk storage.

The software is macOS Big Sur ready. And, it supports APFS, HFS, HFS+, FAT, FAT32, ex-FAT, NTFS, or EXT3/EXT4 file systems.

Disadvantages:

Scan result doesn’t show files with the original name.

8. Do Your Data Recovery

Price: Pro version at $105.02

Do Your Data Recovery software recovers data from Mac desktop, laptop, hard drive, removable media, and digital devices lost due to deletion, format, wrong operation, OS crash, virus attack, and other unknown reasons. You can launch the software, scan for hard drive or device, and recover lost files immediately.

Advantages:

The tool’s wizard-based interface is easy to use. It allows you to save and resume recovery, search and filter files, and preview recoverable files before saving. You can use the software to recover from all types of files, including documents, folders, photos, videos, audio or voice files, archives, and emails.

The software is macOS Big Sur ready and is compatible with earlier versions up to 10.7. Moreover, it supports data recovery from APFS, HFS+/HFS, FAT 12/16/32, exFAT, NTFS, Ext2/3/4, and other file system formatted storage drives.

Disadvantages:

Quite expensive.

9. Lazesoft Mac Data Recovery

Price: Free

Lazesoft Mac Data Recovery is an easy and powerful free data recovery software for Mac. It can help you recover your lost or deleted documents, music, photos, videos, and applications from hard disk, memory card, USB flash drive, iPod, or any mountable media. The software can recover data from deleted, formatted, or corrupt partition.

Advantages:

The software provides limitless data recovery, dynamic file preview, progress status info, deep scan, and file search functionality. Plus, it comes with free technical support.

The software is compatible with Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 and later. Also, it supports HFS+, HFS, HFSX, exFAT, FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, and NTFS5 file systems.

Disadvantages:

The software’s website doesn’t show compatibility for APFS and the latest macOS.

10. Mac Data Recovery Guru

Price: Free

This free data recovery tool for MacBook allows recovery of deleted files from hard drives, memory cards, USB flash drives, and optical media.

Advantages:

Mac Data Recovery Guru has the option of “Search for embedded files” that performs exhaustive search based on file types. The software supports APFS, HFS+, HFS, HFSX, NTFS, FAT, Ext2, Ext3, Ext4, XFS, and UFS.

Disadvantages:

The software’s website doesn’t show support for the latest macOS and APFS.

FAQs Related to Mac Data Recovery Software

When does a Mac data recovery tool work?

Data recovery is feasible if you have stopped using your Mac immediately after emptying Trash, deletion of volume, or erasure of drive. Also, your Mac must boot. And, if your Mac doesn’t start, then you need a recovery software with bootable USB drive creation functionality.

Furthermore, data recovery is possible from an external storage drive using a data recovery software if and only if the connected storage drive is visible in Disk Utility (even in the greyed-out state) or System Information.

When doesn’t Mac data recovery work?

Data recovery won’t work if the storage drive is overwritten, formatted using security options of Erase in Disk Utility, or wiped by using a secure wipe software that uses advanced drive erasure algorithm in multiple passes. Also, data recovery won’t work for TRIM enabled internal Mac SSD. In such situations, only a backup of your Mac storage drive can salvage your lost data.

Moreover, data recovery isn’t possible for an external storage device—SSD, Hard Drive, or USB Flash Drive—when the drive doesn’t appear in Disk Utility or System Information window. This non-appearance can be due to physical damage to the storage medium. Then, a data recovery service provider can help.

What are the attributes of an ideal data recovery software?

An ideal data recovery software must have the following attributes:

• Recover all file-formats including photo, audio, video, document & email.
• Supportthe latest macOS and all compatible file systems & devices.
• Provide easy to use interface that recovers lost data in minimum steps.
• Feature advanced functionality such as recovery from unbootable Mac.
• Be backed up with the support team to answer all data recovery queries.

Which is completely free data recovery software for Mac?

You can try Stellar Data Recovery Free Edition for Mac to recover up to 1 GB of data for free. A completely free data recovery software for Mac is rare to find online. If found, it won’t be suitable for most Mac users due to lack of a graphical user interface, need to type commands to perform the recovery task, and don’t provide file preview and other advanced functionality freemium or premium software offers.

How to get maximum data recovered by software?

To maximize data recovery through software, you must immediately stop using your Mac or the external storage drive after data loss. This prompt action helps avoid overwriting on the existing but inaccessible files from the storage drive.

How to recover empty trash data?

To recover empty Trash data, launch a Mac data recovery software. And, from the interface, select and scan the volume wherein data got deleted. Preview the Trash deleted files, select the required ones, and recover them to a distinct volume.

How to boot a Mac and recover data?

If your Mac doesn’t boot, then you should employ a Mac data recovery software that can create a bootable recovery drive. Download and install the software on a working Mac, create a recovery drive, and then connect the drive to a non-booting Mac to recover data.

Conclusion

The top 10 free Mac data recovery software of 2021 brings forth significant features to provide you with comprehensive data recovery benefits. Identifying the right one based on your specific data recovery needs and circumstances out of these is relatively easy. For example, if you are using a Mac that runs macOS Catalina, then you would need to evaluate only those data recovery software that supports Catalina, and, also, to what extent.

What all OS, file systems, storage devices, and data loss scenarios does the software works in would be a few other essential factors to consider. Another important aspect is the ease of use. A software that’s easy and completely DIY would make a better choice than the ones that demand technical proficiency.

And then how well the overall value stands, meaning which software brings the best value for the money that you’ll spend. It’s better to have software that not just addresses your present data recovery needs but would also rescue you from other data loss incidents in the future. So, proactive drive monitoring, cloning, and disk imaging should be the add-on features to look at.

Summary :

Are you looking for the best and free Mac data recovery software? If yes, you come to the right place. MiniTool Software collects some professional and reliable Mac data recovery software and shows them in this article. You can select a suitable one according to your actual situation.

If you are a Mac computer user, a free Mac data recovery software is a necessary configuration. When your Mac files are lost or deleted for some reason, you can use such a tool to get them back.

When you search for Mac file recovery software free on the internet, you will see many choices. To guarantee the safety of the current data on your computer, you’d better select a professional and reliable Mac file recovery tool. And it is also the topic we will talk about in this article: best and free Mac data recovery software.

We will list you some Mac data recovery programs that are worth trying. You can select one according to your requirements.

This post will show you how long it will take before a deleted file is unrecoverable, how to make files unrecoverable, and how to undelete a file on Windows.

Top 5 Best and Free Mac Data Recovery Software

1. Stellar Data Recovery for Mac
2. Disk Drill for Mac
3. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac
4. Wondershare Recoverit for Mac
5. Ontrack EasyRecovery for Mac

1. Stellar Data Recovery for Mac

Stella Mac Data Recovery for Mac is a highly recommended choice. It is specially designed to retrieve different kinds of files from your Mac machine. The supported files include documents, photos, audios, videos, music files, and more.

It works under multiple situations like file deletion, virus invasion, disk failure, partition loss, system crash, etc. Besides, it can recover data from APFS, HFS, HFS+, ex-FAT, and NTFS drives. So, it can fully meet your demands for Mac data recovery.

Are you bothered by the disk you inserted was not readable by this computer when using an external hard drive on a Mac computer. Now, get some solutions here.

This software has a trial edition. You can use it to scan the drive you want to recover data from and then check whether you can find your needed files from the scan results. Now, you can go to the MiniTool download center to get this Mac file recovery tool.

After downloading and installing this software on your Mac device, you can use it to restore your lost and deleted files. Here is a guide:

1. Open Stellar Data Recovery for Mac.

2. On this Select What To Recover interface, you can choose Recover Everything. You can also customize the scanning ranges based on your own requirements.

3. Click Next to continue.

4. On this Select Location interface, you need to select the drive you need to scan. If you want to perform a deep scan, you need to turn on the Deep Scan button that is on the bottom-left side of the interface.

5. Click Next to start the scanning process.

6. When the scanning process ends, there will be a small pop-up window saying Scanning Completed Successfully! You need to click OK to close this window and see the scan results.

7. By default, this software will show you the Classic List that contains both existing and deleted files on the Mac PC. If you only want to recover your deleted data, you can switch to Deleted List to make this software only show you the deleted items. Then, you can open each folder to find the deleted files you want to recover.

This software allows you to preview some types of files like images, videos, and more. If you are not sure whether it is the file you want to restore, you can double-click on that file to preview it.

Since it is the trial edition of this software, you are not allowed to use it to recover your needed files. But you can update this freeware to a full edition and then recover files to a suitable location. Here you need to know that you’d better not save the data to its original location. Otherwise, the deleted files can be overwritten and become unrecoverable.

When every step is done, you can access the specified storage location to directly see and use the recovered files.

Comprehensive Evaluation

Stellar Data Recovery for Mac: ★★★★☆

Pros:

• It can recover all types of files.
• It supports multiple types of storage devices.
• It can recover data from an unbootable Mac computer.
• It supports previewing files.

Cons:

You need to update to a full edition if you want to use it to recover data from the scan results.

Stellar Data Recovery is one of the best data recovery tools we’ve used, with highly customizable searches, a huge file-type library, and deep scan abilities. techradar.com

2. Disk Drill for Mac

Disk Drill is a very famous Mac data recovery software. It supports the latest macOS 10.15 Catalina. It can recover all your lost and deleted files on your Mac computer. No matter you want to recover data from a hard drive, SSD, memory card, SD card, or pen drive on your Mac computer, this software can always work.

It is very easy to use this software to retrieve deleted files from your Mac computer. You just need to download this tool to your device, drag it to the Applications folder, launch it, and then select the drive you want to recover data from to scan. When the scanning process ends, you can preview the scanned files and then select your needed files to recover.

On the other hand, this software also has some other useful features like disk cleanup, duplicate finder, data backup, and more. These are also some necessary features for your Mac computer.

Do you want to delete duplicate files from your Windows computer? This article shows you how to find and delete duplicate files using duplicate file finders.

Comprehensive Evaluation

Disk Drill for Mac: ★★★★☆

Pros:

• It supports many storage devices like internal Macintosh hard drives, external hard drives, cameras, iPhones, iPads, iPods, Android devices, USB flash drives, Kindles, and memory cards.
• It can recover data from an unbootable Mac computer.
• It supports previewing files.
• It has more functional features like disk cleanup, duplicate finder, data backup, and more.

File Recovery For Mac

Cons:

If you want to recover all your files without limits, you need to use a Pro or Enterprise edition.

If you have Mac with a traditional hard drive, Disk Drill Pro offers one of the most advanced data recovery utilities available. pcmag.com

3. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac

EaseUS is a professional computer supplier and its products include partition manager, data recovery software, data backup tool, etc. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is one representative and it is specially designed to recover your Mac data under different situations.

Like other Mac file recovery tools, this software can recover your lost images, videos, documents, music files, and more from various types of data storage devices like internal hard drives, external hard drives, SD cards, and more.

After getting this software, you can open it, select the target drive to scan, and then choose your desired files from the scan results to recover. With the free edition of this EaseUS Mac data recovery free edition, you can recover 2GB data without paying any cent.

Comprehensive Evaluation

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac: ★★★★

Pros:

• You can use the free edition to recover 2GB files.
• It can recover 1000+ types of files, including documents, images, videos, archives, and more.
• It supports many storage devices like external HDD/SSD, fusion drive, USB drive, SD card, CF card, Digital Camera, Video Player, and more.
• It can recover data from an unbootable Mac computer.
• It supports previewing files.

Cons:

You need to update to the Pro edition if you want to recover your data without limitations.

Overall, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro is one of the most powerful file recovery programs we’ve used. It’s backed by highly advanced features, a great user interface, and a fast deep scan tool, among other things. techradar.com

Mac Data Recovery Software free. download full Version

4. Wondershare Recoverit for Mac

Recoverit for Mac is a software from Wondershare. It is also specially designed to get your lost data back under different situations like system crash, virus attack, file deletion, formatting, and more. It supports the latest macOS and APFS, ExFAT, FAT16, FAT32, HFS+, NTFS, Ext2, Ext 3, and Ext4 file systems.

After entering this software, you can select the target drive to scan and then find the files you want to recover from the scan results.

Comprehensive Evaluation

Wondershare Recoverit for Mac: ★★★★

Pros:

• It can recover 1000+ types of files.
• It supports many storage devices like hard drive, external hard drive, USB flash drive, SSD, digital camera, Drone camera, SD card, CF card, etc.
• It can recover data from an unbootable Mac computer.
• It supports previewing files that are less than 15 MB.

Cons:

Not all files are recoverable.

Wondershare Data Recovery is the best data recovery tool I have ever used in my life, it allows to recover huge range of file formats on nutshell, though, data recovery solutions are generally used to recover accidentally or system-deleted files, corrupted, deleted or formatted partitions, or data on crashed hard drives. g2.com

Are you looking for solutions to recover videos from DJI drones or recover photos from DJI camcorder? You can read this article to get solutions.

5. Ontrack EasyRecovery for Mac

Ontrack EasyRecovery for Mac is another professional Mac data recovery software and you can use its free edition to recover up to 1GB data. This software can work in different situations like file deletion, partition deletion, formatting, and more.

Comprehensive Evaluation

Ontrack EasyRecovery for Mac: ★★★☆

Pros:

• It can recover data from various types of devices like internal and external hard drives, SSDs, RAIDS, USB, optical media, and memory cards.
• It supports APFS, HFS, HFS+, NTFS, FAT, ExFAT volumes.
• It can repair damaged and corrupt photo and video files

Cons:

• It can’t recover data from a computer that is unbootable.
• Its paid edition is more expensive than some competitors.
• It has no built-in file previewer.

Ontrack EasyRecovery is the most powerful, thorough data recovery software we've tested, and it's blazing fast, too. Its only real drawback is a sometimes-daunting interface. pcmag.com

How to Select the Best Mac Data Recovery Software?

Basic Requirements

First, you should know the common features an excellent and professional Mac data recovery software should own:

• Has an easy-to-use interface.
• Recovers various types of data, including photos, videos, audios, music files, documents, and more.
• Recovers files from different types of storage devices like hard disk drives, solid-state drives, SD cards, memory cards, and more.
• Supports the latest Mac version.
• Recovers data from unbootable computers.
• Supplies 24*7 technical support.

Expect Ontrack EasyRecovery for Mac, which can recover data from an unbootable computer, all the rest four programs are designed with this function.

Prices

Those are the prices for all editions of each Mac data recovery software. You can select one according to your actual situation. You can also go to the official site of each Mac data recovery software to get more price information.

Stellar Data Recovery for Mac

Disk Drill for Mac

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac

Wondershare Recoverit for Mac

Ontrack EasyRecovery for Mac

Performance

The most important element of a Mac data recovery software is its performance.

Scanning Time

Normally, the first two software has a better performance and the whole scanning process can end within 30 minutes. If the disk you want to scan is too large, the whole process will last longer. But it will still end within 2 or 3 hours.

Recovering Data from Unbootable Mac Device

If your macOS is damaged or corrupt due to some reasons and you want to recover data from your device, Ontrack EasyRecovery for Mac is not available because it doesn’t support creating a bootable device for Mac data recovery.

Extra Features

Besides, some of these free Mac data recovery tools have their extra features like data backup and duplicate files finder in Disk Drill for Mac. You can dig more features when using them.

Bottom Line

In this post, we show you 5 reliable and safe professional free Mac data recovery software. You can just select one based on your actual requirements. Should you have any related issues, you can let us know in the comment or contact us via [email protected].

Mac Data Recovery Software FAQ

1. Go to Trash.
2. Find the file or folder you want to restore. Then, right-click it.
3. Select Put Back from the pop-out menu.

After these three steps, the selected file or folder will be restored to its original location.