How to Recover Data from SSD on MacBook [Fixed]
All MacBook Air laptops use Solid-State Drives (SSD). Besides, many users of old MacBook Pro models tend to upgrade their conventional hard drives to SSDs, since SSDs have many advantages compared to HDDs, for instance, they are lighter and deliver fast read/write speed and stable mass data storage.
SDDs work quieter than HDDs because they have no moving or spinning parts, but the less audible noise sometimes causes you to ignore the SSD failures.
In this guide, you will learn about how to tell if the Mac SSD is falling, the possibility of recovering files from the SSD, and how to recover data from MacBook SSD.
Several signs indicate your SSD has gone wrong. For example, Mac crashes while it’s booting, you have to restart your Mac frequently and MacBook Pro doesn’t recognize the SSD in Disk Utility. Besides, when you find some document are disappeared from your Mac desktop, or if you permanently delete some files and do not have a backup on hand, you may want to intervene and get back data as soon as possible.
Is it A Difficult Task to Recover Data from MacBook SSD?
If you’ve recently deleted your files on your MacBook but haven’t yet manually emptied the Trash, you can retrieve them with undo keyboard shortcut: Command + Z. However, if you manually emptied the Trash folder or Trash that has been emptied automatically after 30 days, you cannot recover the deleted files in this way.
1). What will happen to your SSD if you delete a file from your MacBook?
After you drop a file into Trash on MacBook and empty the Trash folder, that file becomes inaccessible and invisible, but the information is not erased immediately. The computer allows the space it took up to be overwritten by new data. Until that “deleted” file is overwritten later, you have the chance to get it back with the help of data recovery tools.
2). Some brief knowledge about SSD TRIM
TRIM, known as an Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA) command, was introduced to eliminate unnecessary copying of discarded or invalid data pages. Thus, this feature helps to help extend the life of your SSD and improve SSD performance. If you want to check if your MacBook SSD has TRIM enabled or not, here’s how to do it:
- On the top-left corner of your MacBook computer screen, click the Apple icon -> select “About This Mac” -> and then choose “System Report”.
- On the windows of System Information, go to “Hardware” to find NVM Express or SATA/SATA Express.
- Scroll down to “TRIM Support”, if you see the value is “Yes” there, the TRIM command is running your MacBook, you are all good (check the image below).
3). Is it possible to recover data from SSD when TRIM is enabled on Mac?
Sometimes the TRIM command for SSD is disabled. Those who want to recover permanently files from their Mac SSD will find it easier to get back the files. Because the disk sectors have not received the command from TRIM to clear those containing useless information, the SSD still stores the deleted data on its sectors.
As discussed above, the SSD TRIM feature inside MacBook is enabled by default. The top priority now is getting started to recover files from the SSD, the sooner, the better.
Part #1. When Do We Have to Recover Data from MacBook SSD
- You have permanently deleted important files
Typical scenarios include using the Option + Command + Deletekeyboard shortcut to permanently delete the file(s), control-click anywhere in the Trash folder and selecting Empty Trash, removing the files that have been dropped to Trash for over 30 days, and clicking Delete Immediately in Finder.
- Improper operations on SSD
Examples, the accidental deletion of an APFS partition/container, reformatting the disk, corrupted file system, power surge or outage, major physical damage, liquid corrosion, and much more.
- Attacks from viruses and malware
SSD users face the risk of virus infections. When you notice the MacBook screen is flickering or the computer gets stuck on the loading screen, do spend some time checking if your Mac is safe, and then perform data recovery when necessary.
Part #2. How to Recover Data from MacBook SSD (Solved)
When you incidentally lose some important data loss, the priority is to stop using the affected SSD. I am going to discuss two feasible solutions to recover data from MacBook SSD.
2.1 Professional-grade Data Recovery for Mac Software
iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac is compatible with nearly any type of disk-based storage device, including HDD, SSD, external hard drives, removable USB storage devices, and SD cards. It enables successful, fast data recovery on the newest Macs, MacBooks models, and macOS 12 Monterey & M1 Pro/Max. The step below will walk you through recovering lost/deleted files on MacBook SSD with iBoysoft Data Recovery.
Step 1. Make sure the Internet is connected on your MacBook, reboot your computer into macOS Recovery mode, and then go to “Utilities” to open Terminal (check this picture).
Step 2. Run the following command to launch the iBoysoft Data Recovery program in macOS Recovery mode.
sh <(curl http://boot.iboysoft.com/boot.sh)
Step 3. Choose your MacBook SSD on the software UI, then click the “Search for Lost Data” button.
Step 4. Wait till the data scanning process is finished, now you can preview the scanning results. To save time, you can use the filters or the search bar to narrow down the results and find the files you need.
Step 5. At last, click on the “Recover” button to restore the file to a secure location, such as an external hard drive or USB flash drive.
2.2 Restore Your Files from Mac’s Time Machine
You can get your deleted/lost files back from Time Machine backup files as long as the Time Machine app has been enabled before the data loss incident occurs. Here is how to restore your desired files.
- Connect your MacBook Pro/MacBook Air with the Time Machine backup drive and then click the icon of Time Machine.
If you can’t see the Time Machine icon in this step, you could manually add this app from System Preference: click on the Apple icon -> go to System Preference -> select Time Machine -> at last, check the box next to Show Time Machine.
- Browse and find the files you desire to recover from the timelines, select each file, and press Space Bar to preview the document. Finally, click “Restore” to recover your files in their original locations.