Disk Drill: This Mac Data Recovery Tool That Actually Works

Data recovery tools for Mac are a dime a dozen these days. Though most of these tools make some incredible claims, only a few deliver.

But you need more than a powerful recovery engine when you need to recover a variety of data types that you have deleted or lost from your Mac. Most importantly, you need an intuitive UI with additional utilities.

This is where Disk Drill comes into play.

What Does Disk Drill Do?

Disk Drill is a complete data recovery solution designed for Mac and Windows. A product from Cleverfiles, it enables you to recover data that has been deleted/lost/damaged from a variety of devices and drives. The Mac app is a great way to scan the macOS drive or your iPhone/Android smartphone.

Compared to the typical data recovery utilities we come across, Disk Drill offers a refined set of features. For starters, you get an intuitive UI that everyone can use without any prior experience.

Key Features

You get a comprehensive set of features with Disk Drill for Mac. All these improve your chances of getting data back from a compatible device.

• Disk Drill for Mac enables the recover of a variety of file formats, including documents, photos, music, video, compressed files, etc. It can scan for and reconstruct over 400 file formats.
• You can recover data from your Mac or external storage devices, including HDDs, SSDs, tablets, iPads, memory cards, digital cameras, and RAID arrays. Many of these devices have dedicated interfaces.
• A Scan and Preview option makes Disk Drill suitable for recovering specific files from an entire drive. It means you do not need to recover anything you don’t need.
• Thanks to session management and categorization options, Disk Drill for Mac can handle additional data recovery tasks easily.
• Disk Drill for Mac also ships with additional utilities such as Disk Health, Mac Cleanup, Data Backup, Data Protection, and Recovery Drive.

Key Specs

• macOS 10.15.7– 26 (macOS Tahoe ready), with just 60.0 MB of space required. For older systems, use Disk Drill 1/2.x/3.x/4.x (compatible with OS X 10.5+).
• Supports recovery from internal and external storage devices, including iOS, iPadOS, Android, and sources with ReFS 3.14 file systems.
• Fully optimized for both Intel-based Macs and the latest Apple silicon, including M1, M2, M3, and M4 chips.
• Premier solution for recovering deleted data from external drives and system disks, even on Macs with Apple T2, M1, M2, M3, and M4 chips.
• Improved RAM allocation and more stable SSH connections for seamless operation.

Our Hands-on Disk Drill Review

Disk Drill claims reliable data recovery rates thanks to these features. The latest version 6 also introduces several new features, including dedicated camera recovery. At first look, this data recovery tool is a cut above the typical finds in the market. However, we need to see how this performs in real-world applications. So, we have been testing the latest version of Disk Drill for Mac for over a week.

During this time, we installed Disk Drill 6 on an M2 MacBook Air and tested the multiple options for recovery and disk management. In particular, we attempted to recover data from various devices like USB drives and external SSDs. Based on this experience, we have added our insights into the following aspects.

# Setup & getting started

Installing, setting up, and getting started with Disk Drill 6 is pretty effortless. Of course, you need to provide the app with permissions, such as Full Disk Access and Accessibility, to ensure seamless functionality. Once this part is complete, you are ready to proceed.

We noticed that Disk Drill 6 has minimal impact on the RAM/CPU power of the Mac. So, even when the data recovery utility is running in the background, you can multitask efficiently.

When you open Disk Drill 6 for the first time, you can see a list of connected devices. If you haven’t connected any external device, you will still see your Mac’s hard drive. You can also see a detailed sidebar on the left, which offers easy access to connected devices and features.

You will find this sidebar handy while handling multiple device types, such as smartphones, tablets, and USB storage drives. Because Disk Drill 6 lets you recover data from Time Machine backups and some other rare sources, those options are also present in the quick-access sidebar. The latest version features a dedicated set of enhancements, including Advanced Camera Recovery, and supports both iOS and Android devices.

Overall, you don’t need any prior experience to get started with Disk Drill 6. Instead of worrying about tech-savvy terms or concepts, you can use the intuitive UI design to navigate between the options. In a minute or two, you can start the data recovery process.

# The data recovery experience

You already know that Disk Drill 6 is primarily a data recovery tool. Therefore, the package contains multiple features that help you recover the most data from your Mac, removable drive, iPhone, or digital camera. You can get advanced options for some of these devices. To assess the effectiveness of the process, we utilized Disk Drill 6 to recover data from a broader range of devices that employ various file systems.

Compatibility

The compatibility of Disk Drill 6 with devices and file systems is pretty impressive. For one, you can recover data from sources other than your Mac. It could be your smartphone, tablet, digital camera, or USB drive. It also lets you import Time Machine backups to recover data from them.

The sidebar also helps you categorize all these options.

When it comes to file systems, Disk Drill 6 is compatible with almost every option you can encounter. The list has APFS, NTFS, ExFAT, HFS, HFS+, FAT, and EXT3/EXT4. The latest version also supports ReFS. So, even if you have a corrupted NTFS drive from a PC, you can use Disk Drill 6 to recover data from it on your Mac.

The Advanced Camera Recovery option deserves special mention! Disk Drill 6 has optimized this feature to recover only photos and videos from camera-related sources, such as memory cards and other storage devices. Compared to the base recovery option, Advanced Camera Recovery better reconstructs and protects videos/pictures.

Performance

By the term’performance’, we refer to how well the data recovery process works. To begin the process, select a device from the available options and start the Scan. Disk Drill 6 provides ample information about the drive before you begin. Once you hit the Search for Lost Data button, the scan will begin.

An area where we found Disk Drill truly impressive is how it recognized a drive that we were sure was corrupted. We had dropped this HDD, and it was not getting detected on my PC. When we connected it to my Mac, Disk Drill 6 recognized the drive, despite it being an NTFS drive. We really loved how effective the scans were. However, it is something else that data recovery from that corrupted drive took a few hours.

The app was able to scan for recoverable data on all the devices we tested. It conveniently shows multiple sections: Existing and Reconstructed. So, you get to know what is already in the drive and what Disk Drill 6 has recovered.

The data recovery success rate estimates from Disk Drill 6 were also accurate. For every file that appears, you can see the chance of recovery: High, Average, or Low. Files with a lower chance of recovery were not available for Preview. It offers a preview for other files. This feature helped me save time because we didn’t have to attempt to recover files that wouldn’t have worked anyway.

We loved how well-arranged the recovery process is. It offers options to recover data that was deleted by users or other applications.

Recovery Success Rates

Full disclosure: Ultimately, recovery success rates depend on many factors, including the status of the drive. You face a low recovery rate while attempting to recover data from corrupted drives or lost partitions.

So, what we share below is based on the drives/devices we tested.

In our testing, Disk Drill 6 showed impressive data recovery success rates. It was able to recover data from both the removable drive and the Mac’s internal drive. In both cases, Disk Drill successfully provided an overview of recoverable files, which accounted for approximately 90%. The quality of recovery from special devices, such as cameras, was also impressive.

However, as we said, the success rates and required time for corrupted drives were quite different. In the case of most corrupted/damaged drives, we had to wait more than a few hours for the scan to finish. Even so, Disk Drill 6 was able to recover only a fraction of the data.

However, only 70% of files were given a High chance of data recovery. The others had a Low rating, meaning that we were not able to recover those files. On the bright side, Disk Drill 6 successfully recovered files that we had removed from the Trash, which makes it worthwhile in itself.

We had a better chance of recovering data such as contacts and calendars. General data recovery tools for Mac often struggle to handle platform-specific files. However, Disk Drill 6 dealt with these files quite well. But some advanced algorithms are available only with its premium version.

Overall, Disk Drill 6 does an incredible job of recovering data from various devices. But it offers more.

# Additional utilities

Additional utilities built into Disk Drill make it powerful enough to replace multiple apps. Here, you have an overview of what you get from the package.

• S.M.A.R.T. Monitoring keeps track of what happens on a storage device, including power cycle count, HDA temperature, SSD Life, etc. Disk Drill presents all this data in an easy-to-understand design as well.
• The Data Protection module offers you guaranteed data recovery even after deleting the files from a system. You can also go for Recovery Vault, which will retain the metadata of deleted files, thus offering better recovery rates.
• You also get a macOS Installer module, which lets you create a bootable drive that installs macOS on a system. The process is easy and wants you to locate the package, choose the destination, and wait for a few minutes.
• Byte-to-Byte Backup is another impressive function of Disk Drill. This feature makes use of patented algorithms to create an accurate clone of your drive/device. However, the options may differ based on whether your Mac has a T2 Security Chip.
• Boot Drive is another addition to Disk Drill 6. If you want to recover data from a drive that you can’t open using an OS, you can create a bootable recovery tool. However, recent versions of Disk Drill allow you to do this via the macOS Recovery Mode option.
• Erase Free Space is an interesting addition to the collection of utilities. It lets you delete free space from a drive so that others cannot recover deleted information. It works better than shredding since you cannot shred files that you’ve already deleted.
• Disk Drill offers a super-useful Duplicate Finder utility as well. It works as great as the many other duplicate finders we have come across. You can choose between multiple options and use the sidebar to navigate through the options.
• We also loved the Clean Up function. This tool in Disk Drill scans various parts of your macOS drives and displays what is occupying your storage space. This is an excellent option for those who want to maximize storage space.

That is, Disk Drill can easily replace 7-8 separate apps you may need on your Mac. In particular, the cloning and duplicate finder utilities were impressive.

Pricing

You can download Disk Drill 6 for Mac for free; however, it comes with a limited set of features. For instance, the free version lets you preview the files you can recover, but you need to upgrade for the actual recovery. Yet, you have full access to additional features, including a duplicate finder, disk space eraser, and macOS installer.

To access all the full features and content recovery, you need to purchase Disk Drill Pro, which costs $89. You can ensure lifetime upgrades by paying an additional $19. Disk Drill 6 also offers further discounts for students and those upgrading from a previous version. This single license allows up to 3 simultaneous activations.

We want you to remember that you get at least six different utilities in this package. So, no matter how you look at it, Disk Drill is a worthy investment for most.

FAQs

Is Disk Drill safe to use?

Disk Drill is generally considered safe to use. It’s developed by a reputable company, CleverFiles, and doesn’t contain any known malware. However, as with any software that accesses your hard drive, it’s always a good idea to download it from the official CleverFiles website or a trusted source like TheSweetBits to avoid potentially harmful modified versions.

How does Disk Drill work?

Disk Drill works by scanning your hard drive (or other storage devices) for lost or deleted files. It uses various scanning methods, including Quick Scan and Deep Scan, to locate recoverable data based on file signatures and remaining file system information. The success of data recovery can be affected by the condition of the disk.

Is Disk Drill really free?

Disk Drill offers a free version that allows you to recover up to 500MB of data. This is great for small file recoveries or for testing the software’s capabilities before committing to a paid license. For larger data recovery needs, you’ll need to upgrade to the Pro version.

How does Disk Drill compare to other data recovery tools?

Disk Drill offers a user-friendly interface, robust scanning capabilities, and extra features like data protection and disk health monitoring. For a detailed side-by-side comparison of Disk Drill with a popular alternative like EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, check out our in-depth analysis here.

Our Final Take

After thorough testing, we can confirm the helpfulness of Disk Drill 6. For those who regularly deal with data loss and recovery, it is a must-have investment. Even otherwise, we found it helpful enough to be kept on a Mac. So, whether it is about finding duplicates or shredding files, Disk Drill 6 will be a great thing to have on your Mac. It’s also impressive that the developers are adding worthwhile features to the package.