This page uncovers 5 best completely free data recovery software for macOS Catalina, macOS Mojave, older versions and morden Mac OS X, etc. All those Mac data recovery software share one commonality, they are free and useful for casual Mac users.
This article covers the top 10 completely free data recovery software Mac, which vary in features, functions, and performance. However, they all have one thing in common: they are free.
Compare the best free Mac data recovery software carefully, and select the best fit for your needs.
To find out the best free Mac data recovery apps, we tested 20 software and picked out the best 10. Here is a glance at the testing statistics.
| Criteria | Details |
| 🔢 Number of tested tools | 10 |
| ⏳ How long have we tested | Four weeks |
| 💻 OS version | macOS 12.0, macOS 13.0, Mac OS X 10.11 |
| 📊 Minimum cost | Free |
| 💰 Average cost | $70 |
| 💾 The storage device | Seagate SSD (128GB) |
| 📙 Number of files | 200+ files |
When you get data loss on your Mac due to accidental deletion, partition/hard drive formatting, system crash, macOS upgrade, or file system or hard drive corruption, stay calm and pick up one of the recommended data recovery software below for help.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free is a free top and handy Mac data recovery software that can recover deleted files on Mac, 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 of EaseUS free file recovery for Mac:
😀1. User-friendly Software with Strong Compatibility
EaseUS Mac data recovery software is fully compatible with the latest macOS versions, including 14.0 (Sonoma), 13.0(Ventura), 12.0(Monterey), 11.0 (Big Sur), 10.15(Catalina), 10.14 (Mojave), and all the former Mac OS X 10.11 ~ 10.9 versions. It enables all Mac users to recover any lost data in only 3 steps: scan > preview > recover.
🚩 2. Powerful Data Recovery Capabilities
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac can restore deleted or lost files in various severe scenarios. It supports deleted recovery, lost partition recovery, formatted Mac hard drive recovery, virus attack recovery, and OS crash recovery. It restores files from all kinds of storage devices like internal or external hard drives, SSDs, USB flash drives, external hard drives, memory cards, and digital cameras.
🧰3. Encrypted Drive Recovery
Another great update in EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is that it can recover data from encrypted hard drives by offering guidance to assist Mac users in decrypting and unlocking their drives with passwords.
🧿4. Comprehensive SD Card Recovery Solutions
Based on the most advanced algorithm technology, the EaseUS Mac file recovery tool has a robust SD card data recovery function, which can scan and recover the largest number of files from different cameras like Sony, Canon, Nikon, and Panasonic.
🔰5. Extra Video Repair
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac also adds an additional video repair feature to help you repair any broken, unplayable, soundless videos. You can fix corrupted videos in MP4, MOV, AVI, 3GP, etc.
Advantages:
Improvements:
| 🏆Editor's review: EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac offers all-in-one and user-friendly solutions for recovering lost or deleted data on macOS and Mac OS X. It is an excellent choice for recovering data from APFS, HFS+, NTFS, FAT, and exFAT hard drives. With its wizard-style operation guides, both individuals and businesses can use it to restore lost files without technical expertise. |
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✒️3-Step Tutorial to Recover Files with EaseUS Mac Data Recovery Tool
To help more Mac users bring their lost files as soon as possible, we show you a 3-step tutorial for free Mac data recovery. If you are eager to return your lost files to Mac or external storage devices, apply the brief and innovative EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free for help.
Step 1. Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac and choose the hard drive, SSD, SD card, USB flash drive, or TF card where you lost data. Click "Search for lost files" to start scanning.
Step 2. The software will automatically scan for lost data on MacBook/iMac. When the scan is complete, filter the wanted data through the "Type" and "Path" buttons.
Step 3. Double-click a file to preview it. Then, click the "Recover" button to restore the lost data to another place.
Stellar Data Recovery for Mac is a DIY tool that can recover data from all types of Mac-based internal or external storage drives. This Mac data recovery tool helps retrieve photos, videos, documents, and other files from all Mac HDDs, SSDs, Thumb Drives, memory cards, and more.
Highlighted features:
📌1. Recover Lost Data from Unbootable Systems
You can recover data without booting into macOS. Stellar Mac data recovery software helps you get Mac files back without entering your system.
🔷2. SMART Drive Monitor and Clone
This software also examines various complex drive attributes, like performance, drive health, and temperature. Exploring these features reduces the chances of data loss in the future.
Advantages:
Improvements:
| 🏆Editor's review: Stellar Data Recovery for Mac is an outstanding file recovery software that saves your data quickly! Its excellent scanning speed, extensive file support, and GUI interface made the data recovery process a breeze. You can selectively choose specific files to preview and recover efficiently. |
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 monitoring the file deletion activity and retaining metadata to undelete files quickly.
Highlighted features:
💗1. Undelete Protected Data (Not Available in Free Version)
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.
Advantages:
Improvements:
| 🏆Editor's review: Disk Drill is an exceptional Mac data recovery software with a user-friendly interface and outstanding recovery capabilities. It supports many file types, including photos, videos, documents, and archives. Except for data recovery, Disk Drill also provides other free tools, such as Disk Health, Mac Cleanup, Data Protection, and Data Backup. Highly recommended! |
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Lazesoft Mac Data Recovery is comprehensive software developed specifically for users to recover lost or deleted data on MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and other Mac devices. It allows users to restore files with a user-friendly interface, making it popular for users of all levels. This software supports the recovery of different file types, including documents, photos, videos, and more.
Highlighted features:
🟩1. Recover Data in Multiple Recovery Modes
Lazesoft Mac Data Recovery offers file recovery and drives recovery methods to undelete files from Mac OS 10.9 Mavericks, Mac OS 10.8 Mountain Lion, Mac OS X Lion 10.7, Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6, Mac OS 10.5 Leopard, and Mac OS Server 10.5 Leopard. Its quick and deep scan modes ensure a higher chance of successful data retrieval.
💽2. Restore Files from Various Devices Allocate Existing Files
Except for internal and external hard drives, SSDs, USB drives, and memory cards, this software can still retrieve data and files from your iPod Nano, Shuffle, or Classic by applying "Enable Disk Use" for your iPod in iTunes.
Advantages:
Improvements:
| 🏆Editor's review: Lazesoft Mac Data Recovery is free data recovery software for Mac to help users recover unlimited data. It's compatible with all the common file systems like HFS/HFS+, FAT, FAT32, NTFS, and EXFAT (new). It has strong disk recovery capabilities to restore lost data from formatted, deleted, or damaged partitions. However, it can't be used in the new macOS versions, including macOS Ventura and macOS Monterey. |
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 the most common files, like photos, audio, 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 superblocks like ext2/ext3/ext4 or volume boot records like FAT/NTFS if the file system is not corrupted. When the file system is corrupted, PhotoRec will check the device at a sector level, using the first ten found files to calculate the block or cluster size 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.
Advantages:
Improvements:
| 🏆Editor's review: PhotoRec is an incredible data recovery program offering free methods for all users. Despite its name, it doesn't just recover photos; it also supports document, video, and file recovery. Although it has a command-line interface, which may seem daunting, it won't be hard for you if you have some computer knowledge. Its deep scanning capability and cross-platform compatibility make it a versatile choice. |
TestDisk, like PhotoRec, is an open-source, freeware product allowing multiple file type recovery.
It mainly focuses on partition recovery. It enables users to find deleted or lost partitions by fixing the partition tables due to software crashes, virus attacks, mistaken formatting, etc.
Highlighted features:
💚1. Partition Recovery
When a partition is lost or disappears 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 failing to boot.
Advantages:
Improvements:
| 🏆Editor's review: TestDisk is a safe and reliable disk recovery tool for anyone needing data recovery. It can restore files from various storage devices, even if they are corrupted or formatted. Both TestDisk and PhotoRec have command-line interfaces, which may seem complicated, but their step-by-step instructions are clear and easy to follow. In addition, it is an open-source tool that is friendly to users who need completely free software. |
This free Mac data recovery program is one of numerous freeware options for recovering deleted and lost files on your Mac. You can use the tools to recover various file types that have been damaged by a corrupted hard drive, malware attack, system error, power outage, and so on.
Highlighted features:
🔒Bitlocker Recovery
What sets it apart from other Mac data recovery applications is the Bitlocker Recovery function. It can help you recover Mac data from a deleted or lost Bitlocker encrypted drive.
Advantages:
Improvements:
| 🏆Editor's review: Recuva is a completely safe recovery application in both its free and professional versions. PC Magazine rates Recuva 3.5 out of 5 and highlights the software's low cost and strong cost-effectiveness. Rather than colorful and sophisticated interfaces, Recuva's operation interface merely contains the information required to ensure that individuals with low technical understanding may use it effectively. |
Ontrack EasyRecovery is a user-friendly tool that allows you to precisely recover Mac files in various data loss scenarios, particularly for mistakenly lost files. The free Mac file recovery edition, which has a 1 GB restriction, allows you to recover lost data from Mac-based devices.
Highlighted features:
💽RAID Recovery
The rapid scan and deep scan options do a more thorough search of the storage device, including internal hard disks, portable media, and RAID hard drives.
Advantages:
Improvements:
| 🏆Editor's review: We're not particularly impressed with its speed (especially when compared to Ontrack's comprehensive recovery tools for Windows and Mac), and we get the idea that it hasn't been optimized in quite some time. |
Softtote Mac Data Recovery covers a variety of logical data loss circumstances with an above-average success rate. Though it is incompatible with the most recent macOS Ventura, it is a viable alternative for Mac users using Mac OS X 10.7 - 10.14.
Highlighted features:
🖲️Lost Partition Recovery
Softtote Data Recovery offers a straightforward user interface with three wizards: File Recovery to recover deleted Mac files and documents; Photo Recovery to recover any sort of photo; and Lost Partition Recovery, which recovers lost, overwritten, damaged, or formatted partitions.
Advantages:
Improvements:
| 🏆Editor's review: Softtote Data Recovery is significantly less expensive than other data recovery tools for Mac, and you may preview recoverable files before deciding. It's worth noting that Softtote Mac Data Recovery does not handle the more complex exFAT or APFS file systems. |
Puran File Recovery allows you to recover deleted or lost files. Almost anything detected as a drive can be scanned, regardless of the file system. Unlike other file recovery applications, Puran Data Recovery recovers data from a damaged disk, CD, DVD, or any other Mac-supported media to a specified destination.
Highlighted features:
💪Damaged Data Recovery
Puran File Recovery is a simple tool that helps you to recover damaged or deleted data from your system. Customers may assume the tool is dangerous because the official website has not transitioned to Encryption.
Advantages:
Improvements:
| 🏆Editor's review: Puran Data Recovery operates in a straightforward manner: when copying data from a file, it ignores any bad sectors identified and keeps copying until the file is complete. As a result, the data can be restored to the best possible state. |
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What's the best free data recovery tool for Mac users among the many competing products on the market? To find out the best data recovery software, we provide a comparison table of the top 10 free data recovery tools and programs and their features. Choose the best one that meets your needs and start recovering lost data on your MacBook Pro/iMac/Mac as soon as possible.
| Tools | Free | File systems | File types | Ease of use | Speed | Recovery rate | File Filter | File Repair |
| EaseUS | 2GB | APFS, FAT32, exFAT, NTFS, HFS+, HFS X | 1000 | Easy | Fast | High | ✔ | ✔ |
| Disk Drill | 500MB | FAT, exFAT, NTFS, HFS+, APFS | 400 | Moderate | Fast | High | ✔ | ✘ |
| Stellar | 1GB | FAT, exFAT, NTFS, ReFS | 200 | Moderate | Average | Moderate | ✘ | ✔ |
| Lazesoft | Free | HFS/HFS+, FAT32, NTFS, EXFAT (new) | 100 | Moderate | Average | Average | ✘ | ✘ |
| TestDisk | Free | FAT, NTFS,ext2 | 10 | Hard | Average | Average | ✘ | ✘ |
| PhotoRec | Free | FAT, exFAT, NTFS | 20 | Hard | Average | Average | ✘ | ✘ |
| Recuva | Free | FAT, NTFS,ext2 | 100 | Moderate | Slow | Average | ✘ | ✘ |
| Ontrack | 1GB | FAT, exFAT, NTFS, ReFS | 200 | Moderate | Average | Average | ✘ | ✘ |
| Softtote | Free | FAT, exFAT, NTFS, ReFS | 50 | Moderate | Average | Average | ✘ | ✘ |
| Puran | Free | FAT, exFAT, NTFS, ReFS | 50 | Moderate | Average | Average | ✘ | ✘ |
This page presents you with the top 10 completely free Mac data recovery software - EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free, Disk Drill, PhotoRec, TestDisk, and Stellar data recovery software. When facing unexpected data loss on a Mac, the above programs can help you recover lost files effectively.
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 powerful data recovery function.
Some Mac users may still have doubts about Mac file recovery. Here, we have collected the top four frequently asked questions and left brief answers below. Check out and find your answers here.
It depends. If you lost deleted files to Trash, you could restore them from Trash for free.
When you lose files on a local Mac hard drive or an external storage device, applying free Mac data recovery software like EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free for help is free.
Taking your computer to a local data recovery center will cost you much money.
The recommended software also works perfectly in Windows OS for data recovery, and you can easily find the most suitable software for applying and restoring lost files.
Sure! Many data recovery software producers 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:
10 Top Free Data Recovery Software for Mac Users: (We have uncovered on this page)
There are two ways for you to recover deleted files on Mac for free without using data recovery software.
When you mistakenly delete files on your Mac computer to the trash and don't empty the trash, you can undelete them from your Trash for free.
Congratulations if you habitually back up files on a Mac computer using the Time Machine. Luckily, when you delete some of them, you can bring them back immediately from your Time Machine backup. You can follow Recover Files from Time Machine Backup for a detailed guide.
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