How to recover photos from a damaged external HD after macOS update?

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How to recover photos from a damaged external HD after macOS update?

macOS cant repair the disk "external HD" error after update. All basic fixes online have not helped. I have many pictures on it of my family and my wife passed during covid and we cannot lose them. Please help

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: External SD card issues

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.7

Posted on Dec 23, 2025 6:44 PM

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Answer 1

Rudegar

Level 10

180,264 points

Dec 24, 2025 2:07 AM in response to sdbolts583

there are companies that makes a living salvaging data

[Official] Hard Drive Recovery for Windows & Mac, Specialized in Data Recovery-copy-copy

getting data from a dead hard drive : r/datarecovery

more

recover data from dead hard drive - Google Search

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Answer 2

Niel

Community+ 2025

Level 10

741,419 points

Dec 23, 2025 6:58 PM in response to sdbolts583

If you're able to access the drive in the Finder, drag-copy the files off. Otherwise, you'd need a data recovery product or a more-powerful repair tool.

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