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4.79

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4.79

Disk Drill for Mac combines ease of use with excellent data recovery capabilities and many extra features that greatly increase its overall value.

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Platform

macOS

Version

5.4.1426

Last Release

22nd Dec, 2023

Requirements

macOS 10.15-14.0

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Pros

  • Two for one. When you buy Disk Drill for Mac, you also unlock Disk Drill for Windows.

  • Abundance of extra utilities. Included with Disk Drill for Mac are many extra free utilities that greatly increase the value of the software.

  • Structured scan results. Disk Drill groups scan results into three main categories (Deleted, Existing, and Reconstructed), and it provides advanced filters to help you find what you're looking for.

  • Mount results as a virtual disk. The results of all scans can be mounted as a virtual disk and browsed using Finder.

  • RAID recovery capabilities. The latest version of Disk Drill for Mac can reconstruct and recover RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 1E + JBOD arrays.

  • File previews. The program can generate previews for all file formats supported by macOS.

  • Raw photo support. The raw image scanner is one of the best on the market because it can detect the largest number of raw file formats.

  • Multiple view options. There are 4 view options: files, files and icons, folders, and folders with icons.

  • Support for Windows Storage Space. Disk Drill can scan and recovery files from Windows Storage Spaces in the following configurations: Simple, Two-way mirror, Three-way mirror, Parity.

  • Raw video support. Disk Drill for Mac excels at detecting professional raw video formats like Apple ProRes or Braw.

  • Recovery chances. You can see how likely can each file be successfully recovered.

  • S.M.A.R.T. Can read and analyze S.M.A.R.T. data from all compatible devices, including spinning hard drives in older Macs as well as fast SSDs in M1 Macs.

  • Clever scan. The program does a great job of restoring the original structure of files and folders on FAT32, exFAT, NTFS, HFS+, and APFS partitions.

  • Great support for Linux file systems. Disk Drill can find and recover the original file structure even after formatting or partition loss.

  • Mounting images. In certain scenarios, the program can mount even those disk images (.dmg and other supported formats) that can't be mounted by macOS itself.

  • No installation needed. It’s possible to launch Disk Drill without installation from macOS Recovery Mode.

  • Deep scan of T2/M1/M2 devices. The program is able to scan system disks on devices with T2 and M1/M2 processors.

  • Compatible with Apple Silicon Macs. The latest version of Disk Drill for Mac is fully compatible with all Apple Silicon Macs (M1 & M2) running the latest version of macOS.

  • Mobile device recovery. This data recovery software can recover certain data on iOS and Android mobile devices, a capability that most competitors would usually branch out into a separate product.

  • iOS 16 recovery. iPhones running iOS 16 and newer can be recovered without any issues using Disk Drill for Mac.

  • Recovers third-party iOS data. Disk Drill for Mac can recover both first-party (messages, contacts) and third-party (WhatsApp, Viber, Kik, and so on) iOS data.

  • Time Machine. The program can scan both local system snapshots as well as disks containing backups created by Time Machine.

  • Data protection. Disk Drill includes two additional modules to prevent data loss from occurring in the first place.

  • Creating macOS installation disks. There is a free module for creating macOS installation disks.

  • Byte-by-byte disk copies. It's possible to create both full and partial byte-by-byte disk copies.

  • Bad sector map. Disk Drill for Mac can create a map of physical bad sectors during scanning to improve data recovery speed and efficiency. It’s also possible to manually input sectors to be skipped during disk reading.

  • Portable mode. The program can work in portable mode without making any changes to scanned systems.

  • Scanning process clarity. The scanning process is visualized in real time, with information about the number of scanned disk blocks, found files, and the estimated remaining time available at a glance.

  • Recover during scan. With the latest version of Disk Drill, you can recover lost files with a scan going on in the background.

  • Support for VHD and VHDX images. Disk Drill can mount these virtual hard drive image file formats and scan them just like regular storage devices.

  • Great technical content. There is a dedicated YouTube channel, as well as a blog with a vast database of support content that covers all sorts of data loss scenarios and solutions.

  • Saving scans. The program automatically saves scan sessions and has a friendly interface that makes it easily possible to resume or review any of them later.

  • Cross-platform scan sessions. Disk Drill scan sessions can be shared between the Mac version and the Windows version of the data recovery software.

  • Outstanding flexibility. The user can browse found files, preview them, filter them, and more, while the software is still searching for lost data.

  • Active disk monitoring. If bad or unreadable disk areas are found during the scanning process, the program recommends the user to create a backup first.

  • Scanning prompts. When there is a chance to find additional data, Disk Drill for Mac automatically offers to re-scan activating additional recovery algorithms.

  • Disk status icons. With S.M.A.R.T. monitoring activated one can see disk temperatures, lifetime remaining, disk health, and free disk space in the menu bar.

  • User interface. The program has a fancy modern interface with dark mode support.

  • Auto resume. If the scanning or backup process is suddenly interrupted, the software automatically resumes it as soon as possible.

  • Free space scan. Disk Drill for Mac can increase scanning speed by focusing on sectors that are marked as empty.

Cons

  • Phone support. No phone number to call for support is provided.

  • No disk cloning. Disk Drill doesn't offer disk cloning features, but creates convenient byte-by-byte backups for better data recovery from unstable drives.

  • Bootable drives. The software doesn't have an option to create custom boot drives.

  • Recovery over a network. It's not possible to perform remote recovery over a network.

  • Video and photo repair. Disk Drill doesn't offer the ability to repair corrupted videos and photos.

Features

Pricing

Starting Price

$89.00 / Perpetual

Lifetime

Distributed as

Freemium

Free Trial

No credit card required

Money back guarantee?

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Recovery Performance

The quality and quantity of data recovery results.

100%

Deep scan

HFS+ partitions

Tips # 1

APFS partitions

Tips # 2

FAT32 partitions

Tips # 3

exFAT partitions

Tips # 4

NTFS partitions

Tips # 5

EXT4 partitions

Tips # 6

95%

Quick scan

HFS+ partitions

Tips # 7

APFS partitions

Tips # 8

FAT32 partitions

Tips # 9

exFAT partitions

Tips # 10

NTFS partitions

Tips # 11

EXT4 partitions

Tips # 12

97%

Real-life recovery challenge

Document formats recovery

Tips # 13

Raw photo recovery

Tips # 14

Video formats recovery

Tips # 15

Scan Results

Recovered file names and folder structure.

Good

100%

Corrupted

0%

Lost

0%

Recovered by Deep Scan

200000

Number of sample files

200000

Device Support

The number of devices that can be recovered.

95%

Device support

Internal and external HDD

Tips # 16

Internal and external SSD

Tips # 17

USB thumb drives / Classic iPods (non-iOS) / FireWire devices

Tips # 18

Memory cards

Tips # 19

iOS devices

Tips # 20

iOS backups

Tips # 21

iCloud

Tips # 22

Android devices

Tips # 23

Recovery from RAID arrays

Tips # 24

Encrypted device support

Tips # 25

Unmountable partitions

Tips # 26

NAS (Network-attached storage) RAID devices

Tips # 27

Remote SSH (secure shell protocol) Linux based devices recovery

Tips # 28

Notable Recovery Features

Non-essential capabilities that can help achieve better data recovery results.

93%

Additional scan features

The number of file types supported by signature scan

Tips # 29

Native deep scan of system drives on M1/M2/M3-powered Macs

Tips # 30

Native data recovery from local Time Machine snapshots

Tips # 31

Scan for lost partitions

Tips # 32

Recovered files' labeling

Tips # 33

Partial file recovery

Tips # 34

Disk images: scan and recovery

Tips # 35

Native deep scan of system drives on T2-encrypted Macs

Tips # 36

HFS+ directory rebuild

Tips # 37

88%

Other notable recovery features

Overall non-intrusive read-only algorithms

Tips # 38

Effectively filters out corrupted scan results

Tips # 39

Byte-to-byte device backups

Tips # 40

Bootable recovery drive creation

Tips # 41

Runs in macOS native recovery mode

Tips # 42

Convenient scan session management

Tips # 43

Bad sector management

Tips # 44

Recovery chance prediction

Tips # 45

RAID reconstructor

Tips # 46

Disk vitals monitoring and tracking during scan

Tips # 47

Data protection

Tips # 48

Links to in-lab recovery service for physically damaged devices

Tips # 49

Scan speed

Tips # 50

Scan free space only

Tips # 51

Start file recovery without interrupting the scan

Tips # 52

Preview recoverable items without interrupting the scan

Tips # 53

Forensic features

Tips # 54

Network recovery

Tips # 55

Extras

Additional features that may or may not be directly related to data recovery.

8/12

Extras

Disk space mapping

Tips # 56

Disk clean up

Tips # 57

Time Machine backups parser

Tips # 58

S.M.A.R.T.

Tips # 59

Bootable macOS installer

Tips # 60

Duplicate finder

Tips # 61

Built-in disk space secure eraser

Tips # 62

Secure data shredding

Tips # 63

Corrupted video repair tool

Tips # 64

Corrupted photo repair tool

Tips # 65

Disk cloning

Tips # 66

Disk surface test

Tips # 67

Usability

The intuitiveness and ease of use of data recovery software.

100%

Usability

Ease of use

Easy

Modern user-friendly interface

Tips # 68

Dark mode

Tips # 69

Easy-to-locate features

Tips # 70

Automatic implementation of multiple appropriate scanning methods without user interaction

Tips # 71

Auto-resuming scans of failing drives

Tips # 72

Convenient source selection on start

Tips # 73

Convenient file-by-file preview of recoverable items

Tips # 74

Convenient thumbnail preview of recoverable items

Tips # 75

Mount recoverable items as disk

Tips # 76

Built-in updater

Tips # 77

Multiple view modes in scan results

Tips # 78

Hex view for recoverable items

Tips # 79

Filter recoverable items by type

Tips # 80

Search recoverable items by file names

Tips # 81

Sort results

Tips # 82

Multilingual UI

Tips # 83

Simple deployment

Tips # 84

Auto-resuming backups of failing drives

Tips # 85

Karma

The reputation of the developer and its dedication to improving the software.

90%

Karma

Updated recently

Tips # 86

Update frequency

Tips # 87

Changelog available

Tips # 88

Latest macOS supported

Tips # 89

Runs natively on M1/M2/M3 Macs

Tips # 90

Genuine or clone?

Tips # 91

Brand name popularity

Tips # 92

Online market share

Tips # 93

Maturity

Tips # 94

Extensive knowledge base

Tips # 95

Helpdesk support

Tips # 96

Live chat

Tips # 97

Phone support

Tips # 98

Data Recovery Software Ranking Summary

Total Score

1st Place

9

2nd Place

0

3rd Place

0

Details

Deep scan

Quick scan

Real-life recovery challenge

Device support

Additional scan features

Other notable recovery features

Extras

Usability

Karma

Verdict