How to Install Disk Drill

If you’ve lost a file and need to recover it, don’t worry — the Disk Drill installation process is quick and easy. Best of all, you can scan and identify which files are recoverable for free with Disk Drill Basic. You only need to purchase Disk Drill Pro if the scan finds files that you wish to recover.

Installing Disk Drill

Warning: If you have lost files on your Mac’s internal hard drive, we recommend you stop right here and SHUT DOWN your Mac. Installation and recovery should be done from another Mac if possible.  See Recovering Files From Your Mac Internal Hard Drive for more information.

1. Go to https://www.cleverfiles.com/downloads.html to download the app. It is compatible with OS X 10.6 and later.
2. The Disk Drill app will automatically be downloaded to your Downloads folder. (If your browser asks you where to save the file, select the desired folder and click Save.) It may take a couple minutes to download.
3. Go to your Downloads folder and double-click on the Disk Drill disk image.
4. Drag the Disk Drill app icon into the Applications folder and you are done! Note: If you wish to use Disk Drill in Portable Mode, drag the Disk Drill app icon to an external drive icon instead.

Launching DiskDrill For the First Time

Once you’ve installed Disk Drill, take the following steps to get started:

1. Go to your Applications folder, or Launchpad, and launch Disk Drill.
2. You may get a question that says DiskDrill was downloaded from the Internet and are you sure you want to open it. Click Open.
3. Upon opening the app, you will be asked which options you wish to enable. Here’s a brief explanation of each option:
   • Enable Recovery Vault. Enabling this option helps you to find deleted files in the future. It keeps a record of file names and locations for all deleted files. Mac file systems (HFS and HFS+) do not save this data for deleted files, which makes identifying files for recovery much more tedious. With Recovery Vault, finding the deleted file and recovering it is much simpler. Learn more…
   • Monitor Disks for Hardware Issues. The S.M.A.R.T. status is a monitoring system built into your hard drive. Disk Drill can monitor this status and warn you if your drive is showing signs of failure. Learn more…
   • Mount Scanning Results as Disk. This option simplifies the file recovery process, allowing licensed users to view all files found during a scan as if they were on an external drive. A third-party application called Fuse will be installed to enable this option. Learn more…
   • Disk Drill Tour. Get a tour of Disk Drill features and a quick overview of the file recovery process.
4. Select the options you wish and then click Continue. All of these options can be activated at a later time if you choose not to activate them now.
5. A pop-up window will appear saying that Disk Drill wants to make changes to your computer. This is required for Disk Drill to scan your system. Type in your admin password and click OK to continue.
6. Proceed to the next tutorial: How to Recover Lost Files Using Disk Drill Basic.