Common Situations Where You Need Mac Data Recovery

If any of the following matches your situation, you may need data recovery:

I deleted files
My drive won't mount
I formatted a disk
My Mac won't boot

These are the most common cases where users search for Mac data recovery solutions.

Common Data Loss Scenarios:

Tip: Recover your files before repairing or formatting the disk

Start Free Data Recovery on macOS

How to Restore Lost/Deleted Files on Mac?

Using a Mac data recovery tool is the fastest and easiest solution. Here's how iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac lets you recover lost or deleted files in just three simple steps:

01
Scan your disk
02
Preview the recoverable files
03
Recover the selected files
Mac data recovery steps
Start Free Data Recovery
Online Help >>

Video Guide for File Recovery

Mac data retrieval by iBoysoft is easy to use to recover deleted or lost files for beginners and its professional functionalities satisfy experts from professional mac data recovery services.

Mac data recovery

The video contains the following key moments:

  • Device and macOS tested (00:13)
  • How we tested data recovery (1:31)
  • Download and install iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac (2:10)
  • Launch the software (3:03)
  • Start file recovery (3:53)
  • Recover data from Mac's startup disk (5:15)
  • Save/load session for later recovery (5:46)
  • Use deep scan (6:30)

Can data be recovered from an unmounted or corrupted drive?

Yes. In many cases, a drive that won't mount is still recoverable.

This is often caused by file system corruption, bad sectors, or partition errors - not complete hardware failure.

Data recovery software can scan the drive directly and retrieve files without mounting it.

Is free Mac data recovery software safe to use?

Yes, as long as you use trusted software.

A reliable tool should allow you to preview files before recovery and avoid modifying the original data during scanning.

This helps ensure your data remains intact throughout the recovery process.

What should you do before repairing or formatting a disk?

Always recover your important files first.

Repairing or formatting a disk can overwrite existing data and reduce the chances of recovery.

Using data recovery software before fixing the disk is the safest approach.

Start Free Data Recovery on macOS

Supported Devices

Recover from a wide range of Mac-based storage devices: Macs, internal HDD/SSD, USB drives, SD/CF/memory cards, microcards, memory sticks, and digital cameras.

Mac

MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, Mac Pro, iMac, and iMac Pro (Including T2 chip, Apple silicon M1 & M2 Mac)

HDD / SSD

HP®, Samsung®, Seagate®, Toshiba®, WD®, LaCie®, Intel®, Adata® and more

USB Drive

SanDisk®, Samsung®, Kingston®, Corsair®, Patriot®, PNY®, Verbatim®, Silicon Power® and more

SD/CF/memory Card

SanDisk®, Transcend®, Toshiba®, Lexar®, Integral®, SP®, PNY®, Kingston® and more

Digital Camera

Samsung®, Casio®, Sony®, GoPro®, Canon®, Sigma®, Nikon®, Epson®, Panasonic® and more

RAID reconstruction is not supported by iBoysoft Data Recovery.

1000+ 1000+ File Formats Supported

Office Files

DOC, DOCX, RTF, WordML, XLS, XLSX, PPT, PPTX

PPS, PDF, PDA, NUMBERS, ODS, ONE, PAGES, PS, Books and more

Photos/Pictures/Images

CRW, JPEG, JPG, PNG, PSD, RAW, RGB, CAD, CIFF

3DM, 3DMF, TIFF,CR2, CRW, DWF, DWG, VWX, WBC, WBD,and more

Videos/Movies/Vlog

AVI, FLA, FLV, M4V, MKV, MOV, MP4, MPEG, WMV

AMV, ANM, ASF, ASX, AVS, F4V, HDMOV, MOI, MPV2, and more

Audios/Music/Songs

AAC, AIFF, ALAC, FLAC, MP3, OGG, PCM, WAV, WMA

AC3, ACC, AFC, AIF, AIFC, AM, AT3, AU, CAF, CDA, IT, KAR and more

Emails/Archive/Others

MSG, PST, OST, EML, EMLX, MBOX

WAR, ZIP, EXE, DEB, GZ, JAR, ASPX, CGI, ELM, HTM, HTML, and more

Technical Specifications (Quick Reference)

Upgrade History

Operating Systems Supported:

macOS 26 Tahoe, 15 Sequoia, 14 Sonoma, 13 Ventura, 12 Monterey, 11 Big Sur, 10.15 Catalina, 10.14 Mojave, 10.13 High Sierra, 10.12 Sierra; OS X 10.11 El Capitan

File Systems Supported:

APFS, HFS, HFSX, HFS+, FAT32, exFAT

Architecture Supported:

Intel & Apple silicon (M1, M2, M3, M4, M5)

Device Types Supported:

MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac Mini, iMac, iMac Pro, Mac Pro, Mac Studio

Minimum Install Size:

32MB minimum

Plans & Pricing

Free Edition

  • Recover 1GB data free
  • Recover data from (encrypted) APFS drive
  • Recover data from an unbootable Mac in macOS Recovery Mode

1-month License

  • Recover unlimited data
  • Recover data from encrypted APFS, APFS, HFS+, FAT32, exFAT drive
  • Recover data from an unbootable Mac in macOS Recovery Mode

US$ 89.95  (excl. VAT)

Buy Now
Free Trial

1-year License

  • Recover unlimited data
  • Recover data from encrypted APFS, APFS, HFS+, FAT32, exFAT drive
  • Recover data from an unbootable Mac in macOS Recovery Mode

US$ 99.95  (excl. VAT)

Buy Now
Free Trial

Lightweight Comparison

This page is built to help you recover Mac data with iBoysoft. If you're choosing among free Mac data recovery software (or the best Mac photo recovery software), focus on what matters most: Apple silicon/T2 support, unbootable Mac data recovery support, preview quality, and supported file systems.
iBoysoft highlights these decision criteria in one place so users can pick confidently.

iBoysoft Data
Recovery for Mac 		PhotoRec
for Mac 		Wondershare
Recoverit for Mac 		Stellar Data
Recovery for Mac 		Disk Drill
for Mac
Advanced File Scanning Algorithms
Support Apple T2 Security Chip
Support Apple Silicon M1, M2, M3, M4, M5 Mac
Support macOS 26 Tahoe
Data Recovery From Unbootable Macs
High Recovery Success Rate
Fast Scanning & Recovery Speed
Graphic User Interface
Free Preview Before Recovery
Secure and Private
Free Technical Support
Free Data Recovery 0MB Unlimited 100 MB 1 GB 0MB
Supported File Systems (encrypted) APFS, HFS+, FAT32, exFAT HFS+, FAT32, exFAT, NTFS, ext2, ext3, ext4 (encrypted) APFS, (encrypted) HFS+, FAT32, exFAT, ext2, ext3, ext4 APFS, HFS+, FAT32, NTFS and ExFAT APFS, HFS+, FAT32, exFAT, ext3, ext4

Trusted by Users & Publications

Trustpilot reviews

Trusted by Mac Users on Trustpilot

Recovered lost photos, documents, videos, or important work files with iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac? Your experience can help other Mac users facing similar data loss situations. Share your story on Trustpilot and let others know how iBoysoft helped you through the recovery process.

CH Charles
Apr 23, 2026

I had a drive failure on a Crucial X9...

I had a drive failure on a Crucial X9 Pro SSD - I could see it in disk utility but the drive wouldn't mount. Downloaded iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac, and was initally skeptical. However it was super inuitive to use and managed to find all the data on the drive straight away. Kinda magic!
S Skeie Liddle
Feb 20, 2026

iBoysoft restored deleted photos

I took a bunch of photos on my recent vacation and was excited to look at them, but when I went to upload them from my SD card they were inexplicably deleted. I tested out a bunch of software to try and restore the photos, but none worked. I finally tried iBoysoft. Immediately I noticed that the interface was way more user-friendly than the other applications. After scanning for 20 minutes, it found my photos (and photos that had been deleted from when my dad used the SD card years ago). I wish I had tried iBoysoft first instead of going through the headache of downloading a bunch of other apps that didn't work.
X Xavier
Feb 5, 2026

So Helpful Recovering My Photos

When my logic board got fried due to a power surge, I used this software to recover my data and it worked great. My expectations were low because I know how difficult data recovery can be, but recovering my thousands of photos was possible with them. Of course there are drawbacks - the major one being that the files had different names when I recovered them, but having to go through and verify/re-name was just a small price that I was willing to pay.
KA Karina
Nov 7, 2025

iBoysoft saved me

I am a Digital Designer, and my house had electrical damage, and I lost all my files - more than 5 years of designs and hard work gone in seconds. I tried everything to recover them, and nothing worked... until I found iBoysoft.

I can't even express how grateful I am - they literally saved my business and all my designs!
If you ever face data loss, I 100% recommend giving iBoysoft a try. They truly saved me.
Денис Ермолаев Денис Ермолаев
Oct 10, 2025

Excellent Data Recovery Service!

I had accidentally lost some important files and was worried they were gone forever. iBoysoft came to the rescue! Their software is incredibly easy to use, and I managed to recover all my lost data quickly and safely. The process was smooth, and their support team was very helpful whenever I had questions. Highly recommend iBoysoft to anyone facing data loss issues!
Spencer Hayes Spencer Hayes
Sep 4, 2025

My brand new external hard drive...

My brand new external hard drive wouldn't mount to my Macbook and iBoysoft found all of the data and made it easy to recover. I don't know why this isn't built into the Apple Software already!
VK Vaishnav KV
Aug 18, 2025

Recovered files from a corrupted SSD using iBoysoft

I recently ran into a scary situation where my external SSD got corrupted. It showed up on my Mac, but the files took forever to load and sometimes nothing opened at all. I had a lot of personal files on it, so I thought I had lost everything.

I tried iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac and it actually worked really well. The scan took some time, but it showed me all my files and even let me preview them before recovery. The deep scan was the most impressive part because it managed to bring back files I thought were gone for good.
If anyone's facing the same issue, I'd say don't panic and try a recovery tool first before giving up on the drive.
TR Tim Riebe
Aug 7, 2025

Not intuitive, but I still managed to view my files and it works great!

Once I figured out how to load the app and use the app to open the file, it worked flawlessly... hint. Print the instructions before you try to use the app. :) They are enough to get things figured out if you have a modest amount of computer experience...I'm not a regular apple user, so I might have struggled more than others will. Even so, it's working fine now and I use it to connect to several different portable hard drives and SSD's.
BG BEAU GAVIN
Mar 11, 2025

I mistakenly ordered a program from...

I mistakenly ordered a program from iboysoft realizing it wasn't what I needed I requested a refund. I was surprised bc I was refunded a couple days later without a hassle of any sort. I don't write reviews but I feel this is one that deserves to be heard. Ty

FAQ

Read more questions and answers

A

Yes. Download iBoysoft Data Recovery, select the disk/partition that contained the missing files, scan it, preview results, and recover files to a different location.

A

Yes, it's fully compatible with Apple silicon and T2 chip Macs.

A

Yes. The Free Edition includes free recovery up to 1GB (see plan details).

A

APFS, HFS, HFSX, HFS+, FAT32, and exFAT are supported.

A

Yes. You can run the tool in macOS Recovery Mode to recover data from an unbootable Mac.

Read more FAQ >>

Ready to recover your Mac files safely?

Download iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac and start scanning in minutes.

Free Trial
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