How do I recover a lost disk on Mac?

Data Recovery
1

I accidentally wiped my main disk on my Mac and now it’s not showing up. I’ve tried Disk Utility but it didn’t help. What are my options for recovering the data? Looking for any software recommendations or steps to fix this.

2

Sounds like you’re in quite the predicament with your Mac. Here’s a breakdown of what you can try:

Immediate Steps to Take:

  1. Stop Using the Disk:
    If you’ve accidentally wiped your main disk, the first thing you need to do is stop using it immediately. The more you use it, the higher the chances that the data will be overwritten and become unrecoverable.

  2. Boot from an External Drive:
    You’ll need to boot your Mac from an external drive to avoid writing any new data to the main disk. If you have a macOS installer on a USB stick, you can boot from that.

  3. Re-check Disk Utility:
    Sometimes the disk won’t show up in the main interface of Disk Utility, but you might still be able to see it from a different boot environment. When you boot from an external drive, go to Disk Utility through macOS Utilities and see if your disk appears.

Data Recovery Software Options:

  1. Disk Drill:
    This software is highly recommended for data recovery on Mac. It’s user-friendly and designed for such unfortunate scenarios. You can download it here.

    Here’s how to use Disk Drill:

    • Download and Install:
      Download and install Disk Drill on your external bootable drive.

    • Launch the Program:
      Open Disk Drill once installed.

    • Select the Disk:
      You should see your wiped disk in the list of available drives. Select it.

    • Scan the Disk:
      Use the Quick or Deep Scan options depending on the severity of the wipe.

    • Recover Data:
      Once the scan is complete, you can review the files and choose which ones to recover. Save them to an external drive to avoid overwriting.

  2. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard:
    Another solid option to consider. Their interface is pretty straightforward, and it can recover data from accidentally wiped disks.

  3. Stellar Data Recovery:
    Also worth considering, especially if Disk Drill or EaseUS doesn’t fully recover your files.

Professional Help:

  1. Data Recovery Services:
    If software methods don’t work, professional data recovery services can be the next step. Companies like DriveSavers or Ontrack offer services to recover data from severely damaged or wiped disks but can be quite pricey.

Steps to Reformat the Disk:

  1. Reformat Using Disk Utility:
    If you decide to give up on data recovery and want to reformat to use the disk again, follow these steps.

    • Boot from an external drive.
    • Open Disk Utility.
    • Identify your wiped disk (it might be listed as Uninitialized or Untitled).
    • Select ‘Erase’ and choose the format you need (usually APFS or MacOS Extended).

  2. Reinstall macOS:
    After reformatting, reinstall macOS from the external boot drive. This will give you a fresh OS to work with.

Preventative Measures for the Future:

  1. Regular Backups:
    Use Time Machine or another backup service to regularly back up your data. This ensures that you can recover most, if not all, of your data in case of such incidents.

  2. Cloud Storage:
    Utilize cloud storage solutions like iCloud, Dropbox, or Google Drive for crucial files.

  3. Disk Cloning:
    Periodically clone your main disk to an external drive using software like Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper!. This creates a bootable copy of your entire system that you can recover from in emergencies.

I hope these steps and options help you recover your lost data or at least get your Mac back to a working state. Best of luck!

3

Hey @byteguru, your advice is pretty solid! I’ve been down this road before and there are a few additional angles to consider that might help fill in the gaps or offer alternative solutions.

First, if Disk Utility isn’t showing your disk at all, it might be worth trying to reset the NVRAM and SMC. Sometimes these settings get muddled and can cause hardware issues to manifest.

NVRAM Reset:

  1. Shut down your Mac.
  2. Turn it back on and immediately press and hold Option + Command + P + R.
  3. Hold the keys for about 20 seconds, then release.

SMC Reset:

  1. Shut down your Mac.
  2. If you have a MacBook with a non-removable battery, press Shift + Control + Option on the left side and the power button for 10 seconds.
  3. For Mac desktops, unplug the power cord, wait 15 seconds, and plug it back in.

After resetting, check Disk Utility again. If your disk still doesn’t appear, don’t despair.

Regarding data recovery software, I’ve had a pretty good experience with Prosoft Engineering’s Data Rescue. It’s another reliable option, though a bit more complex to use compared to Disk Drill. Speaking of Disk Drill, you can get it at Download Disk Drill. It’s user-friendly and usually gets the job done without much hassle.

Also, RE: professional data recovery services—while they can be expensive, they can perform magic that consumer software can’t. If your data is mission-critical, places like DriveSavers or Ontrack are worth every penny.

I’d like to slightly disagree with the extensive use of Disk Utility as a primary tool if it didn’t help the first time. Sometimes it’s best to cut your losses with it and immediately switch to dedicated recovery tools instead of spending too much time fiddling around.

Another slightly different approach could be using Terminal commands for disk management. If Disk Utility GUI doesn’t recognize the disk, sometimes macOS still sees it at a lower level. The diskutil list command can be insightful. If it shows your disk, you might try a few other commands like diskutil repairVolume <Disk Identifier> to see if you can get it back online.

Finally, for reformatting, I recommend using Disk Drill’s Clone Disk function before erasing if you’ve decided that data recovery is a no-go anymore. This way, you have a backup in case you realize later that you need to revisit recovery attempts.

Hope you sort it out! Remember to always have a backup moving forward. Saving work-related files to the cloud is a must these days and will prevent these headaches in the future. Good luck!

4

You seriously botched things up, didn’t you? Disk Drill is okay but not a miracle worker. Sure, its user-friendliness might save some simple cases, but let’s be real—if you nuked your main disk, it’s not guaranteed it’ll bring everything back.

Now, resetting NVRAM and SMC as @byteguru suggested is fine—do it if you want, but it probably won’t make that wiped disk magically reappear. It’s like hoping a band-aid will fix a broken bone.

Also, Disk Utility is useless if it didn’t work the first time. Wasting time here is just… well, wasting time.

You might want to try Disk Drill’s Disk Image Backup first before you nuke the drive again. Pros? Easy interface. Cons? It’s not free if you want real recovery features. Alternatives like Prosoft Engineering’s Data Rescue or Stellar Data Recovery might give different results but are equally costly.

In any case, if your data is uber-important, those pricy professional recovery services like DriveSavers or Ontrack might be your last lifeline. But be ready to shell out big bucks.

And for heaven’s sake, start using Time Machine or just embrace cloud storage so you don’t end up here again.