Data recovery guides for Mac

Check the Trash, Time Machine and iCloud first, then scan the drive with a free recovery app. What works on SD cards, USB drives and Mac SSDs, and what doesn’t.

Which Mac data recovery apps are really free? What each free version lets you recover, as of October 2026: Reco, PhotoRec, Disk Drill, Stellar and EaseUS.

Just deleted something on your Mac, an SD card or USB drive? Stop using the drive, try Undo, the Trash and backups. The order that keeps files recoverable.

Recover deleted or formatted photos and videos from an SD, microSD or camera card on a Mac, free. What to do first, the steps, and when a card can’t be saved.

SD card or USB stick not showing up on your Mac? Check Finder settings, Disk Utility and accessory approval, then get your files off safely before you format.

Get deleted photos back on a Mac: Recently Deleted in Photos, iCloud.com and Time Machine first, then scan the camera card or drive. Plus a word on iPhone.

Formatted or erased the wrong drive in Disk Utility? Often the files are still there. What can come back from cards, USB sticks, hard drives and SSDs, and how.

Deleted files from a USB stick, or it asks to be formatted? Flash drives keep deleted data until it’s overwritten. Check the Trash, then scan it free on a Mac.

Get files back from an external hard drive on Mac: deleted files, a drive that won’t mount or asks to be initialized. Free steps first, and when to stop.

Why deleted files on a Mac’s built-in SSD usually can’t be recovered, which external SSDs use TRIM, and what to try instead: Trash, Time Machine, iCloud.

Why a video cut off by a dead battery or full card won’t play on a Mac, what to try first, and how to rebuild it for free with a clip from the same camera.

Get deleted or formatted Canon, Nikon, Sony and Fujifilm RAW files back from an SD or CFexpress card on a Mac, free, and when a format makes it impossible.

Get back DJI or GoPro footage that was deleted, lost to a formatted card, or cut off by a dead battery or crash. Free steps for Mac, in the order to try them.

A normal erase leaves old files recoverable. How to wipe a hard drive, SD card, USB stick or SSD on a Mac before you sell or give it away, and check it worked.

See a Mac drive’s SMART status in Disk Utility, System Information or Terminal, what “Verified” and “Failing” mean, and why external drives often show none.