File recovery performance
Emptied Recycle Bin
- 2020
- 2019
Emptied Trash (APFS file system)
Test description: HDD: 40 GB HGST Travelstar, 40 GB APFS partition.
Data on the disk: 294 files, approximately 16 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure.
Files: 107 jpg, 40 png, 1 mkv, 22 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 6 pdf, 5 doc, 5 docx, 5 xls, 5 xlsx, 5 odt, 5ods, 1 zip.
The contents of the disk root folder were moved to Trash and then Trash was emptied. After that, the disk was ejected and then reconnected.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the files and folders, we then used the most powerful recovery option available.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
R-Studio for Mac | 5.0 | The program immediately found approximately half of the files and some remnants of the previous file system. All found files were successfully recovered. After Disk Scan: The program found the remnants of the previous file system with all files with correct names. Overall, all files were successfully recovered, but the entire folder structure was recovered partially. | |
Disk Drill for Mac | 4.5 | After Disk Scan: The program found some remnants of the previous file system. Some files were found in these remnants, some in the Orphans/LostXXXXX folders, and all with correct file names. Overall, all files were successfully recovered while the entire folder structure was recovered partially. | |
Remo Recover (Mac) | 4.0 | After Disk Scan: After a very long scan (1.5 h), the program found some remnants of the previous file system in the .Trashes/502 folder. Some files were found in these remnants, some in the Lost Files section, most with correct filenames. Some files were found as raw files with incorrect file names, Overall, most files were successfully recovered, the entire folder structure was recovered partially. | |
iMyFone AnyRecover for Mac | 3.0 | After Disk Scan: The program found some remnants of the previous file system in the .Trashes/502 folder. Some files were found in these remnants, most with correct file names. They were successfully recovered. Overall, almost half of the original files were successfully recovered, the entire folder structure was recovered partially. | |
Softtote Data Recovery for Mac | 2.5 | After Disk Scan: Only some raw files were found. Most of them were successfully recovered. | |
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac | 0.0 | After Disk Scan: The program didn’t find anything, | |
Summary: None of the programs could recover the entire folder structure. R-Studio for Mac was able to recover some files without disk scan. Softtote Data Recovery for Mac could recover only raw files. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac could not recover anything. |
Emptied Trash (FAT32 file system)
Test description: HDD: 16 GB Transcend USB stick, 16 GB FAT32 partition.
Data on the disk: 293 files, approximately 7.8 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure. Files: 107 jpg, 40 png, 22 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 6 pdf, 5 doc, 5 docx, 5 xls, 5 xlsx, 5 odt, 5ods, 1 zip.
The contents of the disk root folder were moved to Trash and then Trash was emptied. After that, the stick was ejected and then reconnected.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the files and folders, we then used the most powerful recovery option available.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
R-Studio for Mac | 5.5 | The program immediately found all files and folders without any disk scan. All found files were recovered successfully, although some file and folder names had the ? character instead of their first letter. | |
Disk Drill for Mac | 5.5 | The program found all files and folders after a very brief scan. All found files were recovered successfully, although some file and folder names had the _ character instead of their first letter. | |
Remo Recover (Mac) | 5.5 | The program found all files and folders after a very short scan. All found files were recovered successfully, although many file and folder names didn’t have their first letter. | |
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac | 5.0 | The program discovered the partition but labeled it as an unknown file system. After Deep Scan: The correct file system was found after a 10-min scan The correct folder structure and all files were found in their correct places. All files were recovered successfully, although some file and folder names had the # character instead of their first letter. | |
iMyFone AnyRecover for Mac | 5.0 | The program found all files and folders after a 15 min scan. All found files were recovered successfully, although some file and folder names had the # character instead of their first letter. | |
Softtote Data Recovery for Mac | 1.5 | The program found some parts of the original folder structure after a long scan (20 min). The program constantly crashed when attempting to open the found folders and could not recover anything. | |
Summary: All programs, except Softtote Data Recovery for Mac, successfully recovered all files and the original folder structure. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac and iMyFone AnyRecover for Mac required relatively long scans to find deleted files. Softtote Data Recovery for Mac repeatedly crashed and therefore could not recover anything. |
Emptied Trash (exFAT file system)
Test description: HDD: 40 GB HGST Travelstar, 40 GB exFAT partition.
Data on the disk: 294 files, approximately 16 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure.
Files: 107 jpg, 40 png, 1 mkv, 22 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 6 pdf, 5 doc, 5 docx, 5 xls, 5 xlsx, 5 odt, 5ods, 1 zip.
The contents of the disk root folder were moved to Trash and then Trash was emptied. After that, the disk was ejected and then reconnected.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the files and folders, we then used the most powerful recovery option available.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
Disk Drill for Mac | 6.0 | The program immediately found the entire initial folder structure and all respective files with correct file and folder names. All the found files were successfully recovered. | |
R-Studio for Mac | 5.0 | The program immediately found all files from the root folder without any disk scan, and two sub-folders with their correct names and content. All the found files were successfully recovered with fully correct file names. After Disk Scan: The program found several $ROOTXXXXX folders. These folders contained all files with correct filenames, with two exceptions: one zip and one mkv file. Some of the $ROOTXXXXX folders contained the sub-folders of the second level (Calc, Writer, and alike) with correct files. The mkv and zip files were found in the Extra Found Files with the correct filename. Files from the root folder were found in the root folder and in another folder named Root. All found files were successfully recovered. | |
iMyFone AnyRecover for Mac | 5.0 | After Disk Scan: The program could find all files with correct names and some remnants of the initial file system. All found files were successfully recovered. | |
Softtote Data Recovery for Mac | 4.5 | The program was able to find all files, but only as raw ones. All of them were successfully recovered. | |
Remo Recover (Mac) | 2.5 | After Disk Scan: The program could not find the exFAT partition on the disk. Only some raw files were found. Several of them could be successfully recovered. | |
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac | 0.0 | The program discovered the partition but it was labeled it as an unknown file system. After Disk Scan: The program didn’t find anything. | |
Summary: Only Disk Drill for Mac was able to recover the entire initial file system and all files. R-Studio for Mac and iMyFone AnyRecover for Mac could recover all files, but only part of the initial files system. Remo Recover (Mac) and Softtote Data Recovery for Mac could recover only raw files. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac could not recover anything/ |
Emptied Trash (HFS+ file system)
Test description: HDD: 40 GB HGST Travelstar, 40 GB HFS+ partition.
Data on the disk: 294 files, approximately 16 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure
Files: 107 jpg, 40 png, 1 mkv, 22 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 6 pdf, 5 doc, 5 docx, 5 xls, 5 xlsx, 5 odt, 5ods, 1 zip.
The contents of the disk root folder were moved to Trash and then Trash was emptied. After that, the disk was ejected and then reconnected.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the files and folders, we then used the most powerful recovery option available.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
R-Studio for Mac | 5.0 | After Disk Scan: The program found all but one file, but only as raw file (Extra Found Files), that is, without their names and original folder structure. All of them were recovered successfully. Files that were partially recovered: 1 mkv | |
Disk Drill for Mac | 5.0 | After Disk Scan: The program found all but one file, but only as raw file, that is, without their names and original folder structure. All of them were recovered successfully. Files that were partially recovered: 1 mkv | |
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac | 5.0 | After Disk Scan: The program found all but one file, but only as raw file, that is, without their names and original folder structure. All of them were recovered successfully. Files that were partially recovered: 1 mkv | |
iMyFone AnyRecover for Mac | 5.0 | After Disk Scan: The program found all but one file, but only as raw file, that is, without their names and original folder structure. All of them were recovered successfully. Files that were partially recovered: 1 mkv | |
Softtote Data Recovery for Mac | 4.0 | After Quick Scan: The program was able to find about 2/3 of deleted files as raw ones. All of them were successfully recovered. | |
Remo Recover (Mac) | 1.0 | After a very long (1.5 h) Search for Lost files: The program found only few raw files, none of them could be successfully recovered. | |
Summary:* All programs could recover only raw files, that is, without the original folder structure and their names. R-Studio for Mac, Disk Drill for Mac, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac, and iMyFone AnyRecover for Mac recovered all files except one mkv files, which was partially recovered (truncated). Softtote Data Recovery for Mac recovered approximately 2/3 of the original files, Remo Recover (Mac) could not find and recover anything. An interesting fact: The first program tested immediately after cleaning the Trash and reconnecting the disk found all files with their correct names and most parts of the deleted folder structure. All found files and folders were successfully recovered. But in a while all the found files and folders disappeared - the system performed garbage collection on the disk. This test was excluded from the results. |
Emptied Trash (APFS file system)
Test description:
HDD: 40 GB HGST Travelstar, 40 GB APFS partition.
Data on the disk: 294 files, approximately 16 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure
Files: 107 jpg, 40 png, 1 mkv, 9 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 6 pdf, 5 doc, 5 docx, 5 xls, 5 xlsx, 5 odt, 5ods, 1 zip.
The contents of the disk root folder were moved to Trash, then the Trash was emptied. After that, computer was restarted.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the files and folders, we then used the most powerful recovery option available.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
R-Studio for Mac | 5.0 | After Disk Scan: The program found all files and folders from the device root folder with correct names and folder structure. The only exception is that the Video folder contained only one subfolder and no files. The files from the device root folder appeared broken. The rest of found files were successfully recovered. The video files were found in the Extra Found Files section (raw files), that is, without their correct names. All of them were recovered successfully. Overall, all files, except one mkv file, were successfully recovered, video files without their correct names. The entire folder structure was partially recovered. The mkv file was also recovered partially. Files that were partially recovered: 1 mkv | |
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac | 5.0 | After Disk Scan: The program found all files and folders from the device root folder with correct names and folder structure. The only exception is that the Video folder contained only one subfolder and no files. The files from the device root folder appeared zero sized. The rest of found files were successfully recovered. The video files were found in the Raw Files section, that is, without their correct names. All of them were recovered successfully. Overall, all files, except one mkv file, successfully recovered, video files without their correct names. The entire folder structure was partially recovered. The mkv file was also recovered partially. Files that were partially recovered: 1 mkv | |
Disk Drill for Mac | 4.5 | The program did not recognized the mounted volume. The entire external hard disk had to be scanned. After Deep Scan: The program found most of the original folder structure and files in their original places and with correct names. The rest of the files were found as orphaned, but with correct names. They were successfully recovered. Video files and files from the device root folder were found among raw files (reconstructed and labeled) with incorrect names. Overall, all files, except one mkv file, successfully recovered, video files without their correct names. The entire folder structure was partially recovered. The mkv file was also recovered partially. Files that were partially recovered: 1 mkv | |
Restorer Ultimate for Mac | 4.0 | After Disk Scan: Only one folder from the disk root folder was found in the original place. It contained its subfolders with correct names. Only a small numbers of files were found in these subfolders. All of them were successfully recovered. The rest of discovered files were found in the Lost Files (raw files), that is, without correct names. Overall, only half of the original files were found and successfully recovered. Most of them from Lost Files without correct names. | |
iSkysoft Data Recovery for Mac | 4.0 | After Deep Scan: Almost all files were found, but only as raw files, that is, without their names and folder structure. These files were successfully recovered. Files that could not be recovered: 1 mkv file, 2 xlsx. | |
Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery | 3.5 | After a very long scan (more than 1.5 h): Almost all files were found, but only as raw files, that is, without their names and folder structure. These files were successfully recovered. Files that could not be recovered: 1 mkv file, 2 mts, 3 mov, 1 mpeg, 15 mp3, 5 xls files. | |
Premium Seagate File Recovery Software for Mac | 3.0 | The program recognized the external device as two volumes: one as Untitled 2 with no file system and as APFS_Test with the APFS file system. The program could not find anything at the APFS_Test partition. After disk scan of the Untitled 2 partition: Approximately half of files were found among raw files and successfully recovered. Only few video files were recovered. | |
Summary: |
Emptied Trash (exFAT file system)
Test description:
HDD: 40 GB HGST Travelstar, 40 GB exFAT partition.
Data on the disk: 294 files, approximately 16 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure
Files: 107 jpg, 40 png, 1 mkv, 9 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 6 pdf, 5 doc, 5 docx, 5 xls, 5 xlsx, 5 odt, 5ods, 1 zip.
The contents of the disk root folder were moved to Trash, then the Trash was emptied.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the files and folders, we then used the most powerful recovery option available.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
Restorer Ultimate for Mac | 5.0 | The program immediately found all files from the root folder without any disk scan, and only two empty sub-folders. All the found files were recovered successfully with fully correct file names. After Disk Scan: The program found several $ROOTXXXXX folders. These folders contained all files with correct file names, with two exceptions: one zip and one mkv file. Some of the $ROOTXXXXX folders contained the sub-folders of the second level (Calc, Writer, and alike) with correct files. The zip and mkv files were found in the Lost Files with the correct file name. Files from the root folder were found in the root folder and in another folder named Root. All found files were successfully recovered. | |
R-Studio for Mac | 5.0 | The program immediately found all files from the root folder without any disk scan, and only two empty sub-folders. All the found files were successfully recovered with fully correct file names. After Disk Scan: The program found several $ROOTXXXXX folders. These folders contained all files with correct file names, with two exceptions: one zip and one mkv file. Some of the $ROOTXXXXX folders contained the sub-folders of the second level (Calc, Writer, and alike) with correct files. The mkv and zip files were found in the Extra Found Files with the correct file name. Files from the root folder were found in the root folder and in another folder named Root. All found files were successfully recovered. | |
Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery | 5.0 | After Quick Scan: the program found all files from the disk root, two empty folders Test_Documents and Test_Music, and Test_Photos and Test_Video with correct files and sub-folders. After Deep Scan: The program found in Lost Folder(s) some remnants of the initial folder structure with all pdf, doc/docx, xls/xlsx, and mp3 files. They were successfully recovered. The zip file was found in RAW files and successfully recovered. A truncated mkv file was also found in the RAW files. It was recovered but unsuccessfully. Files that were not recovered: 1 mkv | |
Disk Drill for Mac | 4.5 | After Disk Scan: The program found two folders (Test_Photos and Test_Videos) from the root folder with sub-folders. They contained correct files with correct file names. Also some sub-folders of the second level (Calc, Writer, and alike) with correct files were found in another section. The rest of the files (including the zip file) were found among raw files, that is without their correct file names. All found files were successfully recovered. | |
iSkysoft Data Recovery for Mac | 4.5 | After Quick Scan: the program found two folders (Test_Photos and Test_Videos) from the root folder with sub-folders. They contained correct files with correct file names. The files from the disk root were found in the Trash/501 folder. All found files were successfully recovered. After Deep scan (very long, more than 2 h!): The program found several DIRXXXXXXXX folders in Lost Locations. They contained the sub-folders of the second level (Calc, Writer, and alike) with correct files. The zip file was found only as a raw file, without its file names. All found files were successfully recovered. | |
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac | 4.5 | After Disk Scan: The program found two folders (Test_Photos and Test_Videos) from the root folder with sub-folders. They contained correct files with correct file names. Also some sub-folders of the second level (Calc, Writer, and alike) with correct files were found in another section. The program also found all files from the disk root with correct file names. The rest of the files (including the zip file) were found among raw files, that is without their correct file names. All found files were successfully recovered. | |
Premium Seagate File Recovery Software for Mac | 2.5 | After Disk Scan: The program could not find any remnants of the initial file system. Files which were fond as raw, were only png, jpg, doc/docx, xls/xlsxs, and mp3. All found files were successfully correctly. Files that were not recovered: all video, Open office, pdf, and zip files. | |
Summary: None of the programs could recover the entire folder structure. R-Studio for Mac, Restorer for Mac, and Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery recovered all files with their correct names. Seagate Recovery Software for Mac could recover only few raw files. |
Emptied Trash (FAT32 file system)
Test description: HDD: 16 GB Transcend USB stick, 16 GB FAT32 partition.
Data on the disk: 293 files, approximately 7.8 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure Files: 107 jpg, 40 png, 9 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 6 pdf, 5 doc, 5 docx, 5 xls, 5 xlsx, 5 odt, 5ods, 1 zip.
The contents of the disk root folder were moved to Trash, then the Trash was emptied.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the files and folders, we then used the most powerful recovery option available.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac | 5.5 | After Disk Scan: Although the overall scan continued for app. 10 min, the program immediately found the correct folder structure and all files in their correct places. They can be previewed and their recovery could start immediately. All files were recovered successfully, although some file and folder names had the # character instead of their first letter. | |
Disk Drill for Mac | 5.5 | After Disk Scan: Although the overall scan continued for app. 12 min, the program immediately found the correct folder structure and all files in their correct places. But they can be previewed and their recovery could start only then the scan had finished. All files were recovered successfully, although some file and folder names had the _ character instead of their first letter. Some garbage files appeared in the folder with recovered files. | |
iSkysoft Data Recovery for Mac | 4.5 | After quick scan: The program could find only some fractions of the initial folder structure and app. half files. It was unable to find all doc(x), xls(x), mp3, and pdf files. After Deep Scan: The program immediately found the correct folder structure (except several sub-folders in one folder) and files in the found folders. Those files could be previewed, but not recovered. After a quite long scan (20 min), the missing sub-folders with correct names and files were found in the Trash folder. All of them were successfully recovered. | |
Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery | 4.5 | After disk scan (very short ): The program found all files after a very short disk scan, but the folder structure was only partially correct. The content of one folder was found in folder .../.Trashes/501/. All files were recovered successfully, although some file and folder names had the X character instead of their first letter. | |
Premium Seagate File Recovery Software for Mac | 4.0 | After disk scan (very short ): The program found all files, but the folder structure was only partially correct. The content of one folder was found in folder ?NTITL~1 and .../.Trashes/501/. All files were recovered successfully, although some file and folder names had the ? character instead of their first letter. | |
R-Studio for Mac | 4.0 | The program immediately found all files without any disk scan, but the folder structure was only partially correct. The content of several folders was found in folders ?NTITL~1 and .../.Trashes/501/. All files were recovered successfully, although some file and folder names had the ? character instead of their first letter. Scan didn't improve the result. | |
Restorer Ultimate for Mac | 4.0 | The program immediately found all files without any disk scan, but the folder structure was only partially correct. The content of several folders was found in folders ?NTITL~1 and .../.Trashes/501/. All files were recovered successfully, although some file and folder names had the ? character instead of their first letter. Scan didn’t improve the result. | |
Summary: All programs successfully recovered all files. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac and Disk Drill for Mac could recover the entire folder structure. The rest of the programs recovered the folder structure only partially. |
Emptied Trash (HFS+ file system)
Test description:
HDD: 40 GB HGST Travelstar, 40 GB HFS+ partition.
Data on the disk: 294 files, approximately 16 GB total size, scattered over a certain file structure
Files: 107 jpg, 40 png, 1 mkv, 9 avi, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 86 mp3, 6 pdf, 5 doc, 5 docx, 5 xls, 5 xlsx, 5 odt, 5ods, 1 zip.
The contents of the disk root folder were moved to Trash, then the Trash was emptied. After that, computer was restarted.
Note: Different programs have different options for performing a certain file recovery task. For each program, we initially used the option most suitable for this test. If it did not recover all the files and folders, we then used the most powerful recovery option available.
Product | Rating | Test Results | |
---|---|---|---|
R-Studio for Mac | 5.0 | After Disk Scan: The program found all but one files, but only as raw file (Extra Found Files), that is, without their names and original folder structure. All of them were recovered successfully. Files that were partially recovered: 1 mkv. | |
Restorer Ultimate for Mac | 5.0 | After Disk Scan: The program found all but one files, but only as raw file, that is, without their names and original folder structure. All of them were recovered successfully. Files that were partially recovered: 1 mkv. | |
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac | 5.0 | After Disk Scan: The program found all but one files, but only as raw file, that is, without their names and original folder structure. All of them were recovered successfully. Files that were partially recovered: 1 mkv. | |
iSkysoft Data Recovery for Mac | 5.0 | After Quick Scan: Nothing was found. After Disk Scan: The program found all but one files, but only as raw file, that is, without their names and original folder structure. All of them were recovered successfully. Files that were partially recovered: 1 mkv. | |
Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery | 3.5 | After Quick Scan: Nothing was found. After a very long scan (more than 1.5 h): Almost all files were found, but only as raw files, that is, without their names and folder structure. These files were successfully recovered. Files that could not be recovered: 1 mkv file, 1 flv, 1 m4v, 2 mov, 5 mp4, 1 mpeg, 4 mts, 23 mp3 files. | |
Disk Drill for Mac | 3.5 | After Disk Scan: The program found approximately half of the original files, but only as raw file , that is, without their names and original folder structure. All of them were recovered successfully. Files that were partially recovered: 1 mkv Files that could not be recovered: 34 mp3, 1 zip, 28 png, 24 jpg, 1 flv, 4 mts. | |
Premium Seagate File Recovery Software for Mac | 3.0 | After Disk Scan: The program found approximately half of the original files, but only as raw file , that is, without their names and original folder structure. All of them were recovered successfully. Files that could not be recovered: 9 avi, 1 m4v, 1 mpg, 4 mts, 11 mp3, 6 pdf, 1 zip, 24 png, 28 jpg, 1 flv, 4 mts, 1mpg. | |
Summary: |