Top 5 Best Recuva Alternatives for Mac: Compare and Select

recuva alternative for mac

Recuva is a popular data recovery application, but there’s no Recuva for Mac OS X because the application was designed with the Windows operating system in mind. As such, Mac users who would like to recover lost files with a few simple clicks are forced to research Recuva alternatives.

If you’d rather spend less time on research and more time on data recovery, then this article is for you because it lists the top 5 best Recuva alternatives for Mac, explaining what each of them has to offer.

Quick Comparison of the best Recuva Alternatives for Mac
PriceFree trialDeep scanUser-friendlyCompatibility
Disk Drill$89.00YesYesYesWindows and Mac
PhotoRec$0N/AYesNoWindows, Mac, and Linux
R-Studio$79.99YesYesNoWindows and Mac
DiskWarrior$119.95NoNoYesMac
EaseUS Data Recovery$89.95YesYesYesWindows and Mac

5 Best Recuva Alternatives for Mac

Even though you can’t download Recuva for Mac, you can choose from many Recuva alternatives, some of which offer even better usability, data recovery performance, and file format support. Here are our top 5 favorite Recuva alternatives for Mac.

1. Disk Drill Data Recovery for Mac

Disk Drill recovery

Disk Drill is our favorite Recuva for Mac alternative because it makes data recovery a matter of a single click on the Recover button. From there, Disk Drill automatically goes through all data recovery algorithms (including Deep Scan) in the optimal order to recover as many files as possible.

Thanks to its support for over 400 file formats, Disk Drill’s data recovery performance is second to none, and its developers are constantly working hard to improve it even further. The only downside of Disk Drill is the fact that the free trial version can only preview files. However, it doesn’t cost much to upgrade to the PRO version and enjoy unlimited recovery. Check out the full Disk Drill review.

Pros:
  • Modern user interface
  • Impressive data recovery performance
  • Multi-language support
  • Deep scan feature
  • Extra disk and data protection tools
Cons:
  • The trial version can only preview files

2. PhotoRec for Mac

Photorec interface

PhotoRec may not seem like a very good alternative to Recuva at first due to its lack of graphical user interface, but the two applications actually share many similarities. For example, they both include a recovery wizard whose purpose is to guide you through the recovery process and help you restore your files with minimal effort.

Both PhotoRec and Recuva also support hundreds of file formats, but PhotoRec can recover them not only from Windows file systems (NTFS, FAT, exFAT), but also from Mac (HFS+) and Linux (ext2/ext3/ext4) file systems.

Pros:
  • Free and open-source
  • Multi-platform
  • Reliable data recovery performance
Cons:
  • Unable to preview recoverable files
  • Command-line interface
  • The least user-friendly Recuva alternative

3. R-Studio for Mac

R-Studio data recovery

R-Studio is a professional data recovery product aimed at power users and data recovery professionals alike. Unlike Recuva, which can get back lost files only from local storage devices, R-Studio can recover data even from clients connected to a local area network or the internet.

As a professional data recovery product, R-Studio comes with several tools that most regular home users won’t appreciate but data recovery professionals can’t live without, such as an advanced hex editor, disk imaging, or RAID reconstruction.

Pros:
  • Powerful features
  • Runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux
  • Advanced recovery algorithms
  • Recovery over network
Cons:
  • Not suitable for regular home users
  • Many confusing options

4. DiskWarrior

DiskWarrior tool

DiskWarrior is a disk repair and data recovery tool for Mac. With a single click, it can repair common file system issues that prevent files from being accessible and macOS from operating correctly. DiskWarrior can also diagnose hardware issues and warn you ahead of time that it’s time to replace the hard drive with a new one.

When it comes to the recovery of lost and deleted files, DiskWarrior falls behind the other Recuva alternatives mentioned in this article because it can recover only files that have become inaccessible due to issues with permissions. If you need to recover permanently deleted files, we recommend you pick a different solution.

Pros:
  • Hardware diagnostic capabilities
  • Repairs many common file system issues
  • Easy to use
Cons:
  • Very limited file recovery capabilities
  • No free trial available
  • Expensive

5. EaseUS Data Recovery

When it comes to restoring deleted data on Mac, EaseUS Data Recovery works like magic, especially for photos and movies. Most of the settings in this program are preset, making it simple for new users to learn and get started immediately. In order to finish the procedure as quickly as possible, the program optimizes the file scans to go backward on the file path.

Before making a purchase, users may test out EaseUS’s capabilities with up to 2GB of free data recovery. Additionally, you have 30 days to use the money-back guarantee if you decide after buying the program that you do not like it and want a full refund.

It is a fantastic option for novices who have mistakenly erased essential data and do not want to spend a lot of time going through lengthy tutorials. With EaseUS Data Recovery, you’ll get a brief step-by-step explanation and speedy recovery.

Pros:
  • Preview Feature
  • Deep Scan Technology
Cons:
  • Automatic Data Collection
  • Limited Free Version
  • User Interface Customization
  • Pricing Structure

Why Do Windows Users Choose Recuva?

recuva main window

First released by Piriform, a British software company based in London, in 2007, Recuva is a data recovery application for Windows that offers the following key benefits:

  • 🎁 Free version: Perhaps the main reason why so many Windows users download Recuva is that the application is free. Yes, there’s a paid version with a few extra features, but those are not essential.
  • 🖥️ Simple user interface: Users who don’t have much experience with data recovery appreciate Recuva’s simple user interface, which presents only a small handful of self-explanatory options.
  • 💾 Deep Scan: By default, Recuva quickly goes through the scanned storage device to find recently deleted files, but you can also use the Deep Scan option to recover buried files that have been deleted some time ago.
  • 🔊 Wide file format support: Recuva can undelete all common file types, including images, videos, audio, documents, file archives, and more.
  • 🔠 Multiple languages: The most recent version of Recuva supports nearly 40 languages, making it easy for users who don’t understand English well to recover their files with confidence.

FAQ

Recuva is a data recovery software tool that runs on the Windows operating system. The software can recover images, videos, audio files, documents, and many other types of files. Recovery can be performed on most disk-based storage devices including USB drives, SD cards, memory sticks, and external hard drives.

The fact that Recuva offers a free version of the tool and provides a user-friendly interface makes it popular in the Windows community. Upgrading to a paid version of the tool adds support for virtual hard drives and enables the software to be automatically updated. Premium support is also offered with a paid license. Recuva also supports many languages besides English, making it a useful tool for the worldwide Windows user community.

Unfortunately, there is no version of Recuva that will work on your Mac. You will need to use an alternative solution to recover lost data from a Mac or MacBook. We like Disk Drill as a paid solution and PhotoRec if you are looking for a freeware tool.

Recuva has serviceable recovery functionality and may be able to get your lost data back successfully. In our experience, other commercial products have a better success rate than Recuva, and often offer a more extensive set of features.

Recuva might enable you to recover your lost data for free. We suggest you give it a try and if it doesn’t work, using a paid solution instead. You might pay a little more for a reliable commercial recovery tool, but the price is worth it to recover your valuable data.

Unfortunately, Recuva is unavailable for Mac. But, you can still download and use Recuva on Mac by setting up a virtual Windows system on your Mac.
No. Mac does not have a built-in data recovery. However, Mac has Time Machine, which is a built-in backup tool.  If you do regular backups through Time Machine and you accidentally erase your files, this feature allows you to restore those deleted files from your Mac.
Recuva offers a free version that provides advanced file recovery. However, if you want additional features and services such as automatic updates, virtual hard drive support, higher recovery rate, and premium customer support, you can pay for the professional version which is priced at $19.95.
David Morelo is a seasoned technology writer with a decade of professional experience and a Bachelor's degree in English Linguistics. He also holds a Google Cybersecurity Certificate. At Macgasm, he mainly writes product reviews and in-depth guides, with a focus on macOS and iOS. David's tech journey began at the age of 11, when he assembled his first Windows PC and later used it to explore the Linux world. His curiosity eventually led him to the Hackintosh community and, soon after that, to the nearest Apple store. Today, he's an avid Mac and iPhone user who enjoys the coziness of the Apple software ecosystem because it helps him stay productive. His contributions have also been featured on platforms like CleverFiles, Make Tech Easier and Insanely Mac, and many others.
Mako Young has been a technical writer for a long time, and he loves writing about everything related to technology. Whether it's computers, phones, or the latest software-as-a-service (SaaS) trends, Mako can simplify the jargon or dive into the details to help you understand it better. At Macgasm, he frequently reviews tools designed for Macbooks. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Lancaster University. You can also check out his articles on Saint, Gamerant and How-to Geek.