Mac HFS Recovery – Recover Lost Data from Mac HFS & HFS+ Partition

Updated to Home > HowTos > File Recovery Tips on Mac by Robert on Apr 15, 2024 | Approved by Cesar C

Lost important files on Mac and these files once were stored on the HFS or HFS+ partition? No matter how you lose the files or even unable to access to corrupted HFS and HFS partition, you can try to do Mac HFS recovery to retrieve your data back. Let’ learn how to recover data from HFS & HFS+ partition.

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Part 1. Reasons for Data Loss from Mac HFS/HFS+ Partition
Part 2. How to Recover Data from HFS/HFS+ Partition

Part 1. Reasons for Data Loss from Mac HFS/HFS+ Partition

As a Mac user, if you have lost files, you must want to know how to do Mac HFS recovery to retrieve the lost data since HFS and HFS+ partitions are the important parts of Mac hard drive. Many files are saved in HFS and HFS+ partition. Though Mac is great to use and performs very well, people still face problems which will result in data loss in HFS and HFS+ partitions. Here are some of the reasons that cause data lost or inaccessible in HFS and HFS+ partition.

No matter how to data lost in HFS and HFS+ partition, and what kind of data loss, like pictures, videos, documents, emails and more, you can try your luck to recover lost data from HFS and HFS+ partition. The sooner the better result you’ll get.

Part 2. How to Recover Data from HFS/HFS+ Partition

Whenever you lost data in HFS or HFS+ partition, you must keep in mind the data might be on your hard drive currently. What you need to do is to recover HFS/HFS+ partition data as soon as possible. If you continue doing anything else, the invisible data might be replaced by new data, which will cause data permanently deleted.

To perform Mac HFS recovery, a data recovery software tool is needed. There is no way manually available for you to cancel the deletion, like Ctl + Z or Command + Z. It’s not workable at all. Only with the help of professional data recovery software, you can recover lost data from HFS and HFS+ partition. I recommend you try iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac. It’s a great and powerful tool to recover data in Mac HFS and HFS+ partition.

Best Mac HFS recovery software

(Trust Score 4.7 by 1695 Users)
  • Restore data from Mac HFS and HFS+ partition quickly and accurately. It can also recover files from APFS partition on Mac.
  • Support over 500 file types, covering all the most widely used file formats. Quick Scan recovers data quickly and Deep Scan ensures to recover more files.
  • Stable, standalone, and easy-to-use, no jargon, no computer techniques needed.
  • Developed with the edge-leading recovery technology. Any recoverable files can be found in HFS/HFS+ partition.
Download for Windows Download for macOS

Download the HFS/HFS+ partition data recovery software to have a try!!!! Here in the following, let’s learn how to recover data from Mac HFS partition.

Step 1. Install the Mac HFS recovery software

Click the DOWNLOAD button to get the installation package for your Mac. Please set up your system preferences as "install apps from App Store and Identified source". Whenever this is a pop-up telling you that the app is not from App Store, asking you whether to open it, you should confirm the operation as "Open". You know, Apple officially does not allow any data recovery software available at Apple Store. That’s why you can only get the installation package from the internet. After then, install the software on your computer.

Step 2. Select files to recover from HFS/HFS+ partition

In the next step, you should launch the software. From the start-up window, select files to scan. By default, all supported file types are selected and the software is ready to work. Do not worry. You can deselect unwanted ones before clicking the "Start" button.

Step 3. Scan HFS/HFS+ partition

In the next window, you can see all the hard drive available for you to select to scan. Please select the HFS/HFS+ partition to scan. After then, click "Scan" to recover deleted files on Mac or formatted partition recovery.

Step 4. Recover files from HFS/HFS+ partition

Wait until you see the scanning process is finished. After then, select file types in the left side and preview the file details on the right side. When find the target files, select them and click "Recover" to recover the HFS/HFS+ partition files.

See the "Deep Scan" option in the result window? You can try it to scan your HFS/HFS+ partition, looking for more files. It’s more powerful that the default Quick scan, but it takes longer.

To keep your data safe, you’d better back up your Mac regularly either with Time Machine or third-party tools. To keep your Mac run faster and reduce the system crash problem, you’re supposed to clean up your Mac regularly with Mac cleaner.