Good day friends. I decided to write a help article for those who have somehow lost their data on a flash drive or disk. This article will only talk about operating system Mac. Information on recovering files from a flash drive and on an operating disk Windows system you can find it on the Internet. There is a lot of such information, but very little on Mac OS.

There are quite a lot of programs on Windows that recover data from flash drives and disks, and many of them are free. The same cannot be said about Mac OS. For the latter, there are only a few programs that are guaranteed (well, maybe 90%) to be able to recover your data, unless, of course, your laptop burned out and a hammer didn’t fall on the flash drive.

Programs for data recovery from flash drives and disks

1. Disk Drill

The most famous program in the business for Mac OS and perhaps the most effective. At least judging by the reviews of Mac users, the official website of this program and just people on the Internet. Disk Drill works with laptops MacBook Pro, Air, iPod, Mac Mini and iMac. This infidel program works with both HDD and SSD. As for flash drives, this is generally Disk Drill’s strong point. SD Card, XD Cards, regular Compact flash, MMC Card and many other external storage media are restored by this program. And what is most interesting: a very small percentage of non-recovery, when in many other programs the percentage is quite high (especially in programs for Windows). One gets the feeling that Disk Drill would recover data even from a lost flash drive (this would be very relevant :)))

2. R-Studio

A good program for data recovery on hard drives and external HDDs and flash cards. The program works with almost all known file systems (FAT12/16/32, NTFS and others). Reviews about this program are not bad (I haven’t seen any bad ones). Not the best popular program, but perhaps simply not promoted (unlike disk drill)

3.Mac Data Recovery

A good and also FREE program for data recovery on external media and HDD/SSD drives - Stellar Phoenix Macintosh Data Recovery. Works with any media and any data formats. Restoring files from a flash drive with Macintosh Data Recovery is a pleasure, since, in my opinion, it has the most ideal interface.

4. Data Rescue

Disk recovery is always an unpleasant story, scary, because you don’t know whether you can restore everything or not. Data Rescue - great program to recover data from a damaged system. If your Mac OS system has crashed, then the most important thing in this situation is to save important files from the disk, and not the system itself. The system can be reinstalled.

Well, actually, I can’t offer any more candidates for data recovery on Mac OS and flash drives, since I don’t know other programs. In the comments you can write programs that you have used and that really helped. All the best.

The most terrible situation for any computer user is the loss of data due to their deletion or damage. hard drive, formatting the storage medium, etc. Depending on the situation, you can use in various ways data recovery in Mac OS.

Search in Cart

Photo: recycle bin icon on desktop

If the information was recently deleted and the trash was not emptied, then it is easy to return it. On Mac OS, the Trash is located at the very end of the Dock. Physically, each user has their own recycle bin, like an invisible folder. Until it is cleared (Empty Trash), any file from it can be recovered.

To return data you must:

1. open the Tpash window by clicking on the icon;
2. find the required one among the icons of deleted files;
3. drag the document outside the trash can.

If deleting a document was the last action when working in Mac OS, then you can return it with the keyboard shortcut and Z. This shortcut keys to cancel last action. The file will be returned even if the trash can is closed.

Time Machine function

Mac OS developers created universal remedy, capable of returning any file that existed in the operating system. Time Machine creates hourly backup copies of all changing data, including the operating system.

The peculiarity of the program is that the first time it is launched, it creates a complete copy of the hard drive, which takes a lot of time. After that, every hour it copies only those files that have changed. Thus, you can find the date of deletion or modification of a file in the program timeline, select it and click the button to return it. No reservations are made until the program is activated.

The graphical interface is presented in the form of a scrolling catalog of backups, a timeline on the right and the main interface at the bottom of the screen. It’s easy to use and you can return absolutely everything. But you need a large hard drive or removable media. When the storage is completely full, data replacement begins, so some of the oldest changes may no longer be returned.

Photo: Data recovery in the program

Data recovery programs

A universal tool for returning deleted or damaged data is special programs.

Programs for data recovery from hard drive Mac drive OS have several features:

1. If a graphical interface is implemented for ease of use, then the application is paid. The cost can vary from a few dollars to several hundred;
2. the quality of information recovery varies depending on how different algorithms and methods;
3. It is possible to successfully return information in 90% of cases. Difficulties arise when working with images, but there are separate applications for them;
4. Using the demo version, you can evaluate the ease of use of the application and the quality of data recovery. Many people will need the functions of restoring data after emptying the recycle bin, as well as creating a backup copy;
5. To work with objects up to 5 MB, you can use free demo versions.

The range of programs is quite large. Among them there are several that are the most versatile and easy to use.

Video: Working with disks in Mac OS

PhotoRec

This utility is designed to recover image files, videos, documents, archives, etc. from memory cards. It works with various file systems and operating systems. The peculiarity of PhotoRec is that it does not have a graphical interface. This free application does an excellent job of restoring data after formatting a memory card, even retrieving what was long deleted.

Photo: General view of the PhotoRec software window

Data Rescue

Another easy-to-use data recovery program is Data Rescue. The application does not try to restore the file system, but simply retrieves from the hard drive, external USB and Flash drives, and memory cards those objects that can be read. Great for recovering recently deleted files and any other information from a disk.

Photo: Stage of choosing a working method (mode)

To work with the program, you need to launch it, select the media type ( hard drive), decide on the search mode (Fast, Deep, For deleted files or Cloning to create a copy of data from disk on working media). Next, you need to wait a while: for deep scanning, 1 minute per 1 GB.

The program will display a directory of recovered data in the form of a tree. It is easy to find the necessary pictures and documents. After checking the box, saving, or rather restoring them, starts. Some file types allow you to preview them before saving them.

FileSalvage

The FileSalvage program can be used to recover deleted files damaged for various reasons, as well as after formatting the system or disk. It has the ability to work with different media and recovers files of many formats. Works especially well with video and image recovery.

Recovering deleted files on Mac with Disk Drill

A Disk Drill utility is available specifically for the Mac OS platform, which can recover data after it has been deleted. Works with all major file types, with its own media, removable data storage devices (Flash, memory cards.).

Available in 4 variations, the most common of which are basic and professional.

The optional Recovery Vault feature allows the program to create backup copies, simplifying the recovery process. In addition to its own bytes, the information on the disk has a header - meta-data. They store information about the name and size of the file, its location on the media, etc.

By deleting it is the meta part that is erased. Recovery Vault saves exactly the meta part.

To restore, you need to launch the application window and select the scan type. If a little time has passed since removal, you can use quick search, in other cases – deep. Scanning can be interrupted at any time, with or without saving its results. From the list of found files, you need to select the necessary ones and start their recovery.

Getting a file back on Mac OS is not difficult. It is advisable to install in advance special utility or a backup program. Otherwise, you will have to spend a lot of time purchasing specialized tools and performing a full disk scan.

It is difficult to recover files after mechanical damage and if they were deleted a long time ago. The sooner the recovery operation begins, the greater the likelihood of success.

If you discover a missing document, you must immediately stop any work on the computer. This will reduce the chance of data being written over a lost document.

What happens when you empty the Trash?
If we empty the trash, this does not mean that the files will disappear forever. They simply lose connection with the file system.The space occupied by deleted files is marked as "available for reuse", so that the deleted data remains physically intact on the disk until it is replaced by other files.Files will only be deleted when they are replaced by new files.In order to prevent deletion, we must stop using Mac immediately if we want to recover deleted data from garbage.

How to restore deleted files from the cart to Mac

To recover deleted files, we recommend the program Wondershare . It is easy to use for users Mac, and is compatible with Mac OS X Mavericks. With a user-friendly interface, you can restore your recycle bins Mac using just a few clicks.If the space is not overwritten, the deleted data can be recovered 100%.

Why Wondershare

Wonder Share allows you to perform the following actions:

• Recover 550 different formats that are lost in various situations


• Recovering data lost as a result of formatting and deletion and in the absence of access


• Recovery various types files such as images, recordings, documents, songs, videos and more


• This allows you to save data from your Mac desktop B ook, iPod, Mac, USB drives, digital cameras, mobile phones and other media


• Read and recover data from protected storage


• You can download and install any program and not be afraid of losing your data, so you can replace the lost data and install the program on another partition.

Steps to restore the recycle bin to Mac

Step 1 Selectmode"Lost File Recovery"

This option allows you to recover information from a partition or removable media, regardless of how they were deleted - using " Ctrl + Delete » or emptying the Trash.

Advantages of this option: It only takes a few minutes. If you can't retrieve the deleted file in this mode, you can try "Draft Recovery" later versions, which can recover tons of files, including long-lost ones.

Step 2Scan garbage for Mac

Select the device or media from which you deleted files.Then click " Scan " to search for deleted files.

Step 3Browse and recover files from Macgarbage

When the scan is complete, all the information you deleted is listed in a table with the dates and location of deletion (desktop or library).Undoubtedly, the data deleted from the Recycle Bin is located in the "Trash".Or you can search for the file name in the search bar at the top to download it quickly.

Before recovery, you may want to review the file to make sure it is required file and check its size.Common formats for images, documents and archives can be viewed directly.

When checking file recovery, click on "Recover".What you need to keep in mind: do not save recovered files in the same place where you lost them, otherwise you may overwrite them.

Adviсe: Before "emptying the Trash", check your Trash carefully.

Operating system Mac OS, like OS Windows family, is equipped with many protective functions, among which a special place is occupied by the recovery of deleted data. This procedure allows you to regain access to folders and files stored on the hard drive of a Macintosh PC if they were erased as a result of a system failure or unintentional actions of the user.

Methods for recovering information on Mac OS

To start the procedure for recovering data erased from a hard drive, you can use: standard tools, built into the Mac system OS and specialized software. The first group includes:

• basket (Trash);
• Time Machine utility.

Resuscitation of information through the basket

As in Windows, in Mac OS files and folders deleted from the hard drive are first moved to a special area - the Recycle Bin, which is located on the system partition. Therefore, if the Trash was not cleared after erasing the data, you can restore the information directly from the Recycle Bin. To do this you need:

After emptying the Recycle Bin, all files from it will be erased, that is, the above-described method of resuscitation will not bring a positive result. In this case, you should use other tools to recover data deleted from the disk on Mac OS.

Using the Time Machine utility

Time Machine is a program built into Mac OS designed to backup data stored on hard drive personal computer. With its help, every hour in automatic mode system restore points are created, which can later be used to return accidentally deleted files. When you first launch the application, a backup of your entire hard drive is created. Subsequent backup affects only the information that has been changed.

To start the data backup procedure you must:

After a successful data backup, accidentally deleted files can be recovered as follows:

Specialized software for resuscitating erased data on Mac OS

When you delete files on Mac OS, they do not disappear without a trace. The system simply sees the space that was previously occupied by data as free. That is, new information can be written to it. And as long as new data does not overwrite the old ones, they can be restored using specialized software.

The most effective resuscitation programs developed specifically for Mac OS are:

• Disk Drill;
• FileSalvage;
• PhotoRec;
• Data Rescue.

All software works according to a similar scheme. Therefore, having mastered one utility, you can easily figure out the rest. As an example, let's look at the principle of recovering data deleted from a disk on Mac OS with using Disk Drill. This program works perfectly with all file systems and allows you to regain access not only to lost files, but also to entire partitions.

The sequence of actions will be as follows:

The recovery process can be monitored in the corresponding window.

Disk Drill – relatively new program for data recovery, developed for two platforms - Windows and Mac OS X. Like any other recovery program of this class, it affects a wide range of devices from which the user can perform recovery: computer and laptop, Windows and Mac, phone and tablet, HDD (SSD) disk or flash drive, etc.

Latest on at the moment recovery utility version, Disk Drill 3.0, compatible with all operating systems starting from Mac OS X 10.8.5+. By the way, the recently released Sierra is fully supported. As for the Disk Drill for windows edition, all functions are identical to those of Makov. The latest release is called Disk Drill 2.0 for Windows, available for Windows XP and higher (Vista / 7 / 8 / 10).

Key Features of Disk Drill

We will consider key features programs that are equally relevant for all three versions of Disk Drill Pro / Basic, Disk Drill for Windows and Mac OS X.

Recover all file formats and systems

If the developers are not lying, then their Disk Drill program is capable of recovering files of more than 300 formats from the ashes. Including:

• photos in JPG, PNG or TIFF, pictures AI, PSD and INDD
• video files - AVI, DV and MP4
• music files (AIF, MP3 and WAV audio)
• RAW images– CR2, NEF or DNG
• documents in DOCX, PPTX and XLSX format (thus, the Disk Drill functionality allows you to recover damaged Word and Excel files).

As for file systems, Disk Drill can read and scan file systems of the following formats for remote data: HFS and HFS+, FAT/FAT32/exFAT, NTFS or EXT3/EXT4. Essentially, this suggests that you can attach any data recovery device to your PC or MacBook. In addition, if you use the Deep Scan option, volumes with a missing or damaged file system may also be able to detect something.

Available scan modes and recovery types

Quick SSD/HDD Scan

Mode quick scan disk drive in disk drill allows you to return files to your Mac along with their metadata, names and locations. If you recently deleted files, then this is probably one of the optimal options recovery before you formatted the HDD or overwrote a lot of files, which reduced the chances of correct file reconstruction.

SSD/HDD deep scan

Despite the fact that a deep HDD scan will take more time, this mode, built into the disk drill application, allows you to “dig out” what was otherwise impossible. The point is that some files may be damaged, and this requires a careful search for them in the file table. Say, if the system does not read the memory card at all, in Disk Drill you can understand whether it is possible to return the file table or not.

Return of protected data

For Mac computers this is probably one of the best options, if you installed the Disk Drill program before deleting important files, and the Vault and/or Guaranteed Recovery options (they are responsible for saving data on the disk) were already activated within the program.

Universal search and recovery of hard drive partitions

This function allows you to recover mac partitions formatted in HFS+ or NTFS. Support file system fat32 is also available. In all cases, Disk Drill works at a low level with disks as binary elements, quickly scans the disk and looks for signatures, known partition headers. This function is extremely necessary for recovering partitions on a hard drive or SDD Macbook Air/Pro.

HFS+ recovery

The Disk Drill application comes with 3 SSD recovery modules that were created specifically for HFS+ partitions:

• reconstruction of HFS+ directories
• search for deleted HFS+ partitions
• HFS+ extraction

Everything works very quickly, efficiently and brings Mac OS X back to normal.

Supports all storage devices and devices

You can connect a specific device and restore it in a few minutes. In addition to desktop solutions, Disk Drill successfully copes with iOS (available iphone function recovery) and, of course, Android phones, tablets. By the way, we have already written about the wondershare dr fone program.

The free version of Disk Drill can scan virtual and hard drives - including hard drives Macintosh, external HDDs and SSD, digital cameras, iPhones, iPads, iPods, Android phones, USB flash drives, Kindles and memory cards.

Disk Drill is great for beginners

Most likely, you will not have any questions as you use the disk drill application. Just click on the restore button - the program will do all the operations for you.

In fact, there is no need to spend hours exploring the functionality of the program; it has a built-in step-by-step wizard that will guide you through the necessary steps in a simple manner.

Additional programs for optimization as part of Disk Drill

The program package includes the so-called. additional package free tools for disk (Extra Free Disk Tools Disk Drill), designed more for home users, but not for professional experts. You can optimize Mac OS X and reduce its size, find duplicate files on your hard drive, perform backup copy, check the status of your SSDs and hard drives and so on.

What tools does the Disk Drill program offer as a significant bonus? This is a few free programs for optimization, useful for comprehensive maintenance of order on a computer or laptop:

1. Disk Health – checks SMART indicators, as well as disk monitoring. All this together will prevent disk failure.
2. Optimization program for Mac Cleanup and Duplicate Finder – hard analysis disk on Mac OS and search on it junk files, the removal of which will only benefit and free up space on SSD drive
3. Recovery Drive - creation bootable flash drive for subsequent recovery of Mac OS X using Disk Drill tools
4. Data Backup – creating a mirror (byte for byte) copy of a disk or partition on an SSD for data reconstruction

Resume. Thus, Disk Drill is another program for recovering files on SSD and HDD (see analogues), positioning itself as a universal solution for both Mac OS X and Windows. As already noted, there is a Pro version that works without restrictions, while the Basic edition allows you to recover up to 2 GB of files.