Sydney · Australia-wide
Mac data recovery, from deleted files to a dead board.
A Mac that will not start usually still holds every file. Deleted files are a different case, and the free steps come first: Time Machine, the Trash and iCloud Recently Deleted. When those fail, we image the storage read-only and work from the copy. MacBook, iMac or Mac mini, Intel or Apple Silicon.
Before you do anything else
Protect the only copy.
- 01
Power it down
Every minute a failing drive runs can overwrite the bytes you need.
- 02
Skip consumer scanners
Desktop recovery apps write as they scan. That is the opposite of imaging a dying disk.
- 03
No repair, no format
chkdsk, First Aid and reinstall fix the disk; they do not preserve what was on it.
- 04
Call, then decide
Free triage: lab job, cleanroom referral, or Recovery Studio.
When / stop
Try the free steps, then stop.
Open Time Machine and step back to before the loss. Check the Trash. For anything that lived in iCloud Drive, check Recently Deleted on iCloud.com, which keeps files for 30 days. This is a genuine do-it-yourself case, and you should try it before paying anyone. Stop there. Do not empty the Trash, do not sign out of iCloud, and do not leave the Mac idling at the desktop while you decide. On an internal SSD, every minute at the desktop gives TRIM another chance to clear the blocks your files sat on.
First Aid and reinstalling macOS are repairs. They fix the volume so the Mac boots; they do not preserve what was on it. If the Mac will not start, do not erase it from Recovery, do not accept a reinstall, and do not run a consumer scanner on the boot volume. Shut it down and call. A Mac that shows a folder with a question mark, or stalls on the Apple logo, is often a Mac with intact data and a broken boot path.
What we do
Unlock, image read-only, then recover.
A Mac is a drive plus a lock. APFS with FileVault stores every block encrypted, so deleted-file recovery needs the volume unlocked with your account password or recovery key before anything can be read. Once it is open, deleted is often still present until overwritten, the same as on any other drive. Where keys are missing, money does not decrypt the media. You hear that at assessment, before any quote.
On T2 and Apple Silicon Macs the internal storage is encrypted with keys held inside the chip, whether FileVault is on or not. If the logic board is dead, the storage chips on their own hold nothing readable. The honest path is getting the board to boot far enough to unlock the volume, then imaging over Share Disk from Recovery. Whether a given board can be brought that far is assessed case by case after the free assessment. We do not sell a bypass, because there is none.
Older Macs with a removable SATA or NVMe drive are a normal drive job. The drive comes out, is imaged on a write blocker, and recovery runs on the image. A Mac that powers up but will not boot is imaged over Target Disk Mode on Intel, or Share Disk from Recovery on Apple Silicon, without writing to the original. Spinning-drive faults follow our hard drive recovery page; flash faults, including TRIM, follow our SSD and NVMe recovery page. We do not run a cleanroom. Mechanical failures (clicking, non-spinning, head crash) are referred after free assessment. We will not open the drive on a bench and make it worse.
Recovery Studio is the Mac app we run in the lab. It opens the image, catalogues the live and leftover filesystem names, carves by signature when names are gone, and exports copies only. Licences exist for people who work an image themselves. Most Mac jobs still start with the lab imaging the media, and you can start a case either way.
What it costs
Published band, then a fixed quote.
Healthy-drive logical work from $249. Failing or degraded drives that need imaging from $449. Cleanroom mechanical work is referred at no charge after free assessment. Assessment is free. The figure you agree is fixed before recovery starts. Full lab bands and Recovery Studio licences are on Pricing.
First response within 24 hours. Scan and initial feedback on what is recoverable within 72 hours. Recovery within 14 days, usually much sooner. Scanning is the long part, especially on large drives. The amount of data and the method decide the rest.
FAQ
Common questions.
How do I recover deleted files on a Mac?
Time Machine first, then the Trash, then Recently Deleted on iCloud.com for anything that lived in iCloud Drive. If none of those has the file, stop using the Mac. On a FileVault volume the recovery needs your password to unlock it. On an internal SSD, TRIM may already have cleared the blocks, and you hear that at assessment rather than after paying.
My Mac will not turn on. Is the data gone?
Usually not. A Mac that fails to start still holds every file on its storage. On an older Mac the drive comes out and is imaged. On a T2 or Apple Silicon Mac the storage only unlocks through its own board, so the question is whether that board can be brought as far as Recovery. Assessed case by case after the free assessment.
Why does Apple Silicon or T2 make recovery harder?
The internal storage is encrypted with keys held inside the chip, whether FileVault is on or not. Reading the storage chips off the board returns ciphertext. Recovery has to go through the Mac's own board, booted far enough to unlock, and the data then comes off over Share Disk. There is no bypass for sale.
Does Time Machine get everything back?
It restores whatever existed at the last completed backup. Files created or changed since then are not in it, and a backup disk that was unplugged for months holds the state from months ago. Check the date of the last backup before you decide the loss is covered.
Next step
Tell us what failed.
Free assessment. Fixed quote before recovery starts. No recovery, no fee. Sydney drop-off or Australia-wide by tracked post.