As a rule… I generally don’t give out 5 stars. But Disk Drill has been one of the most reliable data recovery software I’ve come across – because the software is good but also because their customer service team is made up of actual people and they respond! I made a mistake of formatting a hard disk and tried to test a whole bunch of data recovery tools (some were downright scammy and impossible to use) but Disk Drill’s free test was so straightforward AND it recovered everything I lost. I actually tried to buy Magoshare first, but looked at the comments about Digital River and got scared, lol. There was also Stellar (too $$ for me) and EaseUS.. it was a close competition between Disk Drill and EaseUS to be frank. I requested for a discount code from Disk Drill as I work for a non-profit and they approved it – another plus point. Their customer service team was super responsive when I sent in a query, which I loved. I think that’s also a good way to note if a company is worth purchasing from… My tip: download the free version first to see if your files can be recovered first. Once you eff up your hard drive, unplug it and stop using it immediately lest you write over it. To those reading… all the best with your recovery! I know the pain XD
Works great as for the cost. I used DD for rewiping documents from an old macbook air, though there were no filenames the recovery was successful and reasonably fast
I tried it for the first after my brother stole my camera and wiped all the photos from a memory card. The free version of one of its competitors returned most of the files broken, and I was in a panic, so I bought Disk Drill. The scan process was a bit too long, and I had to leave the recovery overnight, but it did get all the photos back after all. Not their names, but they were generic anyway. This tool is a lifesaver
v3.8.961 is actually the current version! It was released January 10th, 2020. It is odd that the developer only identifies the app in Get Info as merely “3.8” no matter what final version number it is. Anyway, I’m glad they keep it updated and don’t gouge users with upgrade fees every year or drop of a hat. Annoying is that the app still can’t use its Recovery Vault on APFS formatted drives, IOW macOS 10.13 onward unless HFS+ formatting is specifically chosen to be used. This situation is, from all the information I can find, entirely Apple’s fault due to them still not adequately documenting the APFS format for developers. It’s the same stupid reason DiskWarrior, Drive Genius and TechTool Pro can’t fully support APFS, although TechTool Pro has made significant inroads providing APFS support in versions 11 and 12. So ‘BOO!’
Did CleverFiles back out of the 3.8.961 version that was released on January 14, 2020? Their web site and release notes indicate that 3.8.961 remains the latest version, yet they are, indeed, pushing out version 3.8.953 this morning.
I use Disk Drill to restore my APFS and HFS+ volumes that sometimes just vanish when formatting on external hard drives. Once, I lost an entire partition on my Mac because somehow, as luck would have it, Disk Utility figured it would wipe that partition out since it was somehow linked to an external SSD which I was wiping… Needless to say, I love Disk Drill! The added features are nice, although I use other tools to accomplish these tasks. Gemini is my GoTo for duplicates, and I use Daisy Disk for visualization. You could also use CleanMyMac but Daisy Disk is prettier. 🙂
Your Mac can be kind of a jerk sometimes ya know? I mean, it’s totally not your fault that you accidentally dropped that school report in the bucket then emptied the trash the day before it was due. But not to fear: Disk Drill for the Mac knows right where’s it been marked for deletion, and yanks it right from our hard drive (without boring any holes). And if you’re just buying Disk Drill, a deep scan should uncover just what you’re looking for. You need Disk Drill as assurance against unfortunate mishaps, lost files, and damaging deletions. Not only will Disk Drill protect your home folder, but it’ll keep an eye on your hard drive’s health so you’ll never have to worry about a dying disk. And if all goes haywire: just back up your documents to a disk image! It’s that simple, and Disk Drill comes in free and pro versions so you can decide what’s right for you. Super easy to use, we’re giving away two licenses to a couple lucky readers.
When we lose deleted files on our hard drives we tend to think of this information as unrecoverable. In times of panic we resort to Google and often extreme utilities to scrounge our Macs for every last bit of recoverable data possible before sifting through the garbage of unreadable file names and Quick Look previews. Disk Drill offers a solution to data recovery that I found to be interesting enough for a chin rub and a thumbs up. As the scruff on my beard understands it, Disk Drill offers a very cool features called Recovery Vault.
CleverFiles explain that Recovery Vault protects a hard drive by essentially keeping an index of your file’s meta information. In an HFS and HFS+ filesystem, once you empty the trash, those files no longer retain their location, name, or any other associated data that can identify that file to the end user. Granted, the actual file is still available as written zeros and ones on your hard disk, and it’s still recoverable if that deallocated space hasn’t been written over yet. If a hard disk is protected by the Recovery Vault, Disk Drill monitors those changes and keeps a record of that meta information the HFS filesystem disposes of. So the next time you accidentally delete that end-game business file, Recovery Vault gives you a much better opportunity of finding that file (and much more quickly!) before it’s too late. Pretty cool right? There’s still a risk data will become unrecoverable, but you have a much better fighting chance.
That’s just the beginning of what Disk Drill can do…
Your program is great, I restored data from my 3 disks quite easy, a bit time consuming, but at least I got to review them so I ditched some old stuff… Have a nice day, be safe!
This product is magic. I’ve just recovered most of my data from an “unreadable” external drive. I was so lucky to stumble on you.