Got your lost photos back from a Mac drive
You emptied the Trash, formatted a memory card, or a drive stopped mounting, and the birthday and wedding photos on it are gone. The files usually aren't. When a file is deleted, its pointer is removed and the data stays on the disk until something overwrites it. Mac Photo Recovery Tool scans for that leftover data and brings the pictures back.
Quick facts
- Platform: Mac OS X 10.5.x and above
- Memory and disk: minimum 1GB RAM, 50MB free disk space for installation
- File systems: HFS+, HFSX, FAT16 and FAT32
- Trial: a demo version lets you scan and preview before you buy
- Separate builds: one for Leopard and Snow Leopard, another for Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks and Yosemite
Key features
Recover photos after deletion, formatting or Trash overflow
The tool handles accidental deletion, emptied Trash, and files that skipped the Trash because it was full. It also covers formatted or re-partitioned volumes, virus attacks, sudden power-offs, and file system or catalog corruption.
Find files by signature, including RAW formats
It identifies popular photo and digital RAW formats by their unique signatures. The listing names JPEG, TIFF, GIF, PSD, PNG and BMP, plus RAW types such as CR2, CRW, ARW, DNG and X3F.
Get video and audio back too
Besides pictures, it restores video files (AVI, MP4, MOV, MPEG) and audio files (MP3, WAV, MIDI, M4B).
Two ways to browse what was found
You can view results by data type, which follows the folder structure, or by file type, which groups by extension. You can preview recovered photos before you save anything.
Works with many kinds of storage
It recovers from Mac hard drives (SATA, SCSI and IDE), memory cards, USB external drives and iPods. The vendor says it also works on MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.
How recovery works
- Install the demo and choose Recover Photos on the main screen.
- Pick Recover Lost Photos, then select the drive or volume to scan.
- Preview the recovered photos. If the results look good, buy the software and activate it. You can save the recovery session.
Who it's for
It suits Mac users who lost family pictures, camera memory card contents or RAW shots and want a guided, few-click process rather than command-line tools. Photographers with memory cards and external drives will find the supported formats useful.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Simple three-step workflow with preview before you pay
- Wide range of photo, RAW, video and audio formats
- Does not modify the original files while scanning
- Works on internal drives, cards and USB drives
Cons
- Files that have already been overwritten cannot be recovered
- The demo only previews. You need the full version to save recovered files.
- Built for older OS X releases, with separate downloads depending on your version
- Only HFS+, HFSX, FAT16 and FAT32 volumes are listed as supported
FAQs
Can it recover photos after I emptied the Trash?
Yes, as long as new data hasn't overwritten them. Stop using the drive as soon as you notice the loss.
Can I try it before buying?
Yes. The demo version scans and lets you preview recovered photos first.
Does it recover RAW photos?
Yes. It supports RAW formats including CR2, CRW, ARW, SR2, KDC, K25, DCR, X3F and DNG.
Which Mac volumes does it read?
HFS+, HFSX, FAT16 and FAT32 volumes.
Which OS X version do I need?
Mac OS X 10.5 or later. There is one version for Leopard and Snow Leopard, and another for Lion through Yosemite.
System requirements
- Mac OS X 10.5.x and above
- Minimum 1GB RAM
- 50MB free disk space for installation