Right click and select “Open” if you get an error by opening this application in macOS Catalina

• Mac Backup Tool
• Mac Backup Software Reviews
• Best Mac Backup Software 2017
• Mac File Backup software, free download

Compatible with APFS & macOS Catalina and below. Backups to HFS+ volumes will be bootable, even on Catalina.

1. It has both the characteristics of a backup and of a file hosting service. It is probably the best cloud backup for Mac available at present. As of February 2016, iCloud reported 782 million users. The backup Mac to iCloud service is not only provided for Macintosh computers, but also for iOS and Windows devices.
2. The Best Cloud Backup for Mac in 2021. Backing up a Mac can be tricky if you prefer not using Apple's software; Cloudwards.net makes it easier by presenting you with the best cloud backup for Mac.

Mac Backup Guru creates bootable backups, and incremental snapshots for efficiently preserving history. For a light visual overview of this mac backup software have a look around the User Guide. To see how to use it in practice take a look at the product manual. Or if you prefer to jump straight in you can download a fully functional trial Or purchase it here.

Mac Backup Guru has 3 main functions for creating bootable backups, and for keeping your data in synch across backups: Direct Cloning, Synchronization, and Incremental Snapshots.
All of them can handle anything from small amounts of files & data to massive amounts.

It verifies the backup files and ensures reliability. It provides encryption of data and allows restoring data smoothly. Other Tape Backup Software for Different Platforms. There are many varieties of tape backup software available for different versions of Windows and Mac Os. How to Recover Deleted Files on Mac Without Software 2021 Free Though Mac data recovery software is available to recover deleted files on HDD, external USB drive, SD card, or fusion drive on a MacBook and iMac device, it is still good to command the knowledge of how to recover deleted files on Mac without software. SilverKeeper – Free Mac File Backup Software. SilverKeeper V2.0 LaCie’s free backup application is designed to support All Apple’s OS X 10 operating system for Intel and PowerPC based Macintosh computers. SilverKeeper can automates backups to external storage devices like hard drives, network drives, and other removable storage devices.

Direct Cloning: (useful for a fast bootable backup)
Make an exact duplicate of a folder or disk, fast.
Although we typically just use drag & drop for simple folder copies in the Finder, when we want to make a copy of something that is more complex, that simply won’t do. Did you ever try to copy your System folder for example? That won’t work. It will even struggle with large folders with lots of files in it, and the copies are not resumable if you have to restart them. That is fine, it is not designed for that.
If you want to make reliable and exact duplicates of anything you can throw at it, this is the way to do it. It will be happy backing up petabytes of data, or complex folder hierarchies with arcane filesystem metadata, permissions, and ACL’s set, and reproduce an exact, indistinguishable, duplicate.

Synchronization: (keeps your bootable backup in sync)
If you already have a partial backup (for example, an out-of-date previously made clone, or even just a Finder copy between two folders) you can use Synchronization to create a clone faster than creating it from scratch. The beauty of this Synchronization in this case is that by using it the result is indistinguishable from an originally-made clone, it’s as good as a brand new clone, but it only copies the files are different between the source and destination. This is the backup method typically employed by most mac backup software. This is to allow you to have, for example, a bootable external disk which you also use for storage of other miscellaneous items. Since the root will never have any items deleted from it, anything else you are storing on that external will not be affected by any Syncs to that destination disk.

Incremental Snapshots: (preserves all you file’s history while efficiently using space)

At first it seems impossible, but the Incremental Snapshot feature allows you to store what seems to be 15TB of information on a 2TB drive. This allows you to preserve versioned changes on your backup disk for months.

If you are working with your files and you make a mistake, you don’t want that mistake to be automatically reflected in your backups, but at the same time you do want to preserve the latest work you have done. So how can we preserve the good without also preserving the bad?
The answer to this is Snapshots. Although it would be laborious and space consuming to make a complete clone of your stuff every time a backup is made. Say you had a 500GB internal drive, and your backup disk had 700GB of space available on it, then in normal circumstances you would be able to fit about one and a half clones onto your backup disk. Not very useful.
By selecting Snapshots, this mac backup software will employ some wizardry whereby you can fit a full apparent clone of your disk which contains 500GB of data and 1 million files in as little as 3GB, instead of the usual 500GB that would usually be needed. This will appear and act as an exact clone in every way. Even if you Get Info on it using the Finder it will tell you that it’s taking up 500GB of space. But because underneath the surface it is using hardlinks (basically advanced aliases) to the last backup that it made, it’s actually only storing fresh copies of the files that have been changed since the previous time a backup was made, and the rest are hardlinks to the previous backup.
The upshot of this is that you can store around 150 copies of your startup drive with 500GB and 1 million files on it on your backup drive with 700GB free, instead of the 1.5 copies you could store with traditional backup software. The best way to use this is to set up a daily schedule to make a Snapshot of your source drive, and just leave it there. You will then have a daily timestamped backup of your data, and you can go back at any point and pull out preserved copies of any particular files that you want. You can delete older backups manually or automatically when you no longer need them, because when you do the hardlinks will automatically be redirected to the next copy of the data. Only the most recently completed Snapshot needs to remain present to be used as the basis for the next Snapshot that will get created.

If you just set it and forget it everything gets handled automatically, and all you really need to know is that for all intents and purposes the Snapshots are just like direct copies, with the only practical difference being that it is a lot faster to make them, and they take up around 200 times less space.

What size is it really? 611.07 GB or 184 GB? du got it right. It’s one third of the size that the Finder is displaying.

Can I make a backup while I’m using my system?
Yes. It will happily run in the background and still make bootable backups of your disk.

Will Mac Backup Guru run my scheduled backups even if I have quit it?
Yes. It will automatically start up in the background.

What will happen if I’m backing up to an external drive, and it is not available for when the backup is scheduled?
The mac backup software will automatically run the next time you connect the drive, right away. It will also provide you with Notifications that there is a pending backup waiting when it opens.

How can I restore a backup?
Locate the backup that you want to restore. It can be any of the above (a Clone, a Synchronized Clone, or a Snapshot). Select it, and then create a back up from that, but this time selecting the backup as the Source. If you selected a copy of your bootable backup, then by restoring it (even by a Snapshot), you will re-create a bootable startup disk.

How is this different from Time Machine?
• You can use it to make bootable external drives / USB sticks / SD cards, etc.
• It’s configurable. You can choose folders to back up (not just whole disks).
• It does not require a dedicated disk, and you have control over how the disks you back up onto are used.
• You get fine grained control over how and when backups are made
• You get 3 functions instead of just one. Time Machine uses hardlink backups, and does not let you control how long the backups are kept, nor what is backed up.
• Reliability. You can browse through your backups using the Finder, and you can see that they are there and functional. Because they behave just like anything else on your disk (and you do not have to access them using a special application), you can see that they are there and working.
• Control. You can go back through your backups in the Finder and safely delete anything you no longer want stored.
• Speed. For large backups it’s not uncommon for Time Machine to need around 8 hours to complete the backup, whereas Mac Backup Guru will do the same job in 30 minutes or less.

How can I make a bootable backup?
If a volume is copied directly to another volume, and care is taken to select the volumes themselves and not subfolders within them, it will automatically make the backup bootable. If, after creating the backup, it does not appear in System Preferences -> Startup Disk, it is worth attempting to reboot the computer and then immediately hold down the Option key. Then, before starting up, the computer will present you with a screen showing you the available volumes to boot from. With luck the newly created volume can then be selected and booted from.

What if I still can’t boot from my volume?
Most of the time the above steps will work for most people. However in some cases the new volume won’t show up as bootable. This is because some types of external disks, USB sticks, enclosures, or in some cases even cables, do not support USB booting. If your volume fails to boot try switching the USB cable and trying again if you have another one. Then after that perhaps try switching the enclosure if possible. Failing all of the above, try purchasing a reputable drive enclosure and cable, which is the fail-safe option.

Can I delete old Snapshots that were created without affecting the future Snapshots that get made?Only the most recently fully completed Snapshot needs to be preserved. It needs to be present, and not moved or renamed in order for it to be used as the base for the next Snapshot that will get created in the future. If you delete any of the older ones it will not affect anything so it’s fine to do. You can either do this manually, or you can change the number of “Recent Snapshots Kept” for the mac backup software to delete the older backups automatically. If you do this it’ll delete 2 at a time every time it runs until it has the number down to what you set.

Is there a user guide?
Yes, you can access it by clicking here. It can also be accessed from the Help menu from within the application. And if you prefer to get a more in depth feeling for it you can see the detailed product manual here.

What disk format should I use?
HFS+ is the only format suitable for a backup disk in Mac. Anything else will risk losing metadata, and be less reliable.

Is there any way to turn off the Finder integration for the Copy/Paste functions?
Due to the fact that that is implemented as a Finder Extension, it is very easy to do. Just go to System Preferences -> Extensions and uncheck the extensions (including the Mac Backup Guru enhance Copy and Paste functionality) that you don’t want.

Downloads

Summary: Check out the 10 best and free data recovery software for Mac in 2021 found in most online searches. The curated list will help you make an informed decision and save your time, effort.

It's apparent you are hereafter facing a data loss event. And rightfully, you look forward to a Mac data recovery software that is reliable, compatible with your system and offers you with Free Data Recovery. Isn't it? Trust this; you won't be disappointed.

1. Stellar Data Recovery Free Edition for Mac

Price: Free

It is one of the best free Mac data recovery software that people mostly pick. “Old wine tastes better with age.” And Stellar Data Recovery fulfills this adage by serving the world from the past 26 years with complete customer satisfaction.

The software provides you with hope to recover your deleted Word, Excel, Powerpoint and PDF documents, photos, videos, audio files, and emails from any Mac device—MacBook Air, iMac, Mac mini, or their Pro models. The UI of the software resembles the newer macOS dark theme, so you’ll feel at home.

Download the *free edition of the Stellar Data Recovery software from here.

Free Mac Data Recovery Software How-to Steps

The software recovers lost files in 3 necessary steps—Select, Scan, and Recover.

1. Select the type of file and drive location.
2. Scan the drive for lost or deleted files.
3. Recover and save the recoverable files.

*The free edition allows free scanning, free previewing, and up to 1 GB data recovery. To recover more, upgrade it. Check out the various editions. They all have a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Advantages:

The free Mac data recovery tool is replete with features. For instance, “Deep Scan” assures up to100% of the lost data recovery using file signatures. Customization of key data-scan parameters, including drive area selection, type of data, and file format, helps accelerate the recovery process.

The laundry list of data recovery capabilities is just enormous— free deleted file recovery, free external drive recovery, free external drive recovery, encrypted and corrupt hard drive recovery, Boot Camp Partition recovery, and recovery from latest MacBook Pro.

The tool supports data recovery in macOS Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, and earlier versions. In terms of storage-specific data recovery, it does perfectly well with all types of Mac storage devices, namely external hard drives, SSDs, Fusion Drives, pen drives, and SD cards. Plus, it is compatible with APFS, HFS+, FAT/ex-FAT, and NTFS formatted storage drives.

Disadvantages:

The free edition doesn’t have unlimited data recovery capability. Also, there is no option to recover a non-booting Mac. For exclusive advanced features, you need to upgrade the Free Edition to Professional version.

2. Tenoshare 4DDiG (Mac)

Price: Lifetime license @ $69.95

A powerful Mac file recovery software used to recover unlimited deleted, lost, and formatted data viz. photos, videos, email, web file, audios, archives, documents, and other files from Mac and external storage devices.

Advantages:

The software provides lost file recovery, partition recovery, and raw recovery. It supports Mac T2 chip data recovery. By using the software, you can handle any logical data loss scenarios reasonably. Also, you can preview photos and audios before recovering.

The software also recovers data from failed, crashed, or dead MacBook. It fully supports macOS Big Sur 11 and other lower versions. And is compatible with APFS, HFS+, FAT32, and exFAT. Moreover, it is backed with 24 by 7 help center.

Disadvantages:

It does not provide file repair functionality.

3. Recoverit Data Recovery for Mac

Price: Essential version at $79.95

Recoverit for Mac is quite useful & safe to recover your lost data from Mac. It recovers lost office files, graphics, videos, audio, outlook & archive files, and document files from your Mac’s internal HDD, external HDD, memory cards, USB flash drive, SD card, etc. The standard version of the software can create bootable media that relieve you in recovering data from a crashed Mac.

Advantages:

Allows data recovery from various data loss scenarios, including power failure, accidental emptying of Trash, factory reset with no backup, inaccessibility or raw state, partition imperfection or error, virus attack, hard disk drive crash, and re-installation or upgrade of the operating system.

The software is fully compatible with macOS 10.9 to 10.15 (macOS Catalina). It supports APFS, ExFAT, FAT16, FAT32, HFS+, NTFS, Ext2, Ext 3, Ext4, and other file systems. The software comes with 24 by 7 professional technical support.

Disadvantages:

It has no support for Mac Crash Recovery. For that, you need to upgrade to the Standard or Advanced data recovery plan.

4. Ontrack Easy Recovery for Mac

Price: Home Edition at $99

This Mac file recovery software helps you recover your deleted files either from Mac’s internal storage drive or from Apple’s external Time Machine backup drive. The software uses advanced scanning techniques to quickly locate and recover your videos, photos, music, etc. You can use this Data Recovery tool on various Mac machines, including iMac, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, and Mac Pro.

Advantages:

The tool provides raw recovery on lost volumes and has the option to stop and start recovery at a convenient time. It supports any APFS data recovery, HFS+, HFS, FAT, NTFS, or exFAT formatted drive and supports macOS Catalina 10.15.

The software allows you to preview recoverable files, create an image of volumes, perform encrypted disk recovery, and get back data from Boot Camp partition.

Disadvantages:

Free trial of the software is available after you fill out the form with your complete information.

5. Data Rescue for Mac

Price: Pro version at $471.95

Data Rescue can easily find, preview, and recover lost data, reformatted drive, or deleted files. The software’s recovery function works beyond hard drive recovery and provides comprehensive recovery from numerous devices, including SSDs, USB drives, SD cards, CF cards, and many more.

Advantages:

The software’s interface allows you to start recovering files, view previous scan results, clone, and create recovery drive options. Using the software, you can recover images, movies, audio, mail, documents, text, archives, and various file formats.

You can use a quick scan or deep scan mode to scan your storage drive. And even get email notifications for your current or completed scans and know your duplicate files. The software is compatible with macOS 10.12 and later versions.

Disadvantages:

Expensive.

6. Softtote Data Recovery Mac

Price: Free

Softtote Data Recovery Mac is an all-in-one Mac data recovery software for your lost or deleted files, formatted drives, and missing partition. The tool recovers data from corrupt or erased HDD, USB flash drive, camera, memory card, and MP3 or MP4 player.

Advantages:

The software provides unparalleled ease of use, timesaving and enhanced scanning method, file classification, filter and preview, and raw file searching. Plus, the tool has the option of Photo Recovery, File Recovery, and Lost Partition Recovery.

The utility is compatible with macOS High Sierra 10.13 and lower versions up to Mac OS X 10.6. It supports data recovery from HFS+, HFS Wrapper, HFS, HFSX, NTFS, and FAT file system volumes in the original file structure.

Disadvantages:

The tool has no support for macOS Catalina and APFS.

7. Disk Drill for Mac

Price: Pro version at $59.02

This DIY recovery software recovers data even if Mac’s internal or external hard drive has trouble accessing the data. With over 200+ file types, the software engine is powerful enough to retrieve music files, photos, videos, and other data.

Advantages:

You can use the software to rescue data even in case of a corrupted or missing files system. The GUI of software is straightforward to use, and its recover button can get back all your deleted data.

The software cleans up Mac, finds duplicate files from a storage drive, backs up data, creates a bootable USB drive, protects data with a recovery vault, monitors the drive’s health, and analyzes disk storage.

The software is macOS Big Sur ready. And, it supports APFS, HFS, HFS+, FAT, FAT32, ex-FAT, NTFS, or EXT3/EXT4 file systems.

Disadvantages:

Scan result doesn’t show files with the original name.

8. Do Your Data Recovery

Price: Pro version at $105.02

Do Your Data Recovery software recovers data from Mac desktop, laptop, hard drive, removable media, and digital devices lost due to deletion, format, wrong operation, OS crash, virus attack, and other unknown reasons. You can launch the software, scan for hard drive or device, and recover lost files immediately.

Advantages:

The tool’s wizard-based interface is easy to use. It allows you to save and resume recovery, search and filter files, and preview recoverable files before saving. You can use the software to recover from all types of files, including documents, folders, photos, videos, audio or voice files, archives, and emails.

The software is macOS Big Sur ready and is compatible with earlier versions up to 10.7. Moreover, it supports data recovery from APFS, HFS+/HFS, FAT 12/16/32, exFAT, NTFS, Ext2/3/4, and other file system formatted storage drives.

Disadvantages:

Quite expensive.

9. Lazesoft Mac Data Recovery

Price: Free

Lazesoft Mac Data Recovery is an easy and powerful free data recovery software for Mac. It can help you recover your lost or deleted documents, music, photos, videos, and applications from hard disk, memory card, USB flash drive, iPod, or any mountable media. The software can recover data from deleted, formatted, or corrupt partition.

Advantages:

The software provides limitless data recovery, dynamic file preview, progress status info, deep scan, and file search functionality. Plus, it comes with free technical support.

The software is compatible with Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 and later. Also, it supports HFS+, HFS, HFSX, exFAT, FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, and NTFS5 file systems.

Disadvantages:

The software’s website doesn’t show compatibility for APFS and the latest macOS.

10. Mac Data Recovery Guru

Price: Free

This free data recovery tool for MacBook allows recovery of deleted files from hard drives, memory cards, USB flash drives, and optical media.

Advantages:

Mac Data Recovery Guru has the option of “Search for embedded files” that performs exhaustive search based on file types. The software supports APFS, HFS+, HFS, HFSX, NTFS, FAT, Ext2, Ext3, Ext4, XFS, and UFS.

Disadvantages:

The software’s website doesn’t show support for the latest macOS and APFS.

FAQs Related to Mac Data Recovery Software

When does a Mac data recovery tool work?

Data recovery is feasible if you have stopped using your Mac immediately after emptying Trash, deletion of volume, or erasure of drive. Also, your Mac must boot. And, if your Mac doesn’t start, then you need a recovery software with bootable USB drive creation functionality.

Furthermore, data recovery is possible from an external storage drive using a data recovery software if and only if the connected storage drive is visible in Disk Utility (even in the greyed-out state) or System Information.

When doesn’t Mac data recovery work?

Data recovery won’t work if the storage drive is overwritten, formatted using security options of Erase in Disk Utility, or wiped by using a secure wipe software that uses advanced drive erasure algorithm in multiple passes. Also, data recovery won’t work for TRIM enabled internal Mac SSD. In such situations, only a backup of your Mac storage drive can salvage your lost data.

Moreover, data recovery isn’t possible for an external storage device—SSD, Hard Drive, or USB Flash Drive—when the drive doesn’t appear in Disk Utility or System Information window. This non-appearance can be due to physical damage to the storage medium. Then, a data recovery service provider can help.

What are the attributes of an ideal data recovery software?

An ideal data recovery software must have the following attributes:

• Recover all file-formats including photo, audio, video, document & email.
• Supportthe latest macOS and all compatible file systems & devices.
• Provide easy to use interface that recovers lost data in minimum steps.
• Feature advanced functionality such as recovery from unbootable Mac.
• Be backed up with the support team to answer all data recovery queries.

Which is completely free data recovery software for Mac?

Mac Backup Tool

You can try Stellar Data Recovery Free Edition for Mac to recover up to 1 GB of data for free. A completely free data recovery software for Mac is rare to find online. If found, it won’t be suitable for most Mac users due to lack of a graphical user interface, need to type commands to perform the recovery task, and don’t provide file preview and other advanced functionality freemium or premium software offers.

How to get maximum data recovered by software?

Mac Backup Software Reviews

To maximize data recovery through software, you must immediately stop using your Mac or the external storage drive after data loss. This prompt action helps avoid overwriting on the existing but inaccessible files from the storage drive.

How to recover empty trash data?

To recover empty Trash data, launch a Mac data recovery software. And, from the interface, select and scan the volume wherein data got deleted. Preview the Trash deleted files, select the required ones, and recover them to a distinct volume.

How to boot a Mac and recover data?

If your Mac doesn’t boot, then you should employ a Mac data recovery software that can create a bootable recovery drive. Download and install the software on a working Mac, create a recovery drive, and then connect the drive to a non-booting Mac to recover data.

Conclusion

The top 10 free Mac data recovery software of 2021 brings forth significant features to provide you with comprehensive data recovery benefits. Identifying the right one based on your specific data recovery needs and circumstances out of these is relatively easy. For example, if you are using a Mac that runs macOS Catalina, then you would need to evaluate only those data recovery software that supports Catalina, and, also, to what extent.

Best Mac Backup Software 2017

What all OS, file systems, storage devices, and data loss scenarios does the software works in would be a few other essential factors to consider. Another important aspect is the ease of use. A software that’s easy and completely DIY would make a better choice than the ones that demand technical proficiency.

Mac File Backup software, free download

And then how well the overall value stands, meaning which software brings the best value for the money that you’ll spend. It’s better to have software that not just addresses your present data recovery needs but would also rescue you from other data loss incidents in the future. So, proactive drive monitoring, cloning, and disk imaging should be the add-on features to look at.