Stellar Data Recovery is a versatile, easy-to-use data recovery tool

One of the oldest Mac-compatible data recovery tools is Stellar Data Recovery,  which has been around (under various names) since 2000. And it’s still an easy-to-use utility for recovering data from just about all Macs and all drives. Of course, NOTHING beats having a back-up (or back-ups) of all your data.

Stellar Data Recovery is versatile

In addition to your Mac’s hard drive, Stellar Data Recovery works with USB-C external drives (hard disks and solid state), Flash drives, and more. With it you can restore lost or deleted Mac files of almost any type and format. 

Among the software supported (and their file types) are Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Photos, iMovie, GarageBand, Pages, TextEdit, Mail, Logic Pro, InDesign, Final Cut Pro, iMovie, and more. It supports NTFS, FAT, FAT16, FAT32, exFAT, Ext2, Ext3, Ext4, HFS, HFS+, and APFS file system.

One of my favorite features is that you can add file types manually should the need arise. Most users won’t ever need this, but pro users and developers will find it helpful. The software can run a customized recovery procedure. This lets you choose specific file types such as document, email, photo, video, audio, etc., on a designated storage drive or partition. 

Stellar Download Recovery can recover deleted files even if they’ve been permanently removed or emptied from the Trash. You can scan your start-up disk and recover the deleted Mac files to a location of your choice. 

Stellar Download Recovery’s file recovery tool can “deep scan” formatted storage partition or volume to maximize data recovery on Mac. It implements file signature-based search technique to locate fragments of the lost data and stitches them together as a whole, integral unit. Just be warned: deep scans can be slooooow.

Stellar Download Recovery can even recover data lost when you’ve re-partitioned a drive. And you can use it to create a bootable recovery drive. 

The Stellar Drive Monitor included with the software keeps track of drive temperature, performance, and health. It also shows SMART attributes of the hard disk to ascertain its overall health. 

Ease of use

Stellar Data Recovery is easy to use. The user interface is simply and well organized, making it easy for new users to navigate through the various options. The recovery process itself is also straightforward. In fact, there are just three main steps.

Pricing options

Stellar Download Recovery is subscription-based, something I personally don’t like. (I prefer to pay a single fee and “own” the software). At least, the tool is available in a variety of tiers. They are:

$79.99 Professional

° Creates Recovery Drive for Non-booting Macs;

° Recovers Files from Time Machine; 

° Recovers Files from BootCamp Partition; 

° Creates Disk Image for File Recovery;

° Monitors Mac Hard Drive Health

$99.99 Premium: 

° Recovers Permanently Deleted Data;

° Creates Recovery Drive for Non-booting Macs; 

° Recovers Files from Time Machine; 

° Recovers Files from BootCamp Partition; 

° Creates Disk Image for File Recovery; 

° Monitors Mac Hard Drive Health;

° Repairs Corrupt Photos; 

° Repairs Corrupt Videos

$149 Technician: 

° Recovers Permanently Deleted Data; 

° Creates Recovery Drive for Non-booting Macs; 

° Recovers Files from Time Machine;

° Recovers Files from BootCamp Partition; 

° Creates Disk Image for File Recovery;

° Monitors Mac Hard Drive Health;

° Repairs Corrupt Photos; 

° Repairs Corrupt Videos;

° Supports Installation on Multiple Systems

Technical support

As you can imagine, since I’m reviewing Stellar Data Recovery, I have no problem getting tech support (if I needed any — which I haven’t so far). However, I have read online posts about folks having trouble getting tech support or getting refunds.

If you find files missing from your Mac or an external drive, stop what you’re doing (and don’t have the necessary back-ups; shame on you), give Stellar Mac Data Recovery a try.