Recover Lost/Deleted Hard Drive Data on a Mac - Without a Backup!

Everyone's lost data - it's quickly becoming a part of life.  While backup solutions like Time Machine exist, not everyone has access to them.  Here's a way to get your deleted or lost data back off that hard drive without even having a backup!

Open Data Rescue II and type in your password if necessary.  If you don't have a copy, you can get one from http://prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php for $99. You can also use DiskWarrior (http://alsoft.com/DiskWarrior $99) although it's more confusing for this purpose.  A free method for doing this simply DOES NOT EXIST. Sorry! I know free is better, but you'll be really glad you shelled out the money for this.  Anyways, grab one of those and let's get going.

Click Expert Mode - after all, you're reading this article so you're now an expert! Select the drive the files were on from the "Select Drive / Volume to scan" pane.

Select Deleted Files from the menu below.  This will scan the empty space on your hard drive where the ghost of the file resides.  Spooky! Hit the big Start Scan button and choose a location for temporary storage. Anywhere with the required hard drive space will be fine.

Here's the magic step.  After some (possibly long) progress screens, you'll arrive at the Recover Files screen. With any luck you can find the files you deleted among the results.  Click the checkbox next to them and hit the recover button!

Additional Tips

• When a file is deleted from a drive, it's rarely wiped clean away. To increase your chances of successful recover, try to write as little data as possible to the drive after the file is deleted.
• Not all files can be recovered.
• Recently deleted files are the most likely candidates for recover