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 ready to determine repair it. Then it refuses to start out up. Why didn’t you make that backup? Is there any manner you may get again the misplaced information out of your Mac? Fortunately there are apps that may get better your misplaced photographs and broken information out of your failed Mac’s laborious drive.
Knowledge restoration apps, like those we’ve reviewed under, can get better information with relative ease, so long as the listing indicating the place information have been initially saved is salvageable. If that isn’t the case, the software program can scan the information for acquainted patterns that might denote a file sort. As soon as it finds a file sort, there’s probability that there can be information in that file.
Whether or not you’re an informal person scrambling to get better your misplaced information in your Mac, or a full-time tech store doing every part it could to retrieve a consumer’s most important paperwork from a dying laborious drive, these are the information restoration apps that get our suggestion.
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 cope with information loss points. Undelete information from the Mac-based laborious drive, fusion drive, SSD, USB drive, reminiscence card, digital digital camera, and extra. Macworld really helpful, and an amazing selection for each Mac and Home windows customers.
Now 25% OFF Unique Code: MACWORLD25
Trying to get better 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 we’ve reviewed.
Recoverit, Wondershare: Greatest Mac information restoration software program

Professionals
- Clear, inviting person interface
- Good set of instruments
- Good efficiency
Cons
- Drawback with USB boot drive creation module
Worth When Reviewed:
1 month/2 Macs: $79.99 (normally $109.99); 1 12 months/2 Macs: $89.99 (normally $139.99); perpetual license/2 Macs: $139.99 (normally $169.99)
Greatest Costs In the present day:
Recoverit by Wondershare is centered across the ordinary modules that you just may see in this type of suite: Arduous Drives and Places 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 added restoration options.
There’s a pleasant residence display and person interface and the modules work as anticipated. Knowledge restoration for laborious drives, places, 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 difficulty.
Distant-based utilities permit 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 function.
We had some issues with the USB boot drive creation module, however this may be on account of Apple’s issues.
Wondershare Recoverit presents a wonderful information restoration package deal at a not-unreasonable, value. The corporate additionally provides reductions for college students 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 overview
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 12 months, or $129.99 (at present $99.99) for a lifetime license. Skilled model: $129.99 (at present $99.99) a 12 months, or $199 (at present $149) for a lifetime license. Premium version: $209.99 (at present $99.99) a 12 months, or $319 (at present $199) for a lifetime license.
Greatest Costs In the present day:
Stellar Knowledge Restoration for Mac focuses on recovering information by way of customary scans, deep scans, drive picture creation, and different restoration instruments. It’s out there as a free trial, with customary, skilled, and premium editions out there on yearly or lifetime contracts. The software program helps each HFS+ and APFS quantity codecs and will be put in simply.
Stellar Knowledge Restoration’s most important energy is its intensive information restoration engine, which helps tons of of file codecs and permits customers to look and get better by file sort, headers, and attributes. It additionally contains a good scan administration engine that enables customers to avoid wasting and work from earlier scans, and a picture creation function that enables customers to create a byte-for-byte picture of a quantity that may be restored later.
One fascinating function 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 overview). 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 entire array of modules labored nicely with take a look at 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 drive stop.
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 most important menu, which appears to be asking for extra money to be thrown within the firm’s normal route.
Regardless of these failings, Stellar Knowledge Restoration for Mac is an effective program in a position to dig deep to assist reconstruct and get better deleted information. There’s additionally Stellar Knowledge Restoration for iPhone.
Learn our full
Stellar Knowledge Restoration for Mac overview

Professionals
- Wonderful toolset and restoration system
- Useful Scan Administration
Cons
- Excessive subscription value
- Final replace (v6) in 2023
- Insufficient tech assist
- Unable to create Sonoma restoration drive
Worth When Reviewed:
Customary license: $79 for a 30-day; Skilled license: $399 for one 12 months
Greatest Costs In the present day:
Knowledge Rescue provides some wonderful 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 information restoration free of charge. The corporate provides a 30-day customary 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 when you’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 completely different information methods reminiscent of Straight, Reverse, Bisect, and Section. Nevertheless, it doesn’t provide 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 tougher for information to be pulled and reconstructed.
Technical instruments in Knowledge Rescue 6 provide loads to work with, however can get you in hassle when you aren’t conversant in them. For instance, setting the unsuitable drive parameters or boot level can require troubleshooting.
Total, Knowledge Rescue 6 provides wonderful instruments, however Prosoft ought to handle points like lack of buyer responsiveness, the prolonged time between updates, the excessive, subscription-based price ticket, and an absence of a tutorial system.
Learn our full
Knowledge Rescue overview
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:
Primary: Free; Professional: $89; Enterprise: $499 (pay additional for lifetime upgrades)
Disk Drill Professional from Cleverfiles is designed to get better information and rebuild deleted information on Macs and numerous different platforms and units. It really works with customary macOS file codecs like HFS+, Mac OS Prolonged, and APFS.
The essential model is offered free of charge and may get better as much as 500 megabytes of information. There’s a Professional model that helps one person 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 additional expense for lifetime upgrades and helps 10 customers and infinite activations with precedence technical assist and DFXML forensic information assist.
Disk Drill Professional requires macOS 10.15 Catalina or later and provides a number of new options, together with a RAID utility, NAS & Linux by way of 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 instrument. YouTube-based tutorial movies can be found.
Gadgets will be scanned over a Wi-Fi community, and the S.M.A.R.T. perform offers information about drive temperatures, drive situation, and life proportion 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 have been readily recovered.
Disk Drill Professional has some points, such because the macOS Installer utility failing to provide a bootable quantity after a number of checks, 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 provides dependable information restoration from all kinds of units.
Learn our full
Disk Drill Professional overview
EaseUS Knowledge Restoration Wizard for Mac: Respectable free model

Professionals
- Free model (as much as 2GB)
- Nice information restoration instruments, file group, categorization
- Video Restore instrument
Cons
- Excessive value
- Unbootable Mac module did not find drives
- Unable to log into cloud-based companies
Worth When Reviewed:
$89.95 a month for one Mac, $119.95 a 12 months 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 provides further options reminiscent of 1-on-1 distant help, is offered as a free trial, and requires Mac OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) or later to run. The paid model provides 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 sorts and provides 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 information restoration, reconstruction, and group are its strongest factors. A pleasant interface guides customers in selecting the amount to get better from and designating the goal restoration drive or folder. This system organizes recovered and restored information logically into classes reminiscent of All Sorts, Photos, Paperwork, Audio, Movies, Emails, Archives, and Others.
The SD Card perform is beneficial, 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 person shut down their Mac, boot into Restoration Mode, then boot off an exterior server run by EaseUS. Whereas it is a good thought in idea, the instrument 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 instrument couldn’t be labored with.
The cloud instrument was unable to efficiently log into Dropbox for restoration, and the applying required an administrator password each time the person launched it. Moreover, the software program offered a buyer suggestions survey each time the person exited this system, which was infuriating.
Knowledge Restoration Wizard for Mac excels at its core features and presents a pretty technique of recovering information from Mac, Home windows, and Linux volumes with a pleasant array of platform and file format assist. 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 overview
Knowledge Restoration for Mac, iBeesoft: Knowledge restoration and backup mixed

Professionals
- Pleasant person 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 In the present day:
iBeesoft’s Knowledge Restoration for Mac features as a knowledge restoration and backup software and likewise 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, Photos, Paperwork, Audio, Video, Emails, Archives, Others, and Unsaved Paperwork.
The software program can scan via your record of mounted drives, in search of deleted information, reconstructing and recovering every part it could. It’s straightforward to pick out particular information or all information for a given restoration to an exterior quantity as soon as a scan is full.
The Video Restore module means that you can drag and drop previous video clips and improve their high quality earlier than exporting them. The Backup module means that you can specify information, folders, or a complete quantity and again up a replica as a .dmg file, which will be simply restored later.
That is up to now 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 better information to an exterior laborious drive, however the internet server that hosted the file not working so the function 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 value a glance.
Learn our full
iBeesoft Knowledge Restoration for Mac overview
Alsoft DiskWarrior

Professionals
- Good person interface and efficiency
- Locates and kinds out file and listing errors
- Customization and configuration choices
Cons
- Lack of APFS assist
- Excessive value
- Time Machine quantity restore requires booting from included flash drive
Worth When Reviewed:
$119.95 (plus $8.95 for delivery flash drive)
Alsoft has been producing high-quality utility software program for over 20 years. DiskWarrior, a well-liked software for recovering broken laborious 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 assist.
The software program nonetheless helps the HFS+ format, FireVault 1 and a couple of, Core Storage for Fusion dries, RAID configurations, and disk pictures and sparse bundles, but it surely has not been upgraded to assist the APFS format, which is more and more prevalent on new Macs and Apple’s push in direction of this file system customary.
DiskWarrior is offered 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 checks, entry technical specs, arrange automated diagnostics, and obtain notifications via alerts, emails, AppleScript packages, or textual content messages.
Nevertheless, there’s unhealthy information: DiskWarrior 5.3.1 nonetheless lacks assist for the APFS customary. As extra drives are transferring 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 can provide full APFS assist. Nevertheless, adjustments from Apple’s aspect, reminiscent of not permitting third-party kernel extensions and different technical adjustments, have made the event course of tougher and created extra roadblocks than earlier variations of DiskWarrior.
The dearth of a free trial model of DiskWarrior 5.3.1 raises considerations concerning the steep new person value and improve value, particularly when the software program lacks APFS assist and may solely work with sure volumes.
Typically an amazing utility will get caught in improvement. There’s nonetheless an amazing software available right here, however Alsoft must put itself ready the place it could readily announce that an up to date model can be out at a given date and that it’s going to provide APFS assist.
Learn our full
DiskWarrior overview
What’s the greatest Mac information restoration app?
Our best choice proper now’s Recoverit from Wondershare as a result of it does job recovering information, and at an affordable value.
How we select the perfect Knowledge Restoration app for Mac
We strategy this not solely from an ease-of-use perspective for the person, but in addition 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 most costly restoration software 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 which you could depart to run in a single day to get better 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 on a particular set of wants. For instance, one possibility may be the perfect you probably have a decent funds, whereas another choice can be higher for somebody who will solely use this software program as soon as, whereas the most suitable choice for somebody who expects to wish to make use of the software program many times will most likely be fairly completely different.
For that motive we specify who we suggest the app for. We additionally are likely to solely embody the apps that we suggest in our group checks. If the app isn’t included right here it might be as a result of we don’t charge it in addition to those on this spherical up.
What it is best to take into account when selecting the perfect Knowledge Restoration app
Outdoors of the worth level (some functions will be significantly costly, particularly given the companies they’re tied into), ease of use and general strategy are necessary elements to contemplate. Some functions will give you all of the choices on the planet, however via a nigh-terrifying person interface that asks you to establish particular laborious drive sectors you’d prefer to establish and work with, which is past what a panicked person who might need misplaced their life’s information desires to cope with.
What you’re in search of is one thing highly effective, able to coping with your broken laborious drive/quantity, and able to protecting it mounted in your Mac because it’s working via broken sectors on a tough drive mechanism which 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 which may be concerned in slowly pulling the information to an exterior laborious drive. From there, it’s a query of how the recovered information will be reconstructed and the way rapidly and simply the recovered information will be labored with (i.e., will it’s important to rename and reorganize 1000’s of information, will a particular file be capable of be opened by the applying that created it, and so forth.?)
In brief, it’s a query of “Properly, I’ve recovered tons of of gigabytes of information, 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 kind what it is best to take into account for a best-of-breed information restoration software, or a set of them. It’s not a query of if a tough drive will fail however when, and we’ll do every part we will right here at Macworld to maintain you knowledgeable and prepared for when it will definitely occurs.
How we take a look at Knowledge Restoration software program for Mac
Once we take a look at information restoration software program we simulate the expertise of those that lose information in actual world situations. This contains every part from recovering unintentionally deleted information, to making an attempt to get better information from a formatted disk.
We take a look at with each rotational and solid-state media, utilizing each newer and used drives. Through the checks, we work to get better each massive and small information in addition to information that’s been deleted from a number of drive format features. We examine ease of use, the software program’s strategy, what’s recovered, and the way this meets the person’s expectations.
We additionally consider reconstruction strategies, and the place this leaves the person (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 charge it.
Why you may 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 folks, 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 have been working nice simply the opposite day and whose laborious drives are making unusual clicking sounds and never booting, and every part in between. All through this time, his purpose was all the time the identical: Get the laborious drive out of the pc, get it mounted, and determine the easiest way to get better their information and their work, it doesn’t matter what.
FAQ
Why does Knowledge Restoration take so lengthy?
Anticipate the information restoration course of to be time-consuming because the app items the bits of information again collectively. With endurance, most information that haven’t been overwritten ought to, in idea, be saveable.
Some drives can take days to completely scan, and the upper capability they’re, the longer the method. But when it’s irreplaceable photographs or necessary paperwork which might be misplaced, you may afford to attend.
Is there a free manner to get better my misplaced Mac information?
Sadly, this type of software program is just about all the time going to have a excessive value related to it earlier than you may get better what you want–however when you’ve misplaced tons of of treasured photographs or the primary 1,000 pages of your novel, then no value is simply too excessive, most likely. Typically you may pay for the software program for a month, do what you must do after which cancel. Typically you could subscribe for a 12 months. Different choices let you purchase it outright, however pay additional for future updates. Your personal circumstances will affect which possibility is greatest for you. Moreover, many of those instruments provide a trial so you may at the very least see what it is best to be capable of get better earlier than you spend your cash.
There are a couple of methods you may attempt earlier than you spend cash on an app although, as you’ll see in our Find out how to get better information from a broken Mac article.
Find out how to keep away from information loss
Are information restoration apps/companies 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 critiques to seek out one thing that works greatest for you. It does the software program firms 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 units, so there’s that to contemplate.
Nonetheless, there are a number of information restoration functions that provide free or trial intervals to check the software program, and you may all the time attempt these out for your self. Learn and hearken to trusted sources, attempt numerous functions out for your self (you may all the time attempt recovering information you’ve deleted from thumb drives with the trial variations of those functions), bear 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 will that will help 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, provides you choices as to what you’d love to do with it, carries out the checks and information restoration choices, and works to avoid wasting the information to a purposeful drive previous to reconstructing it.
There’s quite a bit for it to hold out, and every information restoration software and the corporate behind it approaches it otherwise. Some may present a really normal, person pleasant interface in direction of information restoration whereas others may provide extraordinarily particular, technical features to work with exact sectors of your laborious drive. Some may present an choice to boot kind an exterior USB thumb drive or Internet-based working system to attempt to get better your information, and every strategy can yield completely 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 vital 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 laborious drives and reads and writes information to and from them.
Moreover, information restoration software program usually isn’t the type of factor that’s initially bought with a brand new laptop (reminiscent of a replica of Microsoft Workplace, Adobe Artistic Cloud, and so forth.), and tends to solely be bought within the occasion of a catastrophe whereby your information is liable to loss.
As such, the information restoration software program market tends to promote fewer copies and generally fees a better value for the copies it does promote.
Lastly, there are occasions the place the software program firms present higher-end companies and tech assist, together with delivery a broken drive off for disassembly and information restoration. This may be thought of 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 critiques.