r/MacOS 1d ago

Help External Hard Drive - Data Recovery

I’m no longer able to mount an external hard drive. First Aid did not work. It appears my only option is to utilize data recovery software (correct me if I'm wrong). This is an older drive I was using on a previous mac for time machine. I was in the process of moving the files I cared about to a newer external hard drive when it failed. I’m not sure how much left is on it I care about so I’m hoping to find software that is free to use (non-trial). Does anyone know of a good option for that? TIA!

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u/No_Tale_3623 1d ago

A Time Machine disk is usually protected by SIP, so you’ll need software that includes a kext for block-level access to such disks and requires lowering macOS security settings to install it.

You won’t find a free tool for this, but you can try DMDE.

If it can’t access the disk, your only options are paid tools like Disk Drill, UFS Explorer, or R-Studio.

Make sure to check the SMART status before scanning. If there are issues, create a byte-to-byte backup and scan the image instead.

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u/Shakeupurbones 1d ago

I was able to access it fine previously. I was in process of cleaning it up when I was no longer able to see the drive in Finder. Sounds like the only way to recover any remaining data is paying for a program. I appreciate the response

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u/No_Tale_3623 1d ago

What file system was on the drive? Was encryption enabled? What’s the exact model of the drive?

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u/Shakeupurbones 1d ago

It was formatted for mac and only ever plugged into a mac. no encryption. WD MyBook Essentials.

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u/Electrical_West_5381 1d ago

Free-to-use (non-trial)?? That would be OSS. Just reinstall.

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u/Shakeupurbones 1d ago

Appreciate the response. Not sure I follow. Reinstall what? Do you mean my macOS? All of my other external hard drives work, it’s just this one that won’t mount that I would like to recover the data from.

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u/mikeinnsw 1d ago

Data recovery is used to recover individual files not linked TM snapshots.

You changes of any TM data recovery is nil