Looking for free data recovery for Mac (M2 chip) — any suggestions?

If you deleted these files from the internal SSD and emptied the Trash, then those files are gone due to how SSDs work unless you have other copies of those files stored elsewhere.

If these files were deleted from a Hard Drive, then data recovery software may be able to recover them as long as they have not been overwritten. However, once the Trash has been emptied, those deleted items are likely to lose the path & file name information for the files....meaning you may have to sift through thousands of files to try to figure out exactly which file the data belongs.

Most data recovery software will allow you to scan the drive to see what items it can locate. Some may even allow you to recover several files to prove the software can bring them back, but to recover more of those files requires purchasing the software. As for PhotoRec and TestDisk, the last time I checked several years ago, they still did not support recovering data from APFS volumes. As another user mentioned....these two apps are not easy to use although they do work on supported file systems.

Actually, you may want to check to see whether you have any APFS backup snapshots on your data volume. Here is an Apple article for checking if any APFS snapshots exist....only snapshots on the "Data" volume will contain files from your home user folder. If there are APFS snapshots for the Data volume, then you can have Disk Utility mount that APFS snapshot so you can navigate that snapshot using the Finder. The mounted snapshot will be located in the "/Volumes" folder....Disk Utility can tell you the name of the mounted snapshot, or it may appear on the Finder's Sidebar.

View APFS snapshots in Disk Utility on Mac - Apple Support

Could that data be stored in the cloud somewhere or on some other external media?

If your data is important, then you need to start a backup regimen of some sort. The easiest is to use the Time Machine backup app provided by macOS, or you can choose a third party option. There are a lot more new ways to permanently lose access to the data on the internal SSD of the recent Macs due to all the hardware, software, and security changes......so have frequent & regular backups if your data is important to you. The more important the data, the more backup copies you should have.

What is the best free data recovery for mac M2 tool?TestDisk is an open-source data recovery software, and PhotoRec (which comes bundled with TestDisk) specializes in recovering various file formats from different types of storage devices.

Features:

• Powerful recovery capabilities.
• Can recover a wide range of file types.
• Command-line interface, which can be tricky for some users but very effective.

Usage: Use the command line or a terminal window to run PhotoRac. It may not have the prettiest interface, but it’s reliable for recovery.

Tips for Success

The sooner you stop using your now-inaccessible drive, the better your chances of recovery. Writing new data can overwrite the deleted files, making recovery difficult or impossible. Sometimes, a drive may fail, and trying to recover data can exacerbate issues. If your drive is making unusual noises, consider seeking professional data recovery for mac M2 tool.

I have encountered this situation before. I imported thousands of photos from iPhone to Windows 11, but they were all in .heic format. The system could not open them by default. After installing the HEIF extension from Microsoft Store, it was still stuck and crashed frequently. Later, I simply used a command line tool, and the effect was surprisingly good!

I recommend you try the combination of ImageMagick + FastStone Viewer:

1. First install ImageMagick (supports Windows and Mac). It can batch read and convert HEIC image formats through the command line, which is very fast.

2. Then use FastStone Image Viewer. Although it does not natively support HEIC, you can use ImageMagick to convert to temporary JPG before browsing, or preview directly after installing the decoding library.

Here is a simple example of command line usage (for batch conversion of temporary preview images):

bash
magick mogrify -format jpg *.heic

This is much more convenient than converting manually one by one, and the interface is clean and not stuck. Although it is not a traditional heic viewer for PC Windows 11, I think this combination is more stable and practical than many so-called heic viewer for PC Windows 11. And ImageMagick can also be used on Mac, which is very flexible. If you don't want to install a bunch of bloated programs, this method is really worth a try!

In short, using the command line with FastStone is much better than always looking for heic viewer for PC Windows 11~

I just stepped into the pit a while ago. I deleted the entire project folder and emptied the trash can. The worst thing is that Time Machine was not turned on and there was no backup at all... Like you, I searched everywhere for data recovery for mac tools. I was dizzy after seeing so many ads and pitfalls. The free ones are basically the kind that you can try and then pay for recovery. It's super annoying.

However, if you don't want to install third-party software from the beginning, there is actually a way to use the command line on Mac to try to recover files. Although it cannot guarantee 100% success, I have used it to recover some PDFs and pictures before, so it is still worth a try.

Open Terminal

Enter the following command to find the deleted file name (try to remember the keyword)

bash
sudo find / -name "*Keyword*" 2>/dev/null

For example, if you deleted a file called report2024.pdf, change it to:

bash
sudo find / -name "*report2024*" 2>/dev/null

It will scan the entire disk to see if there are any files left in the cache or other corners. Sometimes the file system is not completely overwritten, and some of them can be found.

✅ Tips:

1. Be sure not to continue writing a large amount of data, otherwise the original file may be overwritten by the new data;
2. After finding the path, you can use the cp command to copy it out and save it.
3. Although this method is not a universal data recovery for mac ultimate solution, you can save it before you install the recovery software. Sometimes this step is all it takes to get important files back!

In short, if you don't want to be confused by adware at the beginning like me, you might as well use this command line method as your first step in data recovery for mac, and then decide whether to use tools. I used this data recovery for mac method to recover at least more than 30 documents. I sincerely recommend giving it a try ~ I wish you good luck too!

Data recovery software is not always the first choices when some of the files got deleted by accident. For Mac users, please connect the Time Machine backup drive and check if the deleted files are available from Time Machine backup.

The next step is to check the space from iCloud or other cloud storage services. These are two most straightforward methods to recover deleted files without any data recovery software on Mac. If the files are in backup, then it is fully recoverable. The free data recovery software for Mac is not 100% trustworthy.

P.S. Don't copy or move files to Mac before the files were successfully recovered.

Free data recovery software for Mac (M1/M2/M3):

PhotoRec is a powerful, open-source data recovery tool that focuses on recovering lost files, including documents, photos, and videos. It doesn’t have a user-friendly interface but is highly effective.

TestDisk is another open-source tool that focuses on recovering lost partitions and repairing boot sectors. It’s a great option if your data loss is due to partition issues.

Onyx is a macOS maintenance tool that includes some data recovery features. It’s more focused on system maintenance but can help in certain recovery scenarios.

Important Notes:

​Free Version Limitations: Most free tools only allow you to scan for lost files, and you’ll need to purchase a license to recover them.

​

Backup First: Always back up your data regularly to avoid permanent loss.

​

File System Compatibility: Ensure the tool supports APFS (Apple File System), which is used on Macs with M1 and M2 chips.

If your data is critical, consider using a paid tool for better success rates and more advanced recovery options.

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