1. Mac Hard Disk Recovery

MiniTool Data Recovery for Mac helps you recover files from your hard drive or an external drive. With just a few clicks, you can run a scan and find the files you're looking for.

Summary

If you lost or deleted important files, you can turn to hard drive recovery software for help. There is 15 best hard drive recovery software introduced here. Among them, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard outranks its equivalents. Download this data recovery software to recover all your lost data from your hard drive immediately or read on to get all the details and choose the one you prefer.

Causes of Hard Drive Data Loss

Data loss on hard drives, be it internal or external, occurs more frequently than you expect. Usually, it's caused by the following reasons:

• A file or folder was accidentally deleted.
• Some or all of the partitions have been formatted (e.g., using Fdisk).
• The system displays the message 'NTLDR is missing, Press any key to restart'.
• The partition table is corrupt or damaged.
• A file or folder on your hard drive became inaccessible due to virus attack or virus infection.

At this point, most people learn the importance of a backup. But people often lost data without any backup. That’s what makes the hard drive recovery software necessary for users.

What Should You Consider While Choosing Disk Recovery Software

Many software producers claim their hard drive recovery software to be the best in the field. But what makes a great data recovery tool? The higher the price is, the better the software will be? Or you just want the freeware regardless of its quality. Actually, while choosing hard disk data recovery software, you should consider the following factors.

First, It should meet your needs well

Here 'needs' indicates the situation in which you need to perform data recovery. An excellent software tool should be able to recover data from a hard drive in different data loss scenarios, like deletion, format, partition loss, partition/disk becoming RAW/inaccessible, virus infection, and more. Make sure the software you choose supports the data recovery from your specific data loss situation.

Second, it should be reliable

The hard drive recovery software should be virus-free, plugin-free and won't cause further damage to the lost/deleted/formatted data.

What's more, the Hard disk recovery software shouldn't crash during the data recovery process.

What equally important is that there should be both pre-sale and after-sale technical support available from the software producer that will serve you anytime you need it.

Third, it should be fast and have a high success rate

Depending on the hard drive capacity and data stored on the storage medium, it may take hours to scan the hard drive searching for the lost files. That’s why speed matters. Here is the result of the top 5 hard drive recovery software scanning the same partition (127GB free of 141GB) searching for deleted/lost files:

Besides, make sure the hard drive data recovery software is capable of recovering data successfully. For information about its success rate, you can refer to the comments from the real users and reviews from authoritative sites, like Trustpilot.

Last but not least, it should be user-friendly

A great disk recovery tool should make it simple for its users to use by providing a clear and intuitive interface. The data recovery process should be as easy as possible. In addition, the software must have some advanced features that help users quickly locate the lost files. Such features include filters, search bars, preview pane, and more.

Of course, there may be other qualities you concern yourself with. No matter what it is, check the list above and choose the best hard drive recovery software for yourself.

Here I list the top 15 disk recovery software for you. Choose the one best suited to your needs.

Top 1. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard - Easy and Robust Hard Drive Recovery Software

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is a professional data recovery utility that has helped millions of users retrieve their precious data. Whether you have deleted files from a disk, formatted the disk, lost partitions or the disk became RAW/inaccessible/unrecognized, you can recover the files with this hard disk recovery software. Other than hard drive recovery, it also supports deleted data recovery, formatted data recovery, Recycle Bin emptied data recovery, OS crash recovery, and RAW partition recovery from Windows computers and Windows-compatible storage devices like SSDs, USB flash drives, SD cards, digital cameras, video players..

Pros

• Supports the recovery of all file types from various devices
• Virus-free and plugin-free; Has fast scanning speed and high data recovery quality
• A simple interface and advanced features that contribute to a smooth recovery process, like filters, tags, search bar, and preview pane
• Easy 3-step recovery process; Quick scan and deep scan options
• Supports file system including FAT(FAT12,FAT16,FAT32), exFAT, NTFS, NTFS5, ext2/ext3, HFS+, ReFS

Cons

• When you specify the location, it results in scanning the whole disk where the folder located.

Steps to Restore Lost HDD Data with EaseUS

Now you can follow the guide to perform a fast hard drive recovery to get back your lost files in simple steps:

Step 1. Launch EaseUS hard drive recovery software.

Run EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard on your PC and select the drive on your hard disk where you lost or deleted files. Click 'Scan' and let this program scan all lost data and files on the selected hard drive.

Step 2. Check and preview all lost hard drive data.

Find lost hard drive data from 'Deleted Files', 'Lost Files' or use 'Filter' to quickly navigate the lost data. Check and double-click to preview these found files.

Step 3. Restore lost hard drive data to a safe location.

After the preview, select wanted files that you lost on the drive and click 'Recover' to save them. Browse to choose a safe location on your PC or other external storage devices to store these restored hard drive data.

Top 2. Stellar Data Recovery

Stellar Data Recovery software (https://www.stellarinfo.com/windows-data-recovery-professional.php) is an excellent data recovery tool that helps to recover data from various real-life data loss situations. With full support for hard drive recovery, Stellar Data Recovery enables you to recover data from lost, damaged or corrupted hard drives. In addition to basic data recovery features, Stellar Data Recovery has exclusive features like optical media recovery and SMART drive monitoring and cloning.

Pros

• Recovers lost files from all types of Windows devices
• Supports scanning a specific folder
• Has a clear interface and simple recovery guide
• 4-step recovery process
• 5-Quick scan and deep scan options

Cons

• The first step 'Select What To Recover' sometimes makes it confusing for users who want to recover data from a specific device

Top 3. Disk Drill

Cleverfiles Disk Drill (https://www.cleverfiles.com/disk-drill-windows.html) is also one of the well-known hard drive recovery software tools in the field. It supports to retrieve deleted, erased and lost data from hard drives. Other than the data recovery feature, Disk Drill also provides users with extra functions like data protection and backup drive.

Pro

• Has auxiliary features like data protection and backup drive
• Organizes files found by category
• Filters the results by size and data
• Supports multiple file systems

Cons

• The scanning takes a longer time compared with the previous equivalents and the files found are much less
• The setup process is a little bit tricky and you may skip the step of choosing the custom installation path

Top 4. Recuva

Piriform Recuva (https://www.ccleaner.com/recuva) is widely used among users who have lost files accidentally. What differentiates Recuva with other hard drive recovery software is that it's more interactive. Recuva guides you through the data recovery process by asking you several questions, which makes it more user friendly.

Pros

• Provides Recova Wizard that helps you get back files easily
• Allows to scan a specific location
• Supports the email recovery of Thunderbird, Outlook Express, Windows Mail, and Microsoft Outlook
• An integrated interface that simplifies the recovery process

Cons

• The interface makes it looks old
• You cannot preview the result during the scanning

Top 5. Recover My Files

Recover My Files (http://www.recovermyfiles.com) is a reliable data recovery software tool that is solely compatible with Windows. It enables users to recover files from hard drive, SD card, USB Zip drives, floppy disk, iPod, and more. It performs well in Recycle Bin recovery, formatted data recovery, OS reinstallation recovery, RAW partition recovery, and more. Documents, photos, videos, audio files, and emails are all recoverable.

Pros

• Supports conventional storage devices like hard drives, SD cards, USBs, and iDevice like iPod
• Allows to scan the backup (image file) of a partition
• Sorts out files by date
• Allows to adjust the layout of the items

Cons

• Old-fashioned software interface
• The data recovery process is relatively complex than its competitors

Top 6. Acronis Revive

Acronis Revive (https://www.acronis.com/en-us/personal/how-to-recover-files/) is also one of the best hard drive recovery solutions for users. Acronis data recovery software improves the data recovery experience of users by offering simple yet powerful features. It helps to rescue data that are emptied from Recycle Bin, lost due to virus attacks, destroyed by changes to an HDD.. Be it a hard drive, memory card, or USB, Acronis Revive is capable of getting your files back from the device.

Pros

• Precisely identifies all the partitions, be it existing or lost, on the hard drives
• Filters files by file name or extension
• Shows results selectively
• Has fast scanning speed

Cons

• The interface and introduction make it confusing and complex for users
• The operations are not in accordance with user habits

Top 7. R-Studio

R-Studio (https://www.r-studio.com/) is a powerful hard drive recovery tool that supports not only internal/external hard drives but also network disks, which makes it outrank most of its equivalents. R-Studio claims to use unique and advanced data recovery technologies that perform well in all kinds of data loss scenarios. Whether the hard drive is formatted, damaged, or deleted, R-Studio will rescue the files from it.

Pros

• Enables the data recovery from various data loss situations
• Supports multiple file systems
• Exclusively supports the data recovery from network drives
• Allows to create image files and recover files from image files
• Supports to specify the scan area

Cons

• Old-fashioned and relatively complex interface
• Takes a long time for a simple scan

Top 8. Data Rescue

Data Rescue (https://www.prosofteng.com/windows-data-recovery/) is both Windows and Mac compatible. This data recovery software perfectly supports hard drive data recovery after deletion, format, partition lost.. Except for hard disks, Data Rescue can also retrieve lost photos, videos, documents, and more from SD cards, CF cards, Thunderbolt drives, and FireWire drives.

Pros

• Excludes duplicated files automatically
• Allows to preview files before recovery
• Helps to locate files by filters or searching
• Provides disk clone feature for data protection

Cons

• Fails to recognize all the existing partitions on the hard drives sometimes
• Can’t find any files via Quick Scan in some situations

Top 9. OnTrack EasyRecovery

Ontrack EasyRecovery (https://www.ontrack.com/products/data-recovery-software/) is one of the choices for disk data recovery. It will retrieve files from an HDD, SSD, memory card, USB, and optical media after deletion, format, corruption, and more. Other than basic data recovery features, EasyRecovery also enables users to perform advanced RAID recovery.

Pros

• Recovers photos, videos, documents, and more
• Retrieves files after deletion, format, hard disk damage and corruption
• Supports multiple storage devices
• Allows to preview results before recovery

Cons

• Must enter personal information to download the software

Top 10. Wise Data Recovery Software

Wise Data Recovery (https://www.wisecleaner.com/wise-data-recovery.html) is a free data recovery tool that helps to recover lost photos, videos, audio files, documents, and more from local hard drives and removable devices like external hard drives, USB flash drives, SD cards, digital cameras, mobile phones, and MP3 players. With advanced algorithms, Wise Data Recovery performs well to retrieve lost data from the supported devices.

Pros

• Free to use
• Light and space-saving
• Fast scanning speed
• Provides portable versions
• Filters files by category

Cons

• Only supports FAT, exFAT, and NTFS file systems
• Shows messy codes in the preview pane for unsupported formats

Top 11. Puran Data Recovery

Most of you may hear Puran Data Recovery (http://www.puransoftware.com/Data-Recovery.html) for the first time. But honestly speaking, it is data recovery utility that worths your attention. Unlike other data recovery software, Puran Data Recovery directly recovers data from a damaged hard disk, CD, DVD, Pen Drive, and any other media supported by Windows to a selected location. The distinctive data recovery process makes it special among its competitors.

Best free dvd burning software mac. The legal issues of making copies of copyrighted materialWhile you may find DVD burning software that can do this, making unauthorized DVD copies of movies, TV shows, and music is illegal in the United States.

Pros

• Skips bad sectors automatically while recovering files
• Supports optical drives like CDs, DVDs, and Blu Rays
• Allows to add a partition by drag-and-drop

Cons

• Can't preview the result
• Can't filter the files you want to recover

Top 12. Glary Undelete

Glary Undelete (https://www.glarysoft.com/glary-undelete/) is less known compared with software like EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, Disk Drill, and Stellar Data Recovery Wizard. But as one of the data recovery choices, Glary Undelete is also able to recover files from internal hard drives and external storage media including external hard drives, USB flash drives, SD cards, and more.

Pros

• Sorts out result by name, size, and date
• Recovers compressed, fragmented, and encrypted files on NTFS partitions
• Filters files by name, date, size, and recovery state
• Analyzes recovery possibilities

Cons

• Old-fashioned interface
• Fails to find lost files sometimes

Top 13. Orion File Recovery

Orion File Recovery (https://www.nchsoftware.com/data-recovery/index.html) can undelete files from Windows computers and Windows-compatible storage devices. In addition to data recovery features, Orion File Recovery is also equipped with exclusive features that will permanently erase data from your hard drive to protect privacy.

Pros

• Provides Recover File Wizard that guides you through the data recovery process
• Filters search results by folder, file type, name and more
• Allows to specify scanning locations
• Provides extra feature 'Scrub Files' to erase data completely

Cons

• The scanning process is slightly slow
• You may install other utilities unintentionally during the installation of the software

Top 14. PC Inspector File Recovery

PC Inspector File Recovery (http://www.pcinspector.de/default.htm?Language=1) works well to recover data from a computer, external hard drives, USB devices, and network drives. Even if the boot sector or FAT has been erased or damaged, PC Inspector File Recovery will find the partitions existing on the hard drive. Besides, it's freeware and you can use it without any cost.

Pros

• Completely free to use
• Recover files with the original time and date stamp
• Supports to recover files from network drives
• Recovers files when a header entry is unavailable

Cons

• Old-fashioned interface design
• Uses icons to represents features, which is confusing

Top 15. TestDisk Data Recovery

Unlike all the hard drive recovery mentioned above, TestDisk (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TestDisk) is the open resource software that is used to recover lost partitions. It is able to recover deleted partitions from hard drives and fix the partition table, recover the boot sector, and more. Since TeskDisk is open source software, you can inspect, modify, and enhance it as long as you know how to do it.

Pros

• Open resource software
• Recover lost partitions
• Fix disks that won't boot
• Recover various file types

Cons

• Inconvenient for regular users

The Bottom Line

Do you find the hard drive recovery software you need from the list above? As long as your lost files are not overwritten, you can apply one of the software above to have a try but the success rate varies. The higher the software rank, the higher the chance you will get your files back. If your hard drive is physically damaged, I'm afraid none of the software above will help. In that case, you should send your hard drive for manual data recovery services.

External hard drives are a great way to keep your data safe but they are in no way invincible. They are susceptible to data loss for one reason or another. You can easily accidentally delete data on the drive, accidentally format the drive or even lose the data on it due to external or internal damage of the drive itself. That said, lost data on an external hard drive is recoverable. With the best free data recovery software for external hard drive and process, you can easily get the data back. This article will point you in the right direction in regards to the top free tools to recover data from an external hard drive.

Top 10 Free Data Recovery Software for External Hard Drive

1# Recuva

This free to download data recovery program is one of the most popular and can be used to recover any number of files from just about any disk including external hard disks. One of the reasons why it is the most popular is because it is almost effortless to use, making it ideal for the beginner. It is ideal for recovering all types of files including videos, documents, photos, audio files and very many more.

Mac Hard Disk Recovery

Pros:
● It comes with a secure-delete feature.
● It also has a portable version that runs from a USB stick.

Cons:
● It doesn't offer a wide range of features as compared to other similar programs.
● Can tag files as 'unrecoverable' when other programs will recover the same files.

2# Recoverit

By far the best program on this list, Recoverit for Mac (or Recoverit for Windows) is easy to use and gives you lots of options when it comes to data recovery.

Why Choose This External Hard Drive Data Recovery Software:

● The software's features are highly specialized and you can recover all of your deleted data in the shortest time possible and in the original condition.
● You will not be spending too much time trying to figure out which button to click.

● You can use Recoverit to recovery any other type of data including photos, videos and emails among many others. All of the data is recovered intact and in the original condition.
● It also comes with a preview feature that allows you to easily choose the files you want to recover.

Step-By-Step Guide to Recover External Hard Drive Lost Data

Step 1. Begin by downloading the program to your Mac. We recommend that you install the program on a different drive to avoid overwriting the data. Launch the program and from the main window, select the types for your lost data and click 'Next' button.

Step 2. In the next window, select the drive that contains the missing data. If you don't see the drive click 'Refresh' icon and it should appear. Click 'Start' to begin the scanning process.

Step 3. Once the scan is complete, you will see all of the files on that drive. Select the ones you want to recover and then click 'Recover'. Save them on a separate drive.

3# External Drive Data Recovery

This is another free program that has great user reviews and is quite useful when you want to recover data from external hard drives. It is useful in the recovery of just about any file type including documents, photos, videos and audio files.

Pros:
● It can be used to recover all types of data.
● It comes with a very simple to use interface that is quite pleasing.

Cons:
● Scanning takes a long time especially if you had too many files on the drive.
● It can mark some files 'unrecoverable' that other data recovery programs easily recover.

4# Undelete 360

This is another free tool that promises to undelete any files you may have accidentally deleted from your computer. It can restore files from a hard drive as well as an external drive and other storage devices such as memory sticks and pen drives. It comes in both a portable and desktop version and is very simple to use. The interface is self-explanatory; you won’t have to have to learn how to navigate the program before recovering data. As long as the deleted data can be recovered, undelete 360 will recover it for you.

Pros:
● It is easy to use with a simple to navigate user interface.
● Comes with a portable version.

Cons:
● Scanning can sometimes be slow.
● It lacks FAT support.

5# Mac Free Any Data Recovery

This free utility for Mac will help you get your missing data back in a number of ways. It comes with multiple features that make data recover very easy. It is also a good choice to help you recover data from both internal and external hard drive and can be used to recover nearly all types of data.

Pros:
● It has a simple, easy to use interface that only provides you with 2 options: a quick scan or a deep scan.
● Recovery is quick and effective.

Cons:
● If you encounter any problems while working with this program, you’ll be on your own since support was pretty much non-existent

6# Pandora Recovery

Although the appearance may seem to put off a user, Pandora Recovery is still the best software with the ability to identify deleted partitions or data from an external hard disk. The wizard guides you throughout and chooses the best settings based on user input in scanning for the lost data. The stimulating feature of the program is the Surface Scan, which helps in bringing back files even from a formatted drive.

Pros:
● Recovers data from any external hard disk and other storage devices connected to the system.
● Color coded with percentage indicators for easy recognition.

Cons:
● Prompts the user to install browser toolbar during program installation.

7# MiniTool Power Data Recovery

For an effective data recovery from any external hard drive connected to a Windows operating system, MiniTool Power Data Recovery is a faultless tool. It handles most of the chores with ease. The interface offers a clear glimpse of the options, making it easy to take the right option for getting back the deleted partition/data from external hard disk.

Pros:
● Simplistic interface and ease of operation.
● It is further capable of recovery data from flash cards and optical media.

Cons:
● Does not have the provision to skip through the bad sectors, which usually prevent the scan consume a lot of time.

8# Wise Data Recovery

Wise Data Recovery is a free undelete software available for the Windows OS. It offers assistance in identifying the undeleted content and partitions from an external drive connected to the computer. The free-to-use program is simple in nature and offers all the features that a major recovery tool possesses.

Pros:
● Quick installation of the program without unwanted third-party programs.
● Displays the validity of the file along with recoverability.

Cons:
● It is not capable of holding individual files with their original names and data structures.

9# Puran File Recovery

Puran File Recovery is a new entrant into the world of free file recovery program. However, it does have the capability to retrieve deleted content, and that made it add to the list. The major factor that pushes a user to use the program is its fast scanning technology. You can even navigate and learn options within the program with ease and at a faster pace even though you do not have a clue about recovery programs. It will offer complete assistance in identifying and recovery deleted partitions and data from any external hard drives.

Pros:
● Shows file condition and size of deleted files/folder/partition.
● Portable versions work on both 32 and 64-bit versions of Windows platform.

Cons:
● Non-commercial use (home use only).

10# Stellar Phoenix Data Recovery

Stellar Phoenix Data Recovery software, which works on different versions of the Windows OS has successfully passed various recovery tests, making it a viable solution to enter the top five list. It recovers a variety of file types, partitions, and archives from deleted or formatted disks. It even functions efficiently in recognizing external hard drives and performs well.

Pros:
● Identifies partitions and deleted data even from a formatted drive.
● Highest success rate in recovery of data in its class.

Cons:
● Consumes plenty of time to recover data than other programs.

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