Recovering Data from Mac OS X El Capitan 10.11
Summary: Have you accidentally deleted important files from OS X El Capitan 10.11? Perhaps, the USB drive that you trusted got erased accidentally while using Disk Utility?
Data loss on OS X El Capitan can occur in several ways. Don’t fret, as this blog helps you do data recovery on El Capitan with the help of Stellar Data Recovery Professional tool. Download it for free.
The 12th major OS X release from Apple, OS X El Capitan hit the markets on September 30th, 2015. In addition to the usual excitement that comes with an OS X launch, El Capitan has managed to grab quite a few eyeballs and create a nice buzz owing to under-the-hood performance improvements, updated apps, improved search, and more. While most Macs that can run OS X Mavericks or Yosemite can run El Capitan, some of its features won’t work on old machines.
But if you need that information, well, you should look elsewhere because this article is not focused on that. What we’re about to discuss here is a much more serious topic – how to recover data from Mac hard drive running El Capitan.
Data loss on Mac OS X El Capitan!
Data loss on the latest OS X version that’s equipped with state-of-the-art technology! Really? Well, sadly, yes! That’s because no matter how powerful the built-in security measures of a new OS are, data threats seem to find novel ways to hit you in the face when you least expect them too. So knowing how to retrieve data is vital.
But first, brief know-how of the scenarios wherein you could end up with data loss:
Scenario 1: While upgrading to OS X El Capitan, make sure you first backup your Mac. In the excitement of the new OS, if you skip the backup, you could trip head-on into a situation where you cannot see your files anymore. This happens with software upgrades many times due to inconsistencies or bugs that are still being investigated. So be absolutely sure to back up!
Scenario 2: Did you know you could unintentionally erase your entire hard drive? Yes, you can. Accidental deletion and hard drive formatting really happen. So each time you’re about to empty the trash or format a volume, triple-check what you’re really doing.
Scenario 3: Consider the power and data transfer interruptions deeply. If you don’t have a UPS to protect your Mac from an unexpected power surge, this is time to buy one! Sudden power surges and unexpected system terminations could cause some parts of the hard drive to damage permanently leading to data inaccessibility. Also, avoid any intervention when a read/write operation is underway on the Mac as it could cause data corruption.
Scenario 4: Unintentional downloading of suspicious applications is something that a Mac protects you from. However, some malware/viruses are specifically targeted for Macs so if your Mac says something is dangerous, listen to it!
Recovering data from Mac OS X El Capitan
If you do find yourself on the wrong side of data loss, take assurance in the fact that you’re not defeated just yet. Best Mac data recovery software like Stellar Data Recovery Professional can battle any level of data damage, corruption or loss to reclaim your precious files in almost no time. Be it documents, photos, music or videos, this software makes use of advanced techniques to scan your entire hard drive for recoverable files and lets you recover them with ease. It can work equally well on various OS X devices such as iMac, MacBook Pro, Air, Mac Mini, Mac Pro and can recover data lost from any APFS, HFS, HFS+, FAT, ExFAT and NTFS format based system. With advanced features like RAW recovery, Time Machine Backup drive recovery, Encrypted drive recovery and more, this software certainly is your best savior against data loss.
Here’s how you can use Mac Data Recovery program to recover data from OS X El Capitan:
Step 1: Download, install and launch the software.
Select the What Files you Want to Recover from the main interface and proceed further.
Step 2: Select the OS X El Capitan start-up drive to perform data recovery. Here, you have the option to switch to Deep Scan.
Scanning of the OS X El Capitan storage media begins…
Step 3: After scanning completes, all recoverable data is listed in the left-hand panel of the software window. You may preview individual items from this list.
Step 4: Register the Mac data recovery software. Then, select files to be recovered and click on “Recover” button to save the files at the desired location.
Conclusion
That’s it; see how simple recovering data from El Capitan is? So upgrade without fear. But make sure you backup before you do so. After all, precaution is better than cure!
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Hi, I accidentally deleted one folder from Seagate 2bay NAS? How I can recover that folder without any loss of data?
Hi Jane,
Unfortunately, the software doesn’t support data recovery from NAS devices.
Thanks.
I have an urgent need to recover 1 TB of hard drive which got accidentally formatted in macOS Sierra 10.12 Disk Utility. Is Stellar Mac Data Recovery compatible with Sierra?
Hello Claire,
Please don’t panic since we have the solution.
Stellar Mac Data Recovery is macOS Sierra 10.12 compatible and it will recover your data from the external hard drive. Do read this helpful KB article “How Do I Recover External Hard Disk Drive Data on macOS Sierra 10.12“.
Thanks.
Vishal
Hi, My Mac mini hard drive is appear falling. It freezes or turns off after 20-25 minutes of use. It is also connected to another workstation now via USB cable, and I need to get a lot of data off of it. It keeps freezing and running so slow that it will be impossible to transfer all the photos. Is there any software which I can use to image my Mac drive and then re-image it on another Mac drive?
Hi, you need to boot it from Stellar Drive Clone software on 1st USB drive and then need to save your Mac drive image to a big 2nd USB drive. Further, replace your HD and then Drive Clone software in reverse (restore) process.
Hi Vishal,
I have a new Mac Mini that have Time Machine application. Could you let me know why I need to have a data recovery program when Apple free provides Time Machine backup facility?
Hi Thanh,
Thanks for raising this query.
Time Machine is a great application to restore deleted files. The need for a data recovery software arises when user have no Time Machine backup. Another instances of using Mac data recovery software are – Time Machine backup drive failed, corrupt, unmounted or deleted. Time Machine external hard drive can also go under file deletion or erasure resulting in heavy data losses. Read More Time Machine Recovery with Stellar.
How many EXFAT partitions can Stellar Mac Data Recovery program can recover on my 2 TB WD external for Mac.
Hi William,
You can know only by installing and running the Stellar Mac Data Recovery program. Use Search Lost Deleted Volumes on your 2 TB WD External for Mac. It will list up every volumes (fat, ntfs, hfs, exfat) which was either lost/deleted. You can recover 1 volume at a time. I suggested you first run a free surface scan on your media using free trial.
Regards
Vishal
Dear Mr. Matt
Greetings from Stellar!!
I am pleased to acknowledge your query and hope my answer resolves your issue ASAP. For you data loss, I would recommend you purchase Stellar Mac Data Recovery application because it will offer you over a dozen of features that will assist data recovery on Mac hard drives. You will be able to recover deleted, inaccessible files from an external hard drive, optical media, corrupt media and password protected storage devices. I prescribe you get a free evaluation of the software.
I must also inform you that Data Recovery Bundle includes data recovery software for Mac + iPhone + iPad.
Thanks & Regards,
Vishal Chaudhary
I copied my video files from iPhone 6 to my Mac hard drive and deleted it from the device. Unfortunately, I had to restore my Mac since my hard drive crashed and in this process, I lost my video files. All this was so sudden that I didn’t get the chance to backup it somewhere else. I browsed your website and found it useful for data recovery. But I have a question. Should I purchase the Mac data recovery software or iOS data recovery software? Thanks!!
I need help, I scanned my mac HD twice and it took about two days. After complete it crashed, so I did it again only this time I chose raw recovery on a Toshiba disk.. Nothing was found after couple hours and now the app won’t show my HD on the panel for a new scan..only the Toshiba. What do I do? Thanks.
Hi Kaze,
Please reboot the machine and then attempt to do normal recovery and not raw recovery. If issue still persists ,please contact technical using mail is support[@]stellarinfo.com or call at 877-778-6087
Best Regards
Vishal
I thought, I had downloaded the photos from my camera SD card to my Mac OS, and after that I deleted them from the SD card. But I was in a rush, and so I can only assume I never did copy them to my Mac, because they’re nowhere to be found. It was 4 weeks of personal family photos and work related photos lost from dates in the second week of June to the first week of July. I only noticed a few days ago. My trash has been automatically deleting everything I put in it now for weeks. So they’re gone completely. Is there any way to retrieve them? Preferably the most economical way that is suitable for me.
You need to use Stellar Data Recovery for Mac for recovering your deleted photos. Below is the required link of the software:
Folks, I have this question. Let me know if you can resolve it. I used my iPhone 6S for capturing tons of pictures and deleted some of them. This has been a routine for me. Some days back I decided to free up the storage spaces, I choose to clean my iPhone manually since I don’t trust any iPhone cleaner. It took an entire day to clean up the storage. I deleted lots of pictures from my iPhone. Now comes the worse part. Sadly, during cleaning I removed around a dozen of pictures which I didn’t mean to delete at all. Since I have no iCloud backup of my iPhone I feel like an idiot. I tried your utility Stellar Mac data recovery free edition in hope that it will recover those images and I will not have to pay for that. Unfortunately, it doesn’t see my iPhone 6S as a drive so the software couldn’t do a thing. It is important for me to get back those pictures. So it will be a great favour if you guys can let me know as to how can I recover those images from my iPhone. Hope I can trust you guys.
Hi Jamie,
Stellar Mac Data Recovery Application reads and recover HFS, HFS+, HFS Wrapper, FAT, EXFAT and NTFS formatted hard drives, USB, external HDD and likewise storage media. It will not read your iPhone or other iOS related devices. But you need not to worry since the utility called Stellar Recovery for iPhone will read / scan / recover your iPhone 6S. The utility also supports data recovery on iPhone 6 Plus, 6, 5s, 5c, 5, 4s and 4, iPad Mini 2, iCloud backup files. With this application you can easily get back deleted or erased Camera Roll, Photo Stream, iTunes backup, iCloud, Messages, WhatsApp attachments, Notes, Safari Bookmarks etc. Do try the application since demo version of the software allows to preview all recoverable files. Hope this will resolve your query.