iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac FAQ

Purchase FAQ

Q: Is iBoysoft Mac Data Recovery safe?

A: Yes, iBoysoft Mac Data Recovery is read-only access to your drive where you lost the data, it wouldn't damage your storage device.

If your storage device has a hardware issue, any further operation will aggravate the damage to your storage device. In that case, we suggest you send it to a local store for data recovery help.

Q: What does iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac free Trial version do?

A: iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac free Trial version allows pre-recovery preview (click preview) of the documents, photos, videos, etc. file types so that you can view the real recovery results before purchasing. One example for pre-recovery preview (If the file can be previewed, it will be recovered with full version).

File Preview in iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac

Q: Data is not found by free trial version, should I purchase full version?

A: No, the full version has same functions as free trial version. If free trial version cannot find the lost datta, the full version won't find them either.

Q: Can I recover deleted/lost files from Macintosh HD?

A: It depends on whether the deleted/lost files are overwritten or not, but iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac free trial version can preview (clicking the preview/eye icon next to the filename) the documents, photos, videos, audios, etc. so that you can see if your lost/deleted files can be recovered at all before purchasing.

If you are using macOS Mojave and later version, the TRIM feature built-in macOS would completely erase the data on SSD so that the lost files cannot be recovered.

Q: I have overwritten the lost files, is there a way to recover them?

A: No.

Q: After data loss, I have wrote new data to the drive where lost data, is there a way to recover them?

A: It depends on whether the lost files are overwritten or not, but iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac free trial version can preview (clicking the preview/eye icon next to the filename) the documents, photos, videos, audios, etc. so that you can see if your lost files are recoverable before purchasing.

Q: Does iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac support NTFS file system?

A: No, iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac supports APFS, HFS+, FAT32, exFAT file systesm, but iBoysoft Data Recovery for Windows supports NTFS file system.

Q: What operating system does iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac support?

A: iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac supports macOS 13 Ventura, macOS 12 Monterey, macOS 11 Big Sur, macOS 10.15 Catalina, macOS 10.14 Mojave, macOS 10.13 High Sierra, macOS 10.12 Sierra and Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan

Q: The files recovered by iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac free trial version are corrupted, should I purchase full version to recover these files?

A: No, free trial version has same function as full version. The files recovered by iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac free trial version are corrupted, these files recovered by iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac full version will be also corrupted. In this situation, please send your detailed data loss problem to [email protected] for further analysis before purchasing.

Q: Can I recover deleted/lost virtual machine files from APFS drive?

A: It is impossible to recover deleted virtual machine files from APFS drive because of too many fragments. It is possible to recover lost virtual machine files from unmountable, unreadable or corrupted APFS drive, but not 100%, it depends on the specific data loss environment (file size, fragment, how to lose, etc.)

Q: Can iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac recover lost data from encrypted drive?

A: Yes, but iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac only supports to recover lost data from encrypted APFS drive, doesn't support data recovery from HFS/HFS+ drive that is encrypted by FileVault.

Q: I lost the password, can iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac recover lost data from encrypted APFS drive?

A: No. If you don't have the password, there is no way to decrypt data from encrypted APFS drive, please find the related password brute-force cracking tool.

Q: I have erased the encrypted APFS partition, can iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac recover lost data from encrypted APFS partition?

A: No. The password information has been completely erased so that there is no way to decrypt data from encrypted APFS partition.

Q: The found files only have .gz and .swf files, should I purchase the full version?

A: No, the found files are .gz and .swf files, the recovered files will still be .gz and .swf files. In this situation, please send your data loss details to [email protected] for further analysis before purchasing.

Q: macOS Disk Utility cannot recognize my storage device, does iBoysoft Data Recovery recognize it?

A: No. In this situation, please send it to a local data recovery service for help.

Q: The storage device has a hardware issue (Such as physical damage, I/O device error, data error (CRC), bad sectors), can iBoysoft Data Recovey recover lost data from it?

A: No.

Q: Online store accepts debit card?

A: Yes, please select PayPal in your shopping cart and then click "Pay with Credit or Debit Card".

Q: Why the final price in shopping cart is higher than list price in official site?

A: Please check if the final price in shopping cart includes VAT. The list price in https://iboysoft.com/ doesn't include VAT. Due to different tax price in different countries, the final price of the product customers purchase may be higher than the list price, which is because the final price includes VAT.

Licensing FAQ

Q: Is iBoysoft Data Recovery Home/Professional/Technician for Mac lifetime license?

A: No, it has different license types: 1-month, 1-year license and lifetime license.

Q: Can I use iBoysoft Data Recovery Professional for Mac on two computers, even more?

A: No, iBoysoft Data Recovery Professional for Mac is one license for one Mac. Once you register it on one Mac, you cannot register it on other Mac.

iBoysoft Data Recovery Technician allows to be used on mutiple computers as it has built-in deactivate option which allows to deactivate from one computer and then activate it on another computer.

Q: Can I uninstall iBoysoft Data Recovery Home/Professional for Mac from one computer and activate it on another computer?

A: No, but iBoysoft Data Recovery Technician has built-in deactivate option which allows to deactivate from one computer and then activate it on another computer.

I have registered iBoysoft Data Recovery Professional on one Mac, can I create a bootable media on USB and use it on another Mac that won't boot?

iBoysoft Data Recovery Professional is licensed for Mac, not USB. In this situation, you need another license for your Mac that won't boot.

If you want to register it on more than one Mac, please purchase Technician edition.

Q: Can I transfer my license if I change my computer?

A: Yes, please contact [email protected]. If you regularly change computers, please purchase Technician edition which has a built-in deactivate option. The license from the third-party deal, giveaway cannot be transfered.

Q: Is iBoysoft Data Recovery Home/Professional for Mac allowed to provide technical service to clients by service provider, IT pro, IT admin, IT technician?

A: No, iBoysoft Data Recovery Home/Professional for Mac license key will be banned if you use it to provide technical service to clients.

However, iBoysoft Data Recovery Technician for Mac allows to provide technical service to clients, its built-in deactivate option allows to deactivate from one computer and then activate on another computer.

Q: Can I activate iBoysoft Data Recovery for Windows with the license key of iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac?

A: No, iBoysoft Data Recovery for Windows and iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac are two different products.

Q: What to do if I received the message "Activation error, the license key has been registered, please contact [email protected]."

A: The product activation is bundled with the serial number of your Mac, the above situation occurs when registering the software on another Mac. In this sitatuation, it is normal. If not, please contact [email protected] for further analysis.

Q: How to reinstall the purchased software after computer crashed, failed or reinstalling OS?

A: Please send your order ID or purchase email address to [email protected] for the solution.

Technical FAQ

Q: I launched iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac on my Mac running macOS Catalina, however, a pop-up asks me to "Enable Full Disk Access for iBoysoft Data Recovery". What to do?

A: There are many system and apps security improvements in macOS Catalina, and "Full Disk Access" is one of them. Enabling full disk access is a pre-requisite for iBoysoft Data Recovery to access your storage devices for data recovery purpose. To enable this feature, please follow these steps:

  1. Step 1: Go to Apple > System Preferences... > Security & Privacy
  2. Step 2: Under Privacy tab, select Full Disk Access from the left column.
  3. Step 3: Click on the lock icon at the bottom. You will be asked to enter the password if there is.
  4. Step 4: Click + and add iBoysoft Data Recovery to this list.
  5. Step 5: Launch iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac again.

Q: The license key you entered is invalid when activating.

A: Please ensure the license key you entered is correct. If yes, please check if your Mac computer is connected to internet. The activation requires internet access.

Q: iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac cannot display any storage devices.

A: According to Apple security rules, iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac needs you to authorize the root privilege to access the storage devices, please enter the administrator password of your Mac computer when launching iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac

Q: Why is iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac asking to make changes to my Mac computer when launching?

A: According to Apple security rules, iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac requires administrator password and authorize the root privilege to access the storage devices.

Q: When I run iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac, I receive warning message: "iBoysoft Data Recovery.app" is damaged and cannot be opened. You should move it to the Trash" or "iBoysoft Data Recovery.app" cannot be opened because it was not downloaded from the Mac App Store".

A: By default, macOS/Mac OS X security allows only the apps that are downloaded from the Mac App Store or from Mac certified developers. To fix this error, please open System Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> General tab -> Change the Allow apps downloaded from: option to Anywhere.

Q: I deleted/lost some files from startup drive in macOS or Mac OS X, but iBoysoft Data Recovery didn't find these deleted/lost files or the found files are corrupted.

A: After losing files from startup drive, continuing to use this Mac computer would write new data to the startup drive even if you didn't add new data to this startup drive. Once the deleted/lost files are overwritten by new data, it is impossible to recover them. So the best way is to stop using this computer ASAP after losing files from startup drive.

Q: Recovered files are corrupted and cannot open.

A: Data recovery is a complicated case, its recovery result depends upon the specific data loss environment, please send your data loss details (1. How did you lose the data? 2. What file system of the drive where you lost data is, APFS, NTFS, HFS+, FAT32, exFAT? 3. After data loss, did you write new data to the drive where you lost data? 4. Please click "Help" menu next to "iBoysoft Data Recovery" and then select "Export Logs") to [email protected] for further analysis.

Q: Some recovered files are ok, some recovered files are corrupted and cannot open.

A: Data recovery is a complicated case, its recovery result depends upon the specific data loss environment, please send your data loss details (1. How did you lose the data? 2. What file system of the drive where you lost data is, APFS, NTFS, HFS+, FAT32, exFAT? 3. After data loss, did you write new data to the drive where you lost data? 4. Please click "Help" menu next to "iBoysoft Data Recovery" and then select "Export Logs") to [email protected] for further analysis.

At the same time, please try this solution: Choose the hard drive and try again if you have tried the volume.

Q: Recovered files are zero bytes.

A: If the files are not showing zero bytes in iBoysoft Data Recovery, according to your situation, your drive has been unstable or has a hardware issue after it is unmounted/corrupted so that it is why the recovered files are zero bytes.

If you are running iBoysoft Data Recovery in macOS Recovery mode, please send us the log output in Terminal for further analysis.

If you are running iBoysoft Data Recovery in macOS, please try following solution and send us the log for further analysis:
Step 1: Start iBoysoft Data Recovery, select the drive to scan the lost data.
Step 2: Once all your lost data is found, please click Stop button to abort the scan process, don't need to wait for 100% scan completing.
Step 3: Please click the first button under the Search box to save the scan result.
Step 4: Please recover several files firstly and then check. If the recovered files are still zero bytes, restart iBoysoft Data Recovery, select the same drive and click the "iBoysoft Data Recovery" menu next to the Apple menu in the upper left corner of the screen and select "Load Session" to load the previously saved scan result for continuous recovery.
Step 5: If still fails, please click "Help" menu next to "iBoysoft Data Recovery" and then select "Export Logs". Choose a load location to save the log then send it to us for further analysis.

At the same time, please let us know how you lost the data.

Q: The found files are RAW files without original file names.

A: 1. If the damage to file system is serious, the only way to reconstruct lost files according to file types signature, but the reconstructed files don't have their original directory structures and file names.

2. If the file sytem is not supported by iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac (Supports APFS, HFS+, FAT32, exFAT file system), iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac can only reconstruct the lost files according to file types signature.

Q: I can open the recovered photos, small videos from SD card, memory card, USB flash drive, external hard drive, but I cannot open other large videos.

A: Generally speaking, the file system of SD card, memory card, USB flash drive, external hard drive is exFAT/FAT32. In this situation, because of exFAT/FAT32 file system its own properties, the clusters (disk space) stored large files (Such as videos) are not continuous so that it is why the recovered large files cannot open.

Q: The found files are .gz and .swf files, what .gz and .swf files are?

A: GZ file is compressed files created using the gzip compression utility, SWF file is an animation created with Adobe Flash that can be played by Flash Player or with a web browser that has the Flash plugin installed.

Q: I lost documents, videos, photos, audios, etc., but the found files have .gz and .swf files, why?

A: .swf (a flash file extension) and .gz (a compressed gzip file) are just false positives and totally garbage. In your data loss environment, the original files cannot be identified properly by iBoysoft Data Recovery, please send your data loss details to [email protected] for further analysis.

Q: iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac is not working.

A: Please send your data loss details (1. How did you lose the data? 2. What file system of the drive where you lost data is, APFS, NTFS, HFS+, FAT32, exFAT? 3. After data loss, did you write new data to the drive where you lost data? 4. Please click "Help" menu next to "iBoysoft Data Recovery" and then select "Export Logs") to [email protected] for further analysis.

Q: iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac is stuck when scanning lost data.

A: Please send your data loss details (1. How did you lose the data? 2. What file system of the drive where you lost data is, APFS, NTFS, HFS+, FAT32, exFAT? 3. After data loss, did you write new data to the drive where you lost data?) to [email protected] for further analysis.

Q: iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac was unexpectedly closed.

A: Please send crash dump file called iBoysoft Data Recovery_ in ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/ and /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/ folder to [email protected] for further analysis.