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11 June 2024  Amanda J. Brook  Senior Product Manager
 

Summary
How to recover files from mac hard drive? Master effective Mac hard drive recovery techniques to restore data after accidental deletion or disk failure.



Table of contents

table iconI. Reasons for Mac hard drive data loss
table iconII. How to recover hard disk data on Mac computer?
table iconIII. How to repair damaged hard drive on Mac computer?
table iconIV. Extra tips: Regularly back up Mac hard drive data to prevent data loss
recover files from mac hard drive

I. Reasons for Mac hard drive data loss

On Mac computers, the following situations may cause data loss:
● Accidental deletion.
● Accidentally formatted the hard disk.
● The device was not safely removed.
● Misoperation results in the replacement of the file with the same name as the newly created/saved file.
● The hard disk is damaged.
If you have lost data on your hard drive due to one of the above reasons, you can check the following methods to learn how to recover data on MacOS.

II. How to recover hard disk data on Mac computer?

When a file is accidentally deleted from the hard disk, its storage space is marked as empty, allowing new data to be written. However, the deleted data can still be recovered if immediate action is taken. The drive should be stopped immediately to prevent new data from overwriting the deleted file. Use professional data recovery software to scan and restore the data. One such software is Renee Undeleter, which supports both Mac and Windows systems.

1. What is Renee Undeleter?

Renee Undeleter is designed to restore various data files. Whether you accidentally delete files, empty the Recycle Bin, or format a disk/storage, this tool can retrieve lost data. It includes four functional modules: Fast Partition Scan, Whole Partition Scan, Whole Disk Scan, and Image Creation, addressing all data loss issues comprehensively.
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Supported devices SD card, SDHC, SDXC, USB flash drive, hard disk and computer.

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2. How to use Renee Undeleter to recover lost/deleted hard disk data?

Step 1: Download, install, and run Renee Undeleter on a Mac computer, and select the (Whole Partition Scan) option on the main interface.
Note: To prevent data from being overwritten, please refrain from installing Renee Undeleter on the disk containing the lost data. If the hard disk you need to recover data from is an internal hard disk and is the only hard disk in the Mac computer, download the software to an external USB disk or mobile hard disk. Conversely, if the hard disk you need to recover data from is an external hard disk, you can install the software on the internal hard drive of the Mac computer.
select whole partition scan in renee undeleter on mac
Data Recovery Function:

  • Fast Partition Scan – Quickly retrieve files lost due to accidental deletion or emptying the recycle bin.
  • Whole Partition Scan – Recover files from inaccessible or formatted partitions.
  • Whole Disk Scan – Analyze partition information and fully scan the entire disk.
  • Image Creation – Create an image of a partition to back up its current state.
Step 2: Select the hard drive partition and click (Next).
click to select a target drive in whole partition scan in renee undeleter on mac
Step 3: Wait for the scan, which will vary based on the partition size. During scanning, you can double-click to preview files. If you find the file to recover, check it and click Recover to terminate the scan and start recovery. Alternatively, wait for the scan to finish, select files from the results, and click Recover. Save recovered files in a different partition to avoid overwriting data.
click to recover files in whole partition in renee undeleter on mac
If the data remains unrecoverable, it may have been overwritten or the hard disk may be damaged. Please refer to the following hard disk repair methods.
TipsIf the external hard drive isn’t displaying or functioning on your Mac, check the reasons and solutions for Mac not recognizing the external hard drive.

III. How to repair damaged hard drive on Mac computer?

1. Repair the external hard drive

Mac users can repair an external hard drive using Disk Utility. Steps:
Step 1: Find and click (Disk Utility) in the launchpad; you can also click (Finder) > (Applications) > (Utilities) and open (Disk Utility).
open disk utility in macos
Step 2: Select your hard disk on the left, and then select the (First Aid) function.
find first aid in disk utility
Step 3: Click First Aid. A confirmation window will appear, explaining that “First Aid” will check and repair the volume for errors. Click Run to start the process.
run first aid in mac disk utility

2. Repair the internal hard disk installed with the Mac system

To repair the internal hard disk partition with macOS, enter the macOS utility menu and follow these steps:
Step 1: Restart your Mac computer, then press the (Command + R) key while restarting.
Step 2: Choose (Disk Utility) from the macOS Utilities menu.
disk tool on mac
Step 3: After loading Disk Utility, select the disk to be repaired, usually named Macintosh HD. Then choose Repair Disk Permissions or Repair Disk. If Repair Disk is unavailable, click Verify Disk.
● Repair Disk Permissions: Restores file or folder permissions to their expected state. Permissions determine if an item can be read, written, or executed.
● Repair Disk function: Performs minor repairs on the file system of a volume/partition and most repairs on a drive’s directory structure.
repair disk in mac

IV. Extra tips: Regularly back up Mac hard drive data to prevent data loss

Using Mac’s built-in backup function Time Machine can automatically back up users’ personal data, including apps, music, photos, emails, and documents, without worrying about data loss from hard disk failure, system errors, or operating errors. Once you connect an external storage device and select it as your backup disk, Time Machine will automatically make hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month, and weekly backups for all previous months. If the backup disk becomes full, the oldest backups are deleted.
Specific steps are as follows:
Step 1: Connect an external high-capacity hard drive to the Mac computer.
Step 2: Select (Time Machine) in (System Preferences), click (Select Backup Disk).
select backup disk
Step 3: Select your backup disk from the list. To restrict access to users with the backup password, tick Encrypt backup in the lower left corner. Then click Use Disk in the lower right corner. If the disk is not formatted as required by Time Machine, you will be prompted to erase it first. Click Erase to continue, erasing all information on the disk.
Back up MacBook