The best third party recovery software for OS X?

General File Recovery

If you stop using the drive it's possible to recover deleted files that have not been overwritten by using recovery software such as Data Rescue II, File Salvage or TechTool Pro. Each of the preceding come on bootable CDs to enable usage without risk of writing more data to the hard drive. Two free alternatives are Disk Drill and TestDisk. Look for them and demos at MacUpdate or CNET Downloads.

The longer the hard drive remains in use and data are written to it, the greater the risk your deleted files will be overwritten.

Also visit The XLab FAQs and read the FAQ on Data Recovery.

As long as the computer is turned on you are using the hard drive. You need to shut down the computer. If the computer has been in use quite some time since the data were erased, then you run a big risk that some of those files will be lost.

You can download demos of the software. The demos will show what can be restored. But restoring requires you purchase the software.

Once files have been deleted from the Trash that space immediately becomes available for the hard drive to write again. Depending on where they are and what new information you add to the hard drive they will be overwritten as the hard drive adds files.

You would need a bootable external drive. As long as the computer is running OS X will be writing data to the drive. Any disk operations instigated by something you do will also write to the disk. Because the erased files free up space in the disk's directory, the OS may use that space for any new disk writes thus overwriting whatever was there, namely your file data. This will render the file unrecoverable.

In reality each is different. I can't give a a difinitive recommendation as I've never had to use such software. All provide essentially partially disabled demos that will list what is recoverable, but will not recover anything until you purchase the software.

None of them will damage anything.

Why on earth are you replying to a nearly 4 year old posting?

The OP has already had their issues solved.

Way ta' go.

Yeah,

I've done this a few times myself over the years, too!

😝

Vishal2014 wrote:

You definitely do not require a bootable agent to start Mac and perform deleted file recovery from the hard drive.

Read what was said earlier in Re: The best third party recovery software for OS X? No, you do not absolutely have to use a separate boot drive but if you do you will improve your chances of recovering files.

Here is a list of best data recovery softwares that I have found:

1. uFlysoft
2. Recuva
3. Disk Drill
4. Glary Undelete
5. Panda Recovery
6. SoftPerfect File Recovery
7. EaseUs Data Recovery Software