Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac: Recover Deleted Files and Lost Volumes
Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac is an $89.99 one-year program that recovers deleted files, lost volumes and data from Macs that won't start. It's for Mac owners who've emptied the Trash, formatted the wrong drive or can't get a volume to mount, and the free download recovers up to 1 GB before you pay.
On a Mac with an SSD, deleted files can disappear quickly, and Time Machine only helps if it ran. When a volume won't mount or an update leaves a Mac stuck at the Apple logo, you need something that reads the disk itself. Stellar scans for what's left, shows you what it found, and copies it to another drive.
Quick facts
- Version: 12.8.0.0, released September 2026
- Developer: Stellar Data Recovery
- Runs on: macOS 10.13 High Sierra through macOS Golden Gate 27, on Intel Macs (including T1 and T2) and Apple silicon M1 to M6
- Volumes: APFS, HFS+, NTFS, exFAT and FAT32
- Price: $89.99 for a 1-year license on one Mac
- Free version: recovers up to 1 GB of data
- Guarantee: 30-day money-back guarantee
- What we checked: the installer on Stellar's server (354.3 MB, dated September 30, 2026), the version and requirements on the product page, the screens in Stellar's version 12 Mac manual, and the $89.99 price and 12-month renewal on the order page on November 5, 2026. We didn't run a recovery on a Mac ourselves.
Before you buy: don't install it on the drive you're rescuing
Every new file written to a drive can overwrite what you want back. Stop using that drive, and keep an external drive ready to save recovered files to. On a Mac with one internal SSD, TRIM can clear deleted data soon after deletion, so a recent mistake has a better chance than an old one.
The $89.99 license lasts one year and is set up to renew every 12 months, so check your order email if you only need one rescue. Stellar also sells a lifetime Professional license for $149 on its own site.
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Overview
The Professional edition is the entry point of Stellar's Mac range, and it covers most home and small-office data loss. You pick the kinds of file you want, pick a drive, and scan. Results fill in as the scan runs, so you can see early whether your files are there. The left menu shows some options that belong to higher editions, along with a permanent Upgrade button.
The What To Recover screen from Stellar's version 12 manual. Virtual machine and NAS recovery in the left menu are Technician features.
Features
Recovery from emptied Trash and formatted drives
Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac gets back documents, photos, audio, video and more than 300 file types by default, from Mac drives, external drives, USB sticks and memory cards. It also recovers Apple Mail items, and Deep Scan looks harder when a normal scan comes up short.
Lost volumes and Macs that won't boot
Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac scans deleted or lost volumes directly, and it can run from macOS Recovery mode through Terminal when a Mac won't start. That lets you copy files to an external drive before you reinstall macOS.
Recovery from Time Machine backups
Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac reads a Time Machine drive that macOS can't use, so a failed or corrupted backup isn't a total loss.
Disk images for failing drives
Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac makes an exact image of a drive, bad sectors included, and scans the copy. Each extra scan strains a dying disk, so imaging first is the safer order.
Works with Mac security left on
Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac doesn't need System Integrity Protection turned off or a kernel extension installed on T2 and Apple silicon Macs. You grant Full Disk Access and it scans like any other trusted app.
A scan of Macintosh HD at 6%, with the file tree building on the left and pause and stop buttons at the bottom.
Pause, preview and recover during a scan
Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac builds its file tree as it scans. You can pause, preview what's turned up and recover it, which matters on a large drive where a Deep Scan can run for hours.
Scan results sorted by file type, with a PNG open in the preview window and the Recover button below.
Cleanup and drive tools
Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac includes SpeedUp Mac for junk files, caches and duplicates, plus a drive monitor that tracks temperature, health and SMART status. Treat these as extras, and review what the cleanup tool suggests before you delete anything.
Real-World Uses
- The Trash was emptied too soon. A report folder you needed went with it, and you scan the Mac straight away.
- An external drive asks to be initialized. A backup or project disk won't mount, and you scan it directly before you try Disk Utility.
- A macOS update went wrong. The Mac loops at the Apple logo, so you pull your documents to an external drive before reinstalling.
- A failing disk starts clicking. You make an image first, then recover from the copy.
Who It's For, and Who Should Skip It
This fits Mac owners who've lost documents, email or mixed files and want a guided app rather than command-line tools.
Skip it if your drive makes grinding noises or isn't detected at all: software can't fix hardware, and a recovery lab is the right call. Skip it too if your lost files are mostly photos or videos that come back damaged, since repair is only in Premium. If you need NAS, virtual machine or Linux recovery, that's the Technician edition. And if you run a Windows PC, this license doesn't cover it.
Usage Guide
- Download the free version and install it, ideally not on the drive you're recovering. Give it Full Disk Access when macOS asks.
- On What To Recover, choose Recover Everything or pick documents, emails, videos, audio or photos.
- Choose the drive or volume. Turn on Deep Scan for formatted drives or files a normal scan doesn't find, then click Scan.
- Check the results in the list views and preview your files. You can pause the scan to do this.
- Tick what you want, click Recover and save to a different drive. Up to 1 GB is free, and more needs a license.
Where it falls short
- Encrypted volumes need your password. FileVault and encrypted APFS volumes can't be read without the password or recovery key.
- Found doesn't always mean usable. Trustpilot's one-star reviews are often about files that appear in the results but won't open, and Professional has no repair.
- Large scans are slow. MacSources found long scans and heavy resource use on big drives.
- The extras are the buggy part. Macworld's reviewer had the junk cleaner crash, and MacSources found files marked as junk that weren't.
- Upgrade prompts stay. Macworld's reviewer disliked the Upgrade button that remained after he'd bought Professional.
What Users Say
Independent reviews cover Stellar Data Recovery for Mac as a family, and Macworld's reviewer used a Professional license, so they apply closely here. They agree that it digs deep and is easy to use, and several report bugs worth knowing about.
Macworld
Chris Barylick reviewed it for Macworld in September 2024: "Despite the need for a bug hunt, Stellar Data Recovery for Mac is a good program that is able to dig deep to help reconstruct and recover deleted data." He singled out the recovery engine: "Stellar Data Recovery's chief strength is the breadth of its data recovery engine, and it does this well."
His criticism was specific: "However, Stellar's Clean Up Junk Files crashed the application repeatedly and had to be force quit under macOS Sonoma 14.6.1, which proved disconcerting." Activating his serial number took several days of calls and emails, and of the Upgrade button he wrote: "This element just becomes nagware that continuously tugs at your pant leg asking you to purchase the highest-end account."
The Mac Observer
Nick deCourville reviewed it in October 2024, listing "simple, easy-to-use UI" as a strength and "Different pricing tiers, users may find it to be expensive." as a weakness. In use: "It's fast, it's easy, it's clean." He also warned: "Some antivirus software may flag one of Stellar's executable files as a virus. Considering all Stellar Mac applications feature certificates notarized by Apple, this was most definitely a false positive."
MacSources: 80%
Robyn rated it 80% in December 2024 (design 80%, ease of use 90%, price 70%): "Stellar Data Recovery for Mac combines solid design, excellent ease of use, and fair pricing options, making it a strong choice for anyone needing to recover lost files."
She listed slow scans on large drives and heavy resource use as cons, and found the cleanup tool too eager: "I reviewed what I found before blindly deleting them. I'm glad I did, too, because some of the files were ones it claimed could be trashed and were not junk."
Trustpilot and Stellar's customers
Stellar's Trustpilot page covers all its products and showed 4.8 out of 5 from about 5,600 reviews on November 5, 2026. Many five-star reviews thank a named support agent, such as Grincavitch: "Kush did a great job helping me recover 10 years of data while trying to transition between win to Mac." The one-star reviews are mostly about files that wouldn't open, very long scans and licensing.
On Stellar's own page, Steve B. writes "10 Years Worth of Data Recovered from a Non Mounting Hard Drive using Stellar!", and Paul Turnbull writes "I Tried Everything to Recover My SSD Data... Only Stellar Worked!"
The recurring themes: reviewers like the clean interface, the depth of the scans and the responsive support. The complaints are slow scans on big drives, bugs in the cleanup extras, an upgrade prompt that never goes away, and found files too damaged to open.
Comparisons
Stellar vs Time Machine
Time Machine is free and restores exactly what it backed up, so use it first if you have a recent backup. Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac is for what Time Machine can't reach: files deleted before the last backup, drives that were never backed up, or a backup disk that won't mount.
Editions and Pricing
| Edition |
1-year price |
What it adds |
| Professional |
$89.99 |
Deleted files, lost volumes, unbootable Macs, disk images, Mac optimization |
| Premium |
$99.99 |
Repairs corrupt videos and photos, extracts thumbnails |
| Technician |
$199 |
Virtual machines, Linux file systems, NAS and NAS RAID recovery |
At $10 more, Premium is the better deal if photos or videos are part of what you lost.
FAQs
Does Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac work on M4 and M5 Macs?
Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac supports Apple silicon from M1 to M6, as well as Intel Macs with T1 or T2 chips, on macOS 10.13 through Golden Gate 27.
Can Stellar Data Recovery recover files from a FileVault drive?
Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac can scan FileVault and encrypted APFS volumes if you have the password or recovery key. Without it, macOS won't allow access.
Can I use one license on two Macs?
Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac is licensed per Mac: you install it on one system and can recover unlimited data on it.
Does Stellar Data Recovery for Mac have a refund policy?
Stellar Data Recovery for Mac comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, and Stellar's refund policy sets the terms. The free version shows what it can find first, which is the better test.
Will antivirus software flag Stellar Data Recovery for Mac?
Stellar Data Recovery for Mac may be flagged by some antivirus tools. The Mac Observer's reviewer saw this and judged it a false positive, as Stellar's Mac apps are notarized by Apple.
System Requirements
- macOS Golden Gate 27, Tahoe 26, Sequoia 15, Sonoma 14, Ventura 13, Monterey 12, Big Sur 11, Catalina 10.15, Mojave 10.14 or High Sierra 10.13
- Intel Mac, including T1 and T2 models, or Apple silicon M1 to M6
- 8 GB RAM
- 500 MB of free disk space, plus space for recovered files
Conclusion
Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac is worth $89.99 if the free scan finds your files, particularly for non-booting Macs and volumes that won't mount, where it can save a trip to a recovery lab. The reason to buy it is the depth of its scans in an app anyone can use. The main reason not to is that photos and videos often come back damaged and Professional can't repair them, so pay the extra $10 for Premium if that's what you've lost.
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