“Undelete Recovery” mode is used to quickly recuperate data lost due to inadvertent deletion.
The second mode, “Damaged Partition Recovery” specialises in recovering data lost from existing partitions.
“Lost Partition Recovery”, specialises in recovering data lost from deleted or lost partitions.
The fourth and final mode, “Digital Media Recovery” recuperates data i.e. multimedia files from flash devices or portable storage devices.
And…that’s a wrap! Did you like our roundup of the best free data recovery software for Mac? Did we miss out on any free data recovery software that you know of? Sound off in the comments.
Software | Price | Pros | Cons |
Recoverit (IS) for Mac | $79.95 | - Easy interface - 4 Photo Recovery Modes - Preview option - Deep and Quick scans | None |
Disk Drill Pro | $89.00 | - Scan all sorts of devices - Expert at lost files and formatted drives | - Complicated interface - Not efficient in music or video recovery |
Data Rescue 4 | $99.00 | - Efficient in recovering almost any file type - Clone option backs drives up | - Not very user friendly - Payment needed to access full features |
Stellar Phoenix | $99.00 | - Can recover files via their original file names - Recover lost and corrupted files, partitions and drives - User friendly | - The many file options may confuse the average user |
Cisdem Data Recovery | $49.99 | - Can support 200 plus file formats - Cheap - Highest HDD and SSD scan speeds - Quick to use | - Low success rate |
Test Disk | Free | - Free of cost - Very powerful - Can work on boot sectors as well | - For expert users only |
Mac Data Recovery Guru | $99.00 | - Efficient at recovering photographs | - Can't retain original file names - Inefficient |
Apple XSoft File Recovery | $99.95 | - Efficient at recovering photographs | - Inefficient at recovering lost documents or files other than photos |
R Studio | $79.99 | - High scan speeds - Quick customer feedback - Highly reliable | - Not user friendly |
MiniTool Power Data Recovery | $79.00 | - User friendly - Fast scan speeds - Efficient at recovering documents and photographs | - Inefficient at recovering videos and music |
Software | Price | Pros | Cons |
Recoverit (IS) for Windows | $29.95 | - Easy to use interface - Five modes - Preview option - Can pause and resume scan | None |
Ontrack Easy Recovery | $79.00 | - Quick and easy - Best SSD and HDD scan speeds | - Doesn't support Windows 10 - May not be able to recognise certain file formats |
Wondershare Data Recovery | $49.95 | - Supports over 550 file formats - Quick and user-friendly - Preview option | - Doesn't support photo recovery as well |
Wise Data Recovery | Free | - Especially for Windows users - Internal and external file recovery - Recover multiple files simultaneously - Clean install | - Files may not remain in initial folder structure. |
Paragon Rescue Kit | Free | - Works on a PC that cannot be booted - Can back up and restore from a virtual drive - Various recovery options | - For advanced users only |
Seagate File Recovery | $99.00 | - Free of cost - Has an edge in recovering data from micro SD cards - Above average software with high success rate | - Can't recover or connect to other computers on the network |
BitRecover | $49.00 | - Caters especially to Windows users - Has a wizard recovery tool - Good recovery rates - Filter options | - Does not work well with complex recovery tasks |
Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery | $99.00 | - Extremely powerful - One of the best preview features available | - Takes relatively longer time to scan drives - Complex interface may baffle some beginner users |
Recuva | Free | - Very user-friendly - Great interface - Very efficient in recovering data from MP3 players, cameras and USB drives | - Takes long to scan and retrieve files |
GetDataBack | $79.00 | - Very thorough - Great success rate - Restores files with their original folder structures - Deep scan option allows you to recover files that may have been initially overlooked | - Requires a more advanced user - Messy looking interface may baffle some users |