Recuva for Mac: Top 5 Best Recuva Alternatives for macOS

Recuva is a well-known data recovery program that often appears in numerous lists of the best data recovery programs. Unfortunately, the tool isn’t available on macOS. But, fret not, there’s no dearth of Recuva alternatives for macOS—many of them offer better features, and don’t have the shortcomings of Recuva. Here’s a brief overview of 5 such free, and paid alternatives.

Why You Need an Alternative for Recuva

Aside from the fact that Recuva doesn’t have a macOS version, there are several other reasons why you’d want to choose an alternative anyway. The program has its share of shortcomings—some of which don’t exist in the alternatives we’ve listed.

Recuva excels in simple cases of data loss. It can easily find recently deleted files on a perfectly fine storage drive. However, it’s not so good at finding files using its deep scan. Other programs typically discover more recoverable files—whether they were deleted recently, or long ago—and are better equipped to deal with drives that may be corrupt.

Additionally, Recuva’s bare-bones UI looks outdated, and may disappoint you if you’re a fan of modern UIs.

Another glaring miss in Recuva, is a lack of additional features. Its competitors support more file systems, have more sophisticated file repair capabilities, and, in some cases, a more thorough scanning algorithm.

Some users also report experiencing a low data recovery rate—especially when recovering data from formatted drives—when compared to other recovery tools.

Lastly, Recuva is not updated as frequently as other tools. This can affect the program’s compatibility on machines running the latest hardware, and software.

Top 5 Recuva Alternatives for Mac Users

When creating this list, we took into account various parameters like data recovery rate, user-friendliness, file system support, and more. Regardless of the data loss scenario—accidental deletion, formatting, and file system corruption—these tools should help you out. Additionally, we only picked programs that can recover data from a range of storage devices like HDDs, USB drives, memory cards, and SSDs.

Here are 5 Recuva alternatives for macOS:

1. Disk Drill (Best overall alternative)

Disk Drill’s modern UI (with built-in tutorials), advanced data recovery algorithm, file preview feature, and versatility, make it the best Recuva macOS alternative. The abundance of additional features beyond just data recovery makes it a great package overall.

Notable features of Disk Drill include:

• It supports the retrieval of over 400 file formats. Should you need a file type that the software currently doesn’t support, you can make a request to Disk Drill.
• The software offers a user-friendly, one-click process for scanning and recovering files.
• The S.M.A.R.T. monitoring feature ensures your drive’s protection and maintenance.
• Regular backups are facilitated through its proprietary Byte-to-byte Backup feature.
• The ability to resume your latest unfinished scan at your convenience.
• Frequent updates ensure the program runs on the latest versions of macOS, and Apple Silicon chips (M1, M2, and M3).

Despite the absence of a free version for Mac users, you can still scan through deleted files and preview them to see if your file can be recovered. Upon confirming the recovery of your file, you can purchase the PRO version for only $89, which includes unlimited data recovery.

2. PhotoRec (Best freeware alternative)

PhotoRec is an excellent tool for recovering data from simple data loss scenarios. It supports a wide range of file types, and storage device types. The program also works on drives with damaged, or corrupt file systems, because it ignores the file system entirely. The best part? PhotoRec is free, and open-source.

Despite these features, PhotoRec has a command-line interface, making it one of the least user-friendly tools out there.

Here’s a brief overview of PhotoRec:

• The program is open-source, and completely free. There’s no cap on the amount of data you can recover for free.
• PhotoRec supports over 480 file extensions.
• It can scan disk images.
• PhotoRec doesn’t let you select files for recovery. All recoverable files are copied.
• There’s no dedicated technical support. You’ll need to rely on CGSecurity’s user-run forum for any troubleshooting needs.

3. Recoverit by Wondershare (Decent alternative)

One of the more popular data recovery tools out there, Wondershare’s Recoverit is a good option for users looking for an easy-to-use, freemium alternative to Recuva. It can recover data from a variety of data loss scenarios, ranging from accidental deletion to malware attacks. Users looking to recover deleted videos may be especially inclined to use the program, thanks to its dedicated video repair, and video search features.

Recoverit comes with a few noteworthy features:

• Its “Advanced Video Recovery” feature helps you recover video files, which often prove harder to restore.
• Recoverit is capable of recovering data from crashed computers.
• A real-time scanning progress feature keeps you updated about the recovery process.

Recoverit offers a free version, but there’s a catch – only 100MB of data can be recovered. The paid version, priced at $59.95 annually, gives you unlimited data recovery. A worthy investment, considering the utility it provides.

4. TestDisk

Created by the same developer as PhotoRec, TestDisk is another free, and open-source data recovery tool. It excels at restoring corrupt partitions, and repairing unbootable disks. This makes it an excellent choice if you’re working with a drive that’s corrupt, or has a damaged partition table. When TestDisk restores a partition, it also recovers any data that was in it.

Here’s what TestDisk has, and what it lacks:

• It’s open-source, and completely free to use.
• TestDisk comes in a portable package, i.e, there’s no need to install it.
• It can be used to fix your machine’s Master Boot Record (MBR) and get it to boot again.
• Scanning speeds are slow.
• You have to rely on the user-run forum for technical support. There’s no dedicated team.

Due to its lack of a GUI, TestDisk comes with a steep learning curve for non-technical users. It also lacks quality-of-life features like file preview, and file selection.

5. Data Rescue

Our final alternative to Recuva, is Prosoft’s Data Rescue. The program comes with a good blend of basic, and advanced features for technical, and non-technical users alike. The UI is easy to get around. In addition to simple data recovery, you can use the program’s read-only hex viewer to precisely view raw data on your drive.

Here’s an overview of Data Rescue:

• Supports data recovery in all common data loss scenarios like accidental deletion, formatting, drives refusing to mount, and more.
• Lets you clone your hard drive.
• In-built hex viewer.
• Can assemble virtual RAIDs.
• The free version lets you recover up to 1 GB of data.
• On Macs running macOS 10.13 High Sierra and above, Data Rescue can’t scan the internal drive, unless you boot using an external bootable recovery drive.
• Saves the last 15 scan sessions.

It’s bizarre, but Data Rescue’s macOS version requires a constant internet connection to validate your license. The program also misses out on essential features like lost partition scan, and an estimated scan time remaining counter.

Conclusion

Even though Recuva is a fantastic tool, it lacks a version for Mac. But don’t fret! This article has unveiled the top three data recovery applications available for Mac users. Whether you prioritize aesthetics, ease of use, file support, or cost, there’s a perfect fit waiting for you.

Stay tuned to our blog for more informative and tech-savvy articles!