MacOS External Hard Drive Recovery – Recover Files From External Hard Drive on Mac [2022]

External hard drives are extensively used by all Mac users to expand their storage space or to keep backups. Losing your files can be tough, but what if you also lose data on your external backup? The data loss can be substantial and worrying.

Fortunately, there are different ways to recover lost or deleted data from an external hard drive on Mac. In this article, we will discuss a few methods to recover data from an external hard drive on Mac, for effective and quick data recovery from an external hard drive on Mac, make use of effective Remo hard drive recovery software.

Before we head to the recovery process, let us understand a few reasons behind data loss from the external HDD on Mac.

Reasons for Data Loss on Mac External Hard Drive

There are a few reasons that lead to data loss on the external hard drive on Mac. Some of them are mentioned below:

• Accidental deletion
• Interruptions while transferring the data
• Abrupt ejecting the hard drive while it is still performing read/write operation
• File system corruption
• Accidentally formatted the external HDD/SSD.

How do I Recover Files from an External Hard Drive on a Mac?

Depending on the different data loss scenarios, approaching different methods will yield successful results. Follow the below methods to restore files/folders from an external SSD on Mac.

Method 1: Restore Accidentally Erased External Hard Drive on Mac Using Trash

Mac users usually go to Trash, which stores deleted files temporarily and make them recoverable. Deleted files might be found in the Trash for the files deleted on your Mac, but what about files deleted on your external drive? Do they end up in Mac Trash?

It is possible to restore accidentally deleted files on the external hard drive from the Trash.

The Trash bin displays the data lost on both internal and external hard drives. To access the Trash Bin on the external hard drive, simply connect your external hard drive to the Mac computer(from where you accidentally deleted or lost files) and click on the main disk’s Trash, and follow the steps below to restore the files from Trash.

• Go to the Trash
• Select the files you want to restore
• Right-click on the selected files and click on the Put Back option to restore files to their original location on an external hard drive.

Method 2: Recover Lost Files from External USB Hard Drive on Mac

In case you cannot find the files in the trash, and for which you have no backup. However, in such scenarios, Remo Recover Mac software comes handy.

Remo Recover Mac features a user-friendly interface that makes the recovery process simple. It is a powerful tool built with a deep scan algorithm that scans every sector of the drive to get back the files lost due to various reasons effortlessly. This software is compatible with all the Mac versions like Big Sur, Catalina, and earlier versions.

• Download and install Remo Recover Mac on your Mac computer to recover deleted files from USB external HDD.
• Now connect your external hard drive to the Mac
• From the main screen click on the Recover Files option to recover deleted files from SSD on Mac.

• Click on the Recover Lost Files option
• Select the drive from which you want to restore the files and click on the Scan
• Note: Once the scanning process is completed a list of recovered files is displayed in File Type View and Data View.

• Finally, click on the Save option to get back the recovered files to the desired location.

Method 3: Recover Deleted Folder from External SSD on Mac Using Time Machine

Time machine is backup system software for the Mac. Follow the steps below to restore files or folders from Mac Time Machine.

• Connect the external storage device containing the Time Machine backup files to your Mac computer.
• Now open a Finder window in the folder that previously stored the file you want to recover.
• Launch Time Machine by clicking the Time Machine icon.

• Now search through the available backups from the Timeline.
• Select the files which you want to restore
• Now click on the Restore option, to restore the files to the original location on the external hard drive.

Method 4: Repair Damaged External Hard Drive on Mac

In case you have an external hard drive that is showing signs of corruption, then try using Disk Utility. Disk Utility is a built-in utility that helps you fix minor corruption on the drive. Follow the steps below to fix the damaged external hard drive on Mac.

• Connect your external hard drive to the Mac.
• Open Disk Utility.

• From the left panel choose your External hard drive.
• Now click on the First Aid option, and then you will be prompted to continue the process.
• Wait for the process to complete, the Disk Utility will check and repair any error.

Note: To protect against a catastrophic drive failure, we strongly advise that you backup your drive’s data after performing repair operations using Disk Utility.

Tips to Avoid Data Loss on External Hard drive on Mac

• Always take a backup of your important data.
• Avoid any interruptions while transferring the data
• Make use of updated Antivirus software to protect your Mac and external hard drive from getting corrupted
• Avoid abrupt removal of the external hard drive while it is still performing read/write operation.