Best Partition Recovery Software for Mac in 2026

It’s become easier than ever to recover deleted data on your Mac. Yet people panic when they encounter a corrupted partition or accidentally delete a macOS partition. The reality, however, is reassuring. Several data recovery tools out there let you recover entire partitions on your Mac. You just need to pick the right one.

There was a time when we were writing an article on managing partitions on Mac, and we accidentally deleted an important partition. It was then that we had to find a reliable option to recover data from that partition. We searched quite a bit until we found the right one. This experience, however, pushed us to do this article.

Also: Top 10 Partition Recovery Software for Windows

What to Look for in Mac Partition Recovery Software

Here are some factors we considered while choosing and ranking Mac partition recovery software:

• Compatibility: We wanted to choose a partition recovery tool that worked with almost all file systems and Apple silicon chips. In particular, we picked partition recovery with support for APFS and HFS+.
• Dedicated Options: These tools also need a dedicated partition recovery option rather than a generic file recovery option. You should be able to locate missing or deleted partitions and recover them.
• Effectiveness: scanning and recovery are the two most important parts of partition recovery tools, so we prioritize tools that can perform Quick Scan and Deep Scan.
• Preview: You do not want to waste all your time and resources by recovering everything. Therefore, we chose products only if they had the preview function.
• Ease of Use: how easily you can use this app is equally important when you need it for an emergency, such as a partition loss or accidental deletion. Therefore, we prioritized apps with intuitive UI.

We also ensured that all the tools listed here are transparent about pricing. That is, you don’t want to come across any hidden pricing or additional charges when you are in the process of doing this.

How We Tested: Methodology

Here’s how we tested all our contenders before picking the best ones and ranking them:

We obviously did not want to experiment with the MacBook’s internal HD. Instead, we connected an external SSD to our M2 MacBook Air, which was running the latest version of macOS Tahoe.

We first formatted the SSD and created multiple partitions. We then had to fill each partition with a variety of files, including audio, video, documents, graphics, etc. One of these partitions was deleted while the other was formatted.

All the core contenders for this title were tested using the same SSD. We also ensured that files were never recovered to the original drive.

Best Partition Recovery Software for Mac: Reviews

Based on their performance in recovering data from our testing SSD and other considerations, we picked the 5 options.

#1 EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard — Best for easy recovery from deleted/lost partitions

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac offers all the standard features you need for recovery, including unlimited data recovery, advanced support for document, photo, and video formats, and impressive compatibility with M1, M2, and M3 chips. In addition to recovering from lost partitions, other sources, such as Time Machine and iTunes backups, can also be used.

In terms file support, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard lets you recover files in a variety of formats across multiple categories, including Documents, Videos, Music, and Photos. The app works well with file systems such as APFS, HFS+, exFAT, NTFS, HFSX, and FAT.

Test Results & Performance

Something we loved about EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is how it automatically detected the lost partition and offered an option to reconstruct data from the source. Many other tools we tried couldn’t do it. It also offered an advanced device search mode, but we didn’t have to use it.

The Deep Scan took around 5 minutes, but the app reconstructed almost every file from the deleted macOS partition. The app scanned 205 files totaling 3.41GB. We tested all the recovered files, and the integrity was great as well. Even now, what matters the most is that everything was as easy as it could be.

Pricing

The free plan of EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard lets you scan and preview files, but you need a paid plan to recover them. This Pro plan costs $89.95 and includes additional features such as file repair and data backup.

Pros

• User-friendly interface with intuitive source selection and easy-to-locate features.
• Supports a wide range of file types, including photos, videos, documents, emails, and archives.
• Natively compatible with Apple Silicon (M1–M3) Macs without requiring Rosetta.

Cons

• Premium pricing starting at $89.95/month, steep compared to most competitors.
• The preview feature does not support all common file formats, including many RAW image files.

Verdict

We’d recommend EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard if you need a hassle-free and intuitive way to recover lost or deleted partitions on your Mac.

Also: EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard full review

#2 Stellar Data Recovery — Best for advanced Mac users

You can think of Stellar Data Recovery as a comprehensive recovery tool for Mac. It lets you recover data from a wider variety of sources, including disk images and backups. Thanks to its support for macOS Tahoe and Apple Silicon chips, almost every Mac out there should work fine with this as well. You also get customization options for each scan, and additional utilities let you monitor disk health and further optimize your Mac.

Like our previous pick, this tool also lets you recover a wide variety of formats, including documents, emails, audio, archives, and movies. It also works fine with popular file systems, including exFAT, NTFS, and APFS.

Test Results & Performance

Like EaseUS, Stellar Data Recovery detected the lost partition we had set up. It also found another partition we had deleted a bit earlier. From the main test partition, Stellar Data Recovery recovered around 3.41GB of data, the same as our first pick.

However, this happened during Deep Scan. The Quick Scan option found only ~700MB of data. The double-click-to-preview option in this app was super convenient, too. The Quick Scan using this app took only 3 minutes, but the Deep Scan option took 10-15 minutes.

Pricing

The free version of Stellar data recovery lets you recover up to 1 GB of files. If you want unlimited resources, you can get the standard plan for $69.99 or the professional plan for $89.99.

Pros

• Clean, user-friendly interface that is easy to navigate for beginners and intermediate users​.
• Supports recovery from lost partitions and non-booting Mac systems (Professional and above)​.
• Effective tools for a broad range of file types and storage media, including optical discs (CD/DVD)​.
• Noteworthy online and cloud-based data recovery capabilities.
• It lets you recover custom app files as well.

Cons

• The app needed more time for scanning larger drives.
• Subscription costs can be steep when you need additional features.

Verdict

Stellar Data Recovery provides you with an edge in some areas, but it can take a long time to recover from larger drives. If you can keep up with that, you have a better chance of recovering partitions using this app.

#3 R-Studio — Best for technical users & RAID recovery

Compared to other partition recovery tools here, R-Studio is a dedicated solution for technical users. This is especially true if you want to recover partitions from a RAID setup or have advanced control over the entire recovery process. There are certain caveats regarding compatibility, such as the inability to work with system drives on Apple Silicon systems, but it remains a reliable option nevertheless.

File systems like FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, exFAT, NTFS, NTFS5, ReFS / ReFS2+ / ReFS 3.4/3.7/3.10,HFS/HFS+ and APFS are fully supported.

Test Results & Performance

Like other professional tools we tested, R-Studio was quick to detect the test partition we had lost during this test. It instantly allowed us to start scanning the APFS container. R-Studio completed the scanning in just 4 minutes and showed all the files we could recover.

What happens after scanning is also well thought out. It was easy to preview recoverable files with R-Studio, and it provides much more metadata than the other tools we tried. The selective recovery options were also great. R-Studio essentially listed all files from the partition.

Pricing

You can get R-Studio for Mac for a one-time payment of $79.99, and this version gives you full access to RAID, HFS Plus, APFS, FAT, and NTFS partition recovery.

Pros

• Competitive one-time permanent licensing with no subscription fees, starting at just $79.99.
• Exceptionally fast scan speeds, outperforming most competing tools in independent tests.
• Comprehensive file system support — HFS+, APFS, NTFS, FAT/exFAT, Ext2/3/4.
• Includes RAID reconstruction, disk imaging, a hex editor, and network recovery.
• Free trial allows unlimited scanning and preview, with file recovery limited only by file size (256 KB cap).

Cons

• Cluttered, technically complex interface that is poorly suited to casual or first-time users.
• Cannot recover data from system drives on M1/M2-powered Macs or T2-encrypted Macs.

Verdict

R-Studio is thus a great option if you want better control over the recovery process while also having access to advanced features such as RAID recovery and customized previewing.

#4 Remo Recover — Best for first-time users

Remo Recover is another option to consider if you are new to this way of partition recovery. This app can make it easier for you to manage almost everything, from scanning to previewing. Like some other options in the list, Remo Recovery doesn’t have a dedicated partition recovery option. However, you have sufficient resources to retrieve data from lost partitions.

You get support for APFS, HFS+, HFSX, exFAT, and FAT32 file systems, and there’s support for a wide variety of file formats as well.

Test Results & Performance

We would not call Remo Recover the fastest recovery system out there. In fact, it took about 20 minutes to complete the deep scan, but it found 1.93 GB of data across lost partitions. This number is impressive given the minimal pressure it had on the system.

Once scanning is complete, you have complete freedom to browse multiple folders and preview files, which works perfectly. Then it’s just a matter of a button to recover the entire thing. Overall, considering its minimal nature, Remo Recover was impressive.

Pricing

You can purchase Remo Recover in three ways. One is to pay $69.97 per month or $79.97 for six months. Alternatively, you can go for a lifetime license, which costs $199.97.

Pros

• Clean, beginner-friendly interface that makes the recovery process straightforward even for non-technical users.
• Excellent scan speeds, ranking among the fastest in independent benchmark tests.
• Supports a wide range of file formats through a signature scanner covering over 250 file types.
• Includes a file preview function before committing to recovery, helping users verify files before purchase.

Cons

• Significantly overpriced relative to its actual recovery performance.
• Recovery performance is below average in real-world tests.

Verdict

Though it has some caveats, Remo Recover for Mac seems to be a better option for beginners who want a quick way to recover data from a partition.

#5 TestDisk — Best free option (with caveats)

Here’s an honorable mention for those who need a CLI-based recovery tool.

TestDisk is a completely free data recovery tool that can help you recover partitions, but its compatibility is limited. You do not get support for data recovery from APFS-formatted drives on Apple Silicon Macs. The app can locate such partitions, though. On the other hand, if you have NTFS- or exFAT-formatted drives, you won’t have any problems using this, since it is open source. There is ample documentation available, and you can also easily find guides.

It is also worth noting that TestDisk is a command-line-only system, meaning there is no graphical user interface. It means getting used to that as well. We also noticed that the tool takes a long time to complete the scanning process because its sector-wise scanning speeds are quite low.

Despite these caveats, you can consider using these free partition recovery tools if you do not want to pay at all. However, it would mean waiting quite a long time for the scanning to complete.

Comparison Table: At a Glance

Feature	EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard	Stellar Data Recovery	R-Studio	Remo Recover	TestDisk
Best For	Ease of use	Advanced Mac users	Technical/RAID recovery	First-time users	Free partition repair
UI Type	GUI	GUI	GUI (technical)	GUI	Command-line
Ease of Use	★★★★☆	★★★★☆	★★☆☆☆	★★★★★	★★☆☆☆
APFS Support	Full	Full	Full	Full	Limited
Apple Silicon	Native	Native	Native	Native	Terminal only
RAID Recovery	No	No	Yes	No	No
Partition Recovery	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes (core feature)
File Preview	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Starting Price	$89.95	$69.99/year	$79.99 one-time	$69.97/month	Free

FAQs

Can I really recover a deleted partition on Mac?
Yes, but only if the lost data hasn’t been overwritten. Recovery is usually easier on HFS+ than on APFS, and system partitions on Apple silicon or T2-equipped Macs can be harder to recover. The best first step is to stop using the drive right away and run recovery software before any new data is written.

Can I recover a macOS system partition?
It’s difficult. Due to System Integrity Protection (SIP) and Apple Silicon security, most tools cannot fully restore a system partition—but they may recover user data from it.

Can I recover a deleted Mac partition without software?
Yes, sometimes Disk Utility, Time Machine, or macOS Recovery can help, but only in limited cases. For a genuinely deleted or lost partition, recovery software is usually the best option.

What file systems are supported?
Most support APFS, HFS+, exFAT, FAT32, and NTFS, but support varies by app and by recovery method.

Is free partition recovery reliable?
Free tools can work, but they often have limits, fewer features, or a steeper learning curve.

Which Tool Should You Choose?

It’s time for some quick recommendations.

If you’re simply looking to recover data from a partition you deleted or lost, something like EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is the best option. Though a little expensive, it gives you the best results and an intuitive user interface.

However, if you are looking for advanced features such as RAID recovery, you should go with R-Studio. While equally expensive, R-Studio offers you better control and native performance, which matters a lot, and you get the benefits of a professional tool in the long run.

Other users can consider Stellar Data Recovery and Remo Recover based on their exact preferences.

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