EaseUS Best Free Mac Data Recovery Software is a tool recommended with high esteem not just because its efficient, but it solves a unique problem faced by users who lost important data and needs to get it fixed or recovered. Scans the storage devices connected to your Mac to find lost or inaccessible files as simple as that. There are not many truly free iPhone data recovery software applications for Windows and macOS. Most of them claim to be free while offering only preview functionality. Gihosoft Free iPhone Data Recovery stands out because it actually does have limited recovery capabilities. 10 of the Best Free Data Recovery Software for Mac Users in 2020. If your Mac device is on the fritz, PhotoRec by CG Security can prove to be a powerful free Mac data recovery tool that has the advantage of being open-source. That is, anyone can make changes to the source code of PhotoRec. In fact, it can recover most common file. Free limits: The trial version of this Mac recovery software can be used to restore up to 2 GB of data. Price: $59.99 for one computer, $119.99 for unlimited computers. OS version: Supports all versions of the macOS operating system.
This article covers the top five completely free data recovery software for Mac, which varies in features, functions, and performance. However, they all have one thing in common: they are free.
Compare the five tools carefully, and select the one that fits your needs best.
- 1. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free
- 2. Disk Drill
- 3. PhotoRec
- 4. TestDisk
- 5. Exif Untrasher
- 3-Step Tutorial of Free Mac Data Recovery
Top 5 Completely Free Data Recovery Software for Mac
When you get data loss on your Mac due to accidental deletion, partition/hard drive formatting, system crash, macOS upgrade, file system or hard drive corruption, stay calm and pick up one of the recommended data recovery software below for help.
1. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free is one of the free top and handy Mac data recovery software that enables you to recover data from the emptied trash bin, Mac notebooks, desktops, hard drives, USB drives, SD cards, memory cards, digital cameras, etc. It works on internal APFS/HFS+/HFS X drives, and FAT/FAT32/exFAT/NTFS file systems used in USB flash drives and external hard drives connected to Mac.
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.
# 2. HFS+ Fusion Drive Recovery
The latest update of EaseUS Mac data recovery software has improved its support of Fusion Drive, which makes it work even better in retrieving files from Mac computers that are installed on fusion drives.
# 3. Encrypted Drive Recovery
Another great update in EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is that it supports encrypted drive recovery by offering guidance to assist Mac users in decrypting and unlocking their drives with password.
Best Data Recovery Software Mac Free Full
# 4. Data Protection
Once the data protection feature is enabled, it will automatically back up the deleted files to a safe location. If you unexpectedly delete files and want to recover later, you can quickly restore the lost files from the created backup.
Pros:
- Support to restore 200+ file types on Mac, including recovering lost Word/Excel/PPT documents, photos, videos, music files, emails, archived files, and more.
- Quick Scan + Deep Scan technology greatly enhances recovery probability.
- Real-time Preview allows you to preview found files while scanning and before proceeding with data recovery.
- No quality-loss recovery brings your lost photos, videos perfectly back in its best performance.
Cons:
- The completely free version is limited to a maximum of 2GB data recovery. (The outstanding Windows data recovery free version also provides 2GB free file recovery.)
2. Disk Drill
Disk Drill is a popular Mac data recovery application developed to recover lost partitions or files from Mac internal and external hard drives. Also, the Recovery Vault and Guaranteed Recovery options in the free trial version support to monitor the file deletion activity and retain metadata so as to quickly undelete files.
Highlighted Features:
# 1. Undelete Protected Data (Not Available in Free Version)
Being similar to the Data Protection feature in EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac, Disk Drill also contains an undelete protected data feature that requires Recovery Vault and Guaranteed Recovery features to be enabled in advance.
With these two features enabled, Mac users could quickly undelete files from a Trash Bin reference or shadow copy of each file to a user-specified folder.
# 2. Allocate Existing Files
When Finder fails to read data, Disk Utility reports the drive as unformatted, Disk Drill can scan the partition and retrieve data from Mac.
Pros:
- Compatible with all the Mac OS X and macOS systems.
- Recover 200+ file types.
- It is packed with free and useful disk tools for all users.
- An intuitive user interface to recover lost files effortlessly.
Cons:
- The free version only allows a preview of data recovery.
- Recovery Vault and Guaranteed Recovery are not available in the free version.
3. PhotoRec
PhotoRec is a free, open-source program that works very well in data recovery on older operating systems like OS X, Linux, Free BSD, Net BSD, Open BSD, and Windows.
It allows users to restore most common files, like photos, audios, documents, ZIP archives, and others from internal or external devices, such as digital cameras, memory cards, USB flash drives and partitions/hard disks.
Highlighted Features:
# 1. Advanced File Carving
PhotoRec first searches for the data block or cluster size. The program will quickly load value from superblock like ext2/ext3/ext4 or volume boot record like FAT/NTFS if the file system is not corrupted. When the file system corrupted, PhotoRec will check the device at a sector level, using the first 10 found files to calculate the block or cluster size so as to locate and find more lost files.
# 2. Block or Cluster Level Recovery
This program will read the Mac device block by block, cluster by cluster, checking against different file signatures so as to recuperate available files.
Pros:
- Support data recovery cross-platforms, Mac OS X, Windows, Linux, etc.
- 100% open-source program, not only the software but also the source code.
- Nice tool to recover personal files.
Cons:
- Not very user-friendly for ordinary computer users.
- Technical skills required. It uses command lines to operate.
4. TestDisk
TestDisk, like PhotoRec, it's also an open-source, freeware product that allows for multiple file types recovery.
It mainly focuses on partition recovery. It enables users to find deleted or lost partitions by fixing the partition tables due to software crash, virus attack, mistaken formatting, etc.
Highlighted Features:
# 1. Partition Recovery
When a partition lost or disappeared on Mac due to corrupted partition tables, Mac users can apply TestDisk to rebuild and repair the corrupted partition table.
# 2. Rebuild Boot Sectors
When the Mac bootable drive fails to boot, it corrects problems in bootable drives that are failing to boot.
Pros:
- Completely free and open.
- Runs on several operating systems, including macOS and Mac OS X versions.
- Recover lost partitions and rebuild the partition table.
Cons:
- Use the command line to make data recovery.
- Not user-friendly for regular computer users.
5. Exif Untrasher
Exif Untrasher is another completely free Mac data recovery tool that mainly restores deleted or JPEG files from digital cameras, external drive, USB stick, SD card, etc. You can easily download and install this software on your Mac running Mac OS X 10.10 and all the later versions.
Mac Data Recovery Tool
Highlighted Features:
# 1. Highly Efficient in JEPG Recovery
Exif Untrasher is a tool that mainly designed to locate photos in JEPG formats on any kind of storage device like SD card, CF card, memory stick or Mac hard disk.
External storage device needs to be mounted as a volume on Mac for the utility to access and attempt a restore.
Pros:
- Simple and quick to recover lost images from the memory card.
- Free with no quantity limits.
- It is updated by the developer regularly.
Cons:
- It only works for JEGP file recovery. It doesn't support extra file formats.
3-Step Tutorial of Free Mac Data Recovery
To help more Mac users to bring their lost files are soon as possible, we are here to show you a 3-step tutorial of free Mac data recovery. If you are eager to bring your lost files back on Mac or external storage devices, apply the brief and innovative EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free for help.
Remember to connect your USB, SD card, or external hard drive to Mac computer if your lost data were saved on it.
Step 1. Select the disk location (it can be an internal HDD/SSD or a removable storage device) where you lost data and files. Click the 'Scan' button.
Step 2. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will immediately scan your selected disk volume and display the scanning results on the left pane.
Step 3. In the scan results, select the file(s) and click the 'Recover' button to have them back.
Conclusion
On this page, you are presented with the top 5 completely free Mac data recovery software - EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free, Disk Drill, PhotoRec, TestDisk, Exif Untrasher. When you are facing unexpected data loss on Mac, the programs demonstrated above can help you recover lost files effectively.
What's more, if your lost data is less than 2GB, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free is highly recommended as it provides the most user-friendly interface and most powerful data recovery function.
If you simply want to restore JEGP images, Exif Untrasher is worth to try.
People Also Ask
Some Mac users may still have doubts about Mac file recovery. Here we have collected the top frequently asked 4 questions and left brief answers below. Check out and find your own answers here.
1. Is Mac data recovery free?
Free File Recovery For Mac
It depends. If you lost deleted files to Trash, you can restore them from the Trash for free.
When you lost files on a local Mac hard drive or an external storage device, if you apply free Mac data recovery software like EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free for help, it's free.
If you take your computer to a local data recovery center, it will charge you a big bunch of money.
2. What is the best free data recovery software?
- For Windows users, you may refer to Top 10 Free SD Card Data Recovery Software.
The Recommended software also works perfectly in Windows OS for data recovery and you can find out the most suitable for you to apply and restore lost files with ease.
- For Mac users, as we recommended on this page, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free, Disk Drill, PhotoRec, TestDisk, Exif Untrasher are all good to help.
3. Is there any free data recovery software?
Sure! Many data recovery software producers all have released their free data recovery software. Here we have collected some of them for you to pick up and apply to guard your own data.
10 Top Free Data Recovery Software for Windows Users:
- 1). EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free
- 2). Recuva
- 3). Stellar Data Recovery
- 4). Disk Drill
- 5). R-Studio
- 6). Acronis Revive
- 7). Remo Recover
- 8). Recover My Files
- 9). Puran Data Recovery
- 10). TestDisk
5 Top Free Data Recovery Software for Mac Users: (We have uncovered on this page)
- 1). EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free
- 2). Disk Drill
- 3). PhotoRec
- 4). TestDisk
- 5). Exif Untrasher
4. How can I recover deleted files without software Mac free?
There are two ways for you to recover deleted files on Mac for free without using data recovery software.
- One way is to undelete files from your Mac Trash bin.
When you mistakenly deleted files on Mac computer to the trash, and you didn't empty the trash, you can undelete them from your Trash for free.
- The other way that you can try is to recover deleted files from your Mac Time Machine backup.
If you have the habit of backing up files on Mac computer using the Time Machine, congratulations. When you delete some of them, luckily, you can bring them back immediately from your Time Machine backup. You can follow to Recover Files from Time Machine Backup for a detailed guide.
Recover Mac Data
Summary - After we tried several data recovery software for Mac and took all things into consideration, we will show you the best data recovery software for Mac to recover lost or deleted files, regardless of what storage device they were on. Below is the quick navigation.
Lost Precious Data? What You Can Do
It’s really a great pain for us to lose important files from Mac or other storage devices due to many situations, but no one can avoid. Now, you’ve lost precious data, how to get it back?
If you always backup data, you can recover it from Time Machine or other backup locations. Otherwise, you’ll need a piece of Mac data recovery software that aims at recovering deleted or lost data from your storage device.
But why can data recovery software recover them? In fact, the files deleted from your computer are not permanently removed. They still remain on the hard drive as long as they are not overwritten with new data. So you still have chance to get them back.
There are many data recovery tools in the market, what is the best data recovery software for Mac users? So here, we’ll show you things you need to know before performing data recovery, how to select best data recovery software, and an in-depth review of the best data recovery software for Mac.
Before Using Data Recovery Software…
- After you lost files, don’t add any new data to the hard drive where you want to recover files. Further writing to the hard drive may overwrite the files you are trying to recover.
- Do not install the data recovery software on the drive and also be sure to save the recovered files someplace other than the drive.
- There is no guarantee that you can recover all files. There are many things like encryption, secure erase, file corruption, etc., can prevent data recovery software from successfully recovering the files. So it is possible that the deleted or lost files cannot be recovered.
- Results may vary. When attempting an advanced recovery, you will usually get files back with different names, formats.
- Beware of free data recovery software. Developing and distributing the data recovery software for free is in fact an easiest way to spread viruses, worms and Trojans. Usually these programs are used to access codes to bank accounts, email and other online services accounts, obtrusively advertise products and to illegally access your system's resources. Not every free service or software is bad. But it is always good to check the things twice in order to protect your data and sensitive information.
How to Choose Best Data Recovery Software for Mac
As a piece of best data recovery software for Mac, it should have capabilities as below:
- Security. Best data recovery software shouldn’t have adware or malware attached to it. And it should be downloaded from https protocol website.
- Easy of Use. It should be very user-friendly and can be handy for novices.
- Scan & Recovery Speed. It’s hard to find any correlation between speed and the percentage of successfully recovered files but in fact a high scanning speed simply means that you’ll recover your lost data faster.
- Recover All Types of Data. It should support the recovery of file types such as Photos, Videos, Documents, Audio, Emails, Archives and many more.
- Support Storage Devices. As data loss can always happen to external devices, so best data recovery software must be able to recover data from internal as well as external drives like pen drive, SSD, USB drive, SD card, etc.
- Support File Systems. No doubt that Mac data recovery should be compatible with file systems such as HFS and HFS+. And a better one can also support other file systems like NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, ext4 and more.
- Help & Support. The best data recovery software should come with exceptional support like FAQs, manuals, and tutorials to make the recovery process as smooth as possible.
- Preview before Recovery. Good data recovery software should offer you the option to preview your files before initiating the recovery process. Thus you can directly know what can be recovered and which one you need to recover.
The Best Data Recovery Software for Mac
Based on the above 8 factors for selecting best Mac data recovery software, Cisdem Data Recovery would be your top pick. We have tried at least 8 pieces of data recovery software for Mac and compared them with each other to see which offers the best performance, specification and value for money.
And the result showed that Cisdem Data Recovery is the best data recovery tool for Mac users. This software allows you to scan and find the lost data on your drive, identify the types of files and help you recover them.
Is Cisdem Data Recovery safe and easy to use?
Yes. It is 100% clean without any virus or malware, provided that you download it from the official website. You can click below download button to download it safely or click the safe link to try it for free: https://download.cisdem.com/cisdem-datarecovery.dmg. And it only performs read-only procedures on your device, so it is secure as well and won’t do any damage to the device.
And it is very user-friendly. You can recover data in three steps. Firstly, choose a scan mode. Secondly, select the drive where you want to recover and tap “Scan”. Thirdly, preview each file and recover the files you need. It’s pretty easy to use.
| Specifications of Cisdem Data Recovery | |
|---|---|
| Supported Data Loss Situations | Recover data under many data loss situations like improper operation, power off, factory reset, accidental deletion, formation, virus attack, etc. |
| Supported File Types | Photos, videos, music, documents, archives, packages, and many other files. Also supports multiples formats of each type of file. |
| Supported Storage Devices | Internal Mac hard drives, external hard drives, SSD, digital cameras, iPods, USB flash drives, MP3 players, memory cards, pen drive and more. |
| Supported File Systems | HFS, HFS+, FAT16, FAT32, exFAT, ext2, ext3, ext4 and NTFS. |
Other powerful features of Cisdem Data Recovery
- 5 Recovery modes: Basic Data Recovery, Trash Recovery, Formatted Drive Recovery, External Drive Recovery and Advanced Data Recovery. Users can choose any mode according to different situations leading to lost files.
- Estimate Scanning Time. This app shows you how long the whole scanning process will take. During the scanning, you can do other things or have some tea.
- Preview before recovery. You can preview each file before you recover it.
- Fast scanning and recovery.
- Free for you to scan data. This app is totally free to find the files you want. No files recovered, no cost.
Cisdem Data Recovery for Mac Reviews
What we like about Cisdem Data Recovery is the interface. It is adequate for all levels of computer users and the recovery process is quite straightforward. You can make necessary changes on the specific data you prefer to recover in advanced settings. This can be very handy if you only need a few GBs of data than 100GB+!
We also exceptionally like the file preview option, so you can check if the files you have found are the ones you want to restore. Cisdem Data Recovery works with all recent versions of macOS including Sierra and High Sierra. It is definitely a good Mac data recovery tool worth considering if you’re dealing with recovering precious data.
Price: $49.99 for lifetime license
Platform: macOS 10.12 and later
Pros: Intuitive interface, free upgrade, easy to use, powerful and flexible, safe to use, read-only; preview before recovery; offer a trial version for scanning and data checking. Have exceptional performance on Mac. The cheapest data recovery software in the market.
Cons: It has no version for Windows users and some files couldn’t be previewed.
Review from Softpedia: Taking all things into consideration, Cisdem Data Recovery is an efficient and user-friendly application for the Mac that can help you deal with the awful situations when you have lost precious files, regardless of what storage device they were on.
Review from Business: Cisdem DataRecovery Mac hard drive recovery software is inexpensive and has fast scanning and recovery speeds. It does a great job recovering image files.
Other Mac Data Recovery Software You Can Consider
Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery
Price: $99
Platform: macOS 10.6 or later
Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery empowers you to recover deleted photos, documents, videos, audio, archives, messages and emails from a range of storage devices such as Internal/External Hard Drives, Memory Cards, and Flash Drives. This Mac data recovery software provides different scanning modes to scan your storage devices and offers advanced filter recovery options for you to choose before recovering your files. Additionally, it is equipped with 'Create image' features that help to recover data from hard drive that has bad blocks.
Advantages:
- Be capable of recovering deleted files.
- Support recovery of files from encrypted disk drives.
- Supply different data recovery options.
Disadvantages:
- The scanning and recovery speeds are much slower than Cisdem Data Recovery.
- The price is much more expensive compared to other brand data recovery tool with the same features.
- Can’t help you repair hard drives and its user interface looks dull.
Disk Drill
Price: $89 for one user, $399 for enterprise
Platforms: macOS 10.8.5+
Disk Drill is a piece of feature-rich data recovery software for Mac that allows you to recover deleted files from internal and external hard drives, USB flash drives and other storage devices including iOS and Android devices. It also can create boot drive, backup and protect data or even clean up your Mac hard drive. It is claimed to be free data recovery software, but you can only recover up to 500M of lost data for free.
Advantages:
- Fast scanning speed.
- Excel at recovering photos and documents.
- Offer Windows version as well.
Disadvantages:
- No ability to scan for specific file types.
- Lacks advanced settings.
- Not good at recovering videos.
Mac Data Recovery Guru
Price: $49 for a limited time
Platform: macOS 10.6 or later
Mac Data Recovery Guru promises the most advanced file recovery yet, and it is also designed to recover deleted files from hard disk drives, USB flash drives and optical media. What really makes Data Recovery Guru shine is how incredibly easy it is to use. Simply select the storage device you want to recover files on, and click the “Start Scan” button. You can even preview the results in retrieves while the program continues to run.
Advantages:
- Very simple to use.
- An effective solution for recovering lost files.
Disadvantages:
- Can’t retrieve the original names of the files it recovers.
- The preview panel is a bit small for viewing text files.
- Interface could be more developed and the price is a little high.
MiniTool Mac Data Recovery
Price: $79 for personal license
Platform: macOS 10.5 or later
MiniTool Mac Data Recovery can help you recover pictures, music, videos, emails, documents, and other types of file from Mac computer or other external storage devices. It offers four recovery functional modules. Modules like Damaged Partition Recovery and Lost Partition Recovery do a great job in scanning not just a drive’s current partition elements, but also digging up past partition elements that may have been lost or formatted.
Advantages:
- Offer multiple licenses and free updates.
- Do a good job restoring lost photos and documents.
- Clean and easy to use, recommended for small business.
Disadvantages:
- Not outstanding in restoring videos and music.
- Scan and recovery speed for SSDs is slow.
DiskWarrior
Price: $119.95
Platforms: macOS 10.5.8 or later
Developed by Alsoft, DiskWarrior not only recovers deleted files on Mac, but it also rebuilds directories of corrupted disks. Rebuilding a directory can make files and partitions reappear and even recoup disk space. It detects drives for SMART errors and offers preventive maintenance to keep your Mac hard drives healthy.
Advantages:
- Useful hardware and maintenance tool.
- Rebuild directories and monitor errors of drives.
- User friendly.
Disadvantages:
- The OS X Recovery partition complicates booting into the utility.
- The price is much higher compared to other data recovery software.
Wondershare Data Recovery
Price: $75.95/month, $79.95/year, and $89.95/lifetime
Platforms: macOS 10.6 or later
Like above Mac data recovery software, Wondershare Data Recovery also can recover almost all formats of data including photos, videos, documents, etc. It claims to recover over 550 file formats from almost any internal Mac hard drives and other mountable removable devices. The trial version of this data recovery software has a 100MB file size limit. If you want to recover more data, you need to buy the full version and the price is not cheap.
Advantages:
- User friendly.
- Offer Windows version as well.
- Can recover files from Android phones.
Disadvantages:
- It is not budget-friendly.
- The scan speed is low.
- Not all files can be found and previewed.
Where Software Fails, These Tips May Help
If you can't recover data from your Mac or other drives with a data recovery tool, then you can consider getting it back by an in-lab service. In-lab data recovery services are always at high price, but it worth a try when data recovery software fails. There are many professional data recovery service providers like Secure, Seagate, Kroll Ontrack, Data Rescue, etc.
To recover your data by in-lab data recovery service, first you’d better contact with the provider to know how much it will cost. And you need to delivery your device to the provider if you can accept the price. At last, wait for the provider to recover your data and send back the device.
Last but not least, backup your important files regularly. There are many ways to backup your files. You can backup them to Time Machine drive or external drive. Cloud storage services like Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive can also be used to backup important data online. Thus, you can always get lost files back without the help of data recovery software or services.