How to Recover Formatted Mac Hard Drive

Sue Wayne

Apr 20, 2022 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions

Is it possible to recover files after formatting Macintosh HD? The answer is definitely YES! Mac hard drives formatting doesn't wipe your files (unless the files are overwritten by other files). When you format a Mac hard drive, the file system of the disk is replaced with a new empty file system. Thus, the entries of all the files and directories saved on the hard drive are cleaned and they are inaccessible.

However, the disk maintains an index file, telling the computer's operating system the place that a particular file is stored. When you format the Mac hard drive, links between index and file are deleted. Those lost files are still physically intact, and you can recover formatted Mac hard drive before they are overwritten by new files.

Part 1: Recover Formatted Hard Drive on Mac with Recoverit

If you have backed up your Mac files, you can restore formatted files easily from the backup files. If you don't have any valid backup, you will need formatted Mac Recovery software to help you retrieve data back. Recoverit Data Recovery for Mac is a reliable Mac hard drive data recovery program, and 100% safe to help you recover formatted Mac hard drive. No matter formatted deleted or lost files due to different reasons.

Video Tutorial on How to Recover Files from Formatted Hard Drive

Recent Videos from Recoverit

View More >

Part 2: How to Recover Files from Formatted Hard Drive on Mac

If you want to recover files from Mac-formatted hard disk, then the following steps can help you do the job easily and timely. Now, download, install, and launch Recoverit Mac Format Recovery to get formatted data back in less than no time.

1. Select a formatted disk

Select the hard disk drive that you formatted accidentally, and click on "Start" to scan the lost files.

2. Scan your formatted hard drive or devices

Recoverit will start an all-around scan to search your files from the formatted drive. The deep scan thoroughly searches even scraps of data and thus requires a bit longer time.

3. Recover formatted data from Mac hard drive

After the scan completes, all recoverable files list on the left panel. You can filter the file types and preview the specific recoverable files, select the formatted ones you want to retrieve and click "Recover" button to get your data back.

Part 3. Tips on Formatting Mac Hard Drive

There is a built-in tool named Disk Utility in Mac which allows you to perform the format process by hitting on the "Erase" tab when specifying the disk or the volume. Formatting can fix some of the hard drive related logical problems, but also erase all the saved files and folders in the Macintosh HD, so usually, you may not format Macintosh HD. Formatting is only performed for your certain purpose, such as:

Formatting hard drive can indeed help fix some minor errors on Mac computer. However, it can also bring about data loss. To avoid losing important files from your Mac, some reasonable precautions should be taken.

To conclude

Now, you have known how to recover formatted Mac hard drive and why you need to format a hard drive. You can continue using Recoverit Data Recovery to retrieve deleted, lost or corrupted files from a hard drive that is damaged crashed, not detected, etc. This Mac format data recovery software can also be used for recovering files from emptied trash on Mac or recycle bin on Windows PC. Download it and get data back right now.