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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60 comments
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Is data recovery through Stellar Mac data recovery software same on Yosemite 10.10.5 as on El Capitan?
Hi Moses,
Yes, Mac file recovery through Stellar software is the same on Yosemite, Mavericks, Mountain Lion, Lion and Snow Leopard as on El Capitan 10.11. Let me know if you have any further query.
Thanks!!
My Mac drive is partitioned into OS X El Capitan 10.11.1 and Windows 8. My El Capitan partition is corrupt and I am not able to boot into it however I am able to start my Mac with Windows partition. I have really very very important files saved on my Mac partition. I consulted a local data recovery firm who is asking for $250 for data recovery. Could Stellar Mac data recovery secure the recovery from El Capitan? Please respond soon, I am waiting fingers crossed.
Hi James,
Yes Stellar Mac data recovery software can help you access the Macintosh HD and recovers files from it. I request you to kindly register the software with Recovery CD. Use this Recovery CD to boot Mac and recover files from the inaccessible Macintosh HDD. You may also ask Tech Support assistance with the contact details. +1-877-778-6087 and support[[@]]stellarinfo.com. Please remove [[]] to know the correct email address.
Regards
Vishal.
Help. I upgraded to El Capitan 10.11.3 but in the process I lost email folder & subfolders. I don’t have Time Machine backup. Can anyone help me to recover lost emails?
Hi Martha,
I advise you to sort any further use of the hard drive and please do not panic too. Free download Stellar Mac data recovery software and scan the hard drive for lost email & folder. Good Luck.
Hi Vishal
How to recover deleted files from trash on El Capitan 10.11.2 MacBook Pro?
Hi Albert,
Go to this KB Article link and follow the procedure in the exact manner and you will surely recover deleted files from Trash folder on El Capitan 10.11.
Downloaded files got erased from the Download folder after cleaning my Mac with CCleaner. Unfortunately I have no Time Machine backup of Download folder. I really appreciate if someone can let me know how can I get these erased files back?
Hi PedroScholl,
Scan Macintosh HD with trial version of Stellar Mac data recovery software. There are different modes available for file recovery including Deleted Files Recovery, Data Recovery and Raw Recovery. Do run the free trial.
Thanks
Vishal, can this be done? After El Capitan release I upgraded my Mac to it and a month later I deleted my Windows 8 BootCamp partition since I no longer needed it. Consider this my huge mistake I did this without taking backing up the Windows partition. I realised that Windows 8 partition had important files which I needed for my client. Is there any way to recover BootCamp partition from my Mac using Stellar Mac data recovery software? Do let me know if this can be done else loosing client files will prove to be harmful for me. Waiting your response.
Hi Miller, Yes using Stellar Mac data recovery you can recover Bootcamp partition or any NTFS partition that was removed from Mac hard drive. Run Mac data recovery application and click on your Apple hard drive. Select Search Lost Deleted Volumes and click on the button ‘Start Scan’. The tool will begin intensive search to locate all deleted or lost partitions of file system – HFS, NTFS, FAT. Since bootcamp partition is NTFS formatted you have to select the found NTFS volume and launch scan for it. The scan will locate your files from this partition which you can preview and recover with the registered version of the Stellar Mac data recovery software.
Thanks.
I downloaded photos from an old SD card to my Mac running OS X El Capitan 10.11. By mistake I deleted all the photos from the SD card. At that time I was in hurry and assumed that I have copied them to Mac drive. Few days later, I emptied trash which resulted in permanent deletion of photos from trash. Is there any way to get my photos back to my Mac? Please tell me the easiest way that works?
You can retrieve your delete photos from SD card on OS X El Capitan. To do this, please download the Stellar Data Recovery for Mac. After downloading and installing the software on El Capitan, use the Software user-interface and select ‘Recover Data’. Software will start scanning and it will display all the deleted data that can be recovered from this SD card. Do give a free trial of the software to recoup files.
Guys I need your help ASAP. My Time Machine hard drive on OS X El Capitan 10.11.2 is not getting accessed and asking for initialization. Actually it got unplugged from Mac while Time Machine was backing up the data. This is 2 year old 500Gb hard drive which I was earlier using for rough purposes. It has been reformatted many a times earlier and may be gone bad after unsafe ejection. Can you recover this hard drive with my Time Machine backup files?
Damien
Hi Damien,
Do not initialize your Time Machine hard drive since doing this will lead to erasure of the entire file system. I advise you to download Stellar Mac data recovery software and follow this KB article “”How to Recover deleted files from Time Machine drive?”” in order to perform file recovery on Time Machine disk.
P.S. Mac file recovery software allows free preview of all files but registration is required to save the recovered files. Thanks.
I lost few of my important files while upgrading to El Capitan 10.11 from Yosemite. I downloaded Stellar Mac data recovery but I am bit confused between Deleted Recovery and Raw recovery buttons. I need quick tips on the best software option I can choose to recover files from OS X El Capitan.
Hi David,
RAW recovery is used to recover files from a corrupt media. Your case is different and I recommend you run Advance Recovery>>Recover Data to scan your hard drive. Once the Advance Scan is over the software will produce all recoverable files. You can save the files once the software gets registered.
Thanks!!
My external WD 1TB Passport with FAT file system was formatted on Windows 8 computer. I am running iMac2014 with OS X El Capitan 10.11.1 and want to recover files from this hard drive. Now I want to know if Stellar Mac data recovery tool can recover files from this drive that was formatted on Windows computer?
Regards
Joe
Hi Henry,
Thanks for your inquiry. Please find answer to your query below:
1) Free download Stellar Mac data recovery software on OS X El Capitan 10.11.1
2) Connect your WD passport external hard drive to iMac and launch the software
3) From the software interface, select Recover Data. Further select Advance Recovery and click Start Scan.
4) Let the software complete the scan on your 1TB WD external. Once the scan finishes, the software will show all recoverable files.
In trial version of the software, you can preview deleted and formatted files but to save these file registration is mandatory. Once you get through the registration, you will be able to save the data to another media. Hope this helps solve your issue.
Thanks
Hi Vishal,
I downloaded the software and scanned my hard drive with it. The software is showing many files that it can recover however I only need multimedia files mostly videos (MP4 and MOV) from it. How can I set Stellar Mac recovery software to recover only media and skip all other files?
Hi Henry Joe,
Good to know that you are on the verge of recovering files that were formatted from hard drive on El Capitan. As per your query, there are couple of ways to apply filter to Stellar Mac data recovery software so that only selected files are recovered
Before Scanning: Once you select a recovery option for your hard drive (say Deleted File Recovery) you can click on the Settings button and select/unselect the files which you want the software to recover. The Setting button is available on the each file recovery options. Suppose you want only Video to get recovered then keep checked Photo, Audio and Video formats and uncheck other option like – Documents, Archive, Applications and Text. Once the scan is done you can preview and save all files to another media.
After Scanning: If you ran an unfiltered scan of the hard drive and want to recover only video files from all the recovered files then click File List & Videos folder from the left pane of the software. Otherwise you can also use the Search box to locate all the video files with the help of file extensions i.e. .mov and .mp likewise.
Hope the above information is helpful. Do let me know for further queries.
Thanks.