Mac Hard Drive Recovery: How to Recover Data from Mac Hard Drive to PC

Sue Wayne

Apr 28, 2023 • Filed to: Answer Hard Drive Problems • Proven solutions

Can I recover data from a Mac hard drive to a PC

Yes, of course, you can. Now with new measures and software, it is possible to improve data from Mac hard drive to a PC. The Mac hard drive data recovery software available today serves the purpose and is more intuitive and friendlier.

However, two situations will determine different ways of restoring files from a Mac Hard drive to a PC.

1. You want to recover data from the failed but detected hard drive on Mac and then transfer the recovered files from Mac to PC.
2. You want to directly recover data from an undetected Mac hard drive on your Windows PC.

In the two cases, MacBook hard drive recovery software can fix your problem and help you in recovering your data from the hard drive without any hassle.

Not Detected - How to Recover Data from Mac Hard Drive on PC?

Your Mac might take a power hit and die. All your important files are stored in it, and the next big target becomes to recover them. In case your Mac has crashed or is not booting, and you don't have an additional MacBook with you, there are software solutions that can help in recovering data from a non-functional Mac hard drive via Windows PC. Your Mac hard drive will be displayed on the PC as a removable hard drive, and you can simply recover data from it.

The biggest hurdle you will face is a file system incompatibility problem. By default, Windows uses the NTFS file system and Mac hard drive is based on the HFS file system. Thus, you need to format Mac hard drive into a format that is fully compatible with Windows OS. Here are some steps which will help you in learning the easiest way to recover files from Mac hard drive with Windows PC.

Step 1: Format HFS hard drive

You can format HFS hard drive with Disk Utility on Mac to make it works well on both Mac and Windows system. Open the disk utility and select the drive you want to format. Click on "Erase" and then choose the exFAT volume format.

Step 2: Connect Mac hard drive to PC

The internal hard drive from Mac should be taken out and converted into an external hard drive for the PC. To convert it into an external hard drive, you should have an external hard drive enclosure. Now place the external hard drive into it and connect the enclosure and PC via a USB cable. Now your Mac hard drive will be visible on the PC as any USB drive.

Step 3: Get Mac hard drive recovery software.

Recoverit Data Recovery is the most powerful hard drive data recovery software which helps in retrieving data from the hard drive of the personal computer, USB drive, external hard drive, and any other device you use for storing the data. It is the best hard drive recovery software for both Windows and Mac computers.

Recoverit - Safe Mac Hard Drive Recovery on Windows

• Recover lost or deleted files, photos, audio, music, and emails from a computer hard drive effectively and thoroughly.
• Supports data recovery from trash/recycle bin, hard drive, memory card, flash drive, digital camera, camcorders, etc.
• Supports recovery of data due to sudden or permanent deletion, hard drive failure, formatting, virus attack, system crash, etc.
• Support to create a WinPE bootable media and recover inaccessible data from a crashed or unbootable system on Windows computers.

Mac Version Win Version

Step 4. Recover Data from Mac Hard Drive on Windows

Free download and install Recoverit hard drive data recovery software on your Windows computer. Launch it and follow the next simple steps to recover data from Mac hard drive on your PC.

Select "External Devices Recovery"

After the connection, the Mac hard drive shows up on the PC as an external hard drive. To recover data from Mac hard drive on Windows PC, you can select "External Devices Recovery" to get started.

Choose Mac hard drive on the PC

You need to pick and tick the Mac hard drive now as an external hard drive so that Recoverit Mac Disk Recovery can scan the drive. Click "Start" to go on.

Scan the Mac hard drive

A quick scan will be launched immediately. If you cannot find your data after it, you can go to scan again with the "All-Around Recovery" mode, which can search for more files and take more time to scan data.

Recover files from Mac drive

After the scan, you can preview the scanned and found files to confirm if they are what you want to recover. Click the "Recover" button to restore them.

Data from different brands of external hard drives can be recovered with Recoverit Hard Drive Recovery.
How to Recover Data from Toshiba Hard Drive >>
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The Best Way to Recover Data from Western Digital Hard Drive >>

Hence, these are some simple steps that can help recover data from Mac hard drive on a PC. Many people in the world face a tough time when they lose data, and at that time, getting lost or deleted data becomes the priority. Being one of the most innovative tech solutions companies, Recoverit Data Recovery can recover data from Mac hard drive on a PC. There was never an easy way like this to get your lost data back.

Part 2. How to Recover Data from Mac Hard Drive to PC?

Your Mac hard drive can be detected and usually work, but sometimes you are still unable to access and find the Mac hard drive data. It might be due to that the files are deleted accidentally, get virus-attacked, or get damaged during the transferor writing. Luckily, Mac hard drive recovery software can help you in recovering data from the hard drive on Mac in all data loss scenarios. Besides, we will also tell you how to transfer the recovered Mac hard drive data to a PC for data backup.

Step 1. How to Recover Files from Mac Hard Drive?

To recover data from a hard drive on Mac, all you need is professional and powerful hard drive recovery software for Mac that can aid you in recovering files from Mac hard drive. Recoverit Data Recovery for Mac is the most powerful one.

It offers all-around recovery solutions for any type of data, such as videos, photos, audio files, document files, and many more on the Mac operating system. With the help of this Mac recovery software, you can quickly get back your precious data from your Mac hard drive no matter what data loss situations you encounter on the Mac system. Even if you do not have any backup of the lost data, you can still use the Mac hard drive recovery program to get them back.

Recoverit - The Best Mac Hard Drive Recovery Software

• Recover data from all storage devices like Mac hard drives.
• Recover 1000+ types and formats of files in different situations.
• Scan and preview the files before you recover them from Mac hard drive.

Download | Win Windows Version Download | Mac Mac Version

Free download and install Recoverit Data Recovery for Mac, and then launch the software on your Mac system. Follow the steps to recover data from Mac hard drive.

Choose Mac hard disk.

Recoverit will list all the detected hard drives on Mac. To recover files from Mac hard drive, you will be asked to specify the drive where your data has been lost. Select the failed hard drive to scan lost data and click "Start" to go on.

Scan the Mac hard disk

Next, the software will automatically initiate an all-around recovery to scan lost or deleted files deeply into your Mac hard drive.

Recover files from Mac hard drive

Once the scan completes, all scanned files will be displayed on the software interface. Preview the files and select those files you want to recover. Finally, hit the "Recover" button to recover files on Mac.

Step 2. How to Transfer Files from Mac to PC?

Now, the next step after recovering files from MacBook Pro hard drive is to transfer the files from Mac to PC for backup. There are many ways to transfer data from Mac to PC, such as using cloud bases service, external hard drives, direct cable connection, and many more. However, the simplest way to move data from Mac to PC is using an external hard drive with enough storage space to hold the files and folders you want to migrate.

Here are the detailed steps for transferring files from Mac to PC using external hard drives.

1. Connect the external hard drive to your Mac system with the help of a digital cable. Make sure the external drive is working correctly to carry out the whole process smoothly.
2. Copy and Paste the files you want to migrate into the external hard drive. Or you can simply drag and drop files to external media.
3. Eject the media before unplugging it, and it is necessary. Otherwise, you will not see saved files in the media when you want to migrate to the PC.
4. Connect media to PC. Once your system can detect external media, you will see it on your system. Open it and again, either copy and paste or drag and drop recently saved files from media to your PC.

That's all how you can transfer data from Mac to PC with the help of an external hard drive, and it is no more challenging to move data between two completely different operating systems.

This section only talks about recovering Mac's internal hard drive on Mac, and we also provide the solution for recovering data from the external hard drive on Mac. Please remind that the first step should still be the connection between the external hard drive and your computer.

Bonus How to Repair Mac Hard Drive and Restore Files

When your Mac hard drive gets damaged or corrupted, the chances are that the data inside it has been lost or inaccessible to you. How do you fix a failing hard drive on a Mac? How can you recover lost data from a damaged hard drive? All the solutions are offered in this section.

Option 1. Use Mac Disk Utility Tool

Your Mac computer usually contains a unique feature called "Disk Utility." It can help repair the failing, damaged, corrupted, or crashed hard drive or external device on Mac.

1. Restart Mac in Recovery Mode and choose "Disk Utility."
2. Select your failed Mac hard drive.
3. Run First Aid to repair the damaged hard drive on Mac.
4. Usually, your failing hard drive is repaired successfully.

Option 2. Use Mac FSCK Command

To repair the hard drive on Mac, you can also use the method of FSCK command. It is a complicated way to help you fix a damaged hard drive that Disk Utility can't handle/

Note: "hfs" refers to the filesystem of your hard drive, and [drive identifier] is the hard drive name.

Through the two ways, you can repair your Mac hard drive. After it, find data lost? Turn to

Bottom Line

Thus, this is a simple guide on how to recover a hard drive Mac. Today, it is common to face data loss situations with a Mac hard drive. By relying on Mac hard drive recovery software like Recoverit Data Recovery, you can quickly restore hard drive Mac data on the Windows-based or Mac-based system. However, it is always better to have a backup of your essential files to reduce the chances of permanent loss.