Convert Mac SATA Hard Drive to External for Data Recovery

Mac SATA Hard Drive

Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) hard drives are widely used disks.  All thanks to its attributes like quick data transfer through higher signalling rates, native hot swapping, reduced cable size & cost, and much more.

However, despite being so intuitive, at times it too starts failing due to one or other reason like firmware or electrical. When such condition strikes in, Mac hard drive recovery from an inaccessible SATA hard drive becomes a foremost need to avoid data loss and any possible impact on business.

To understand, let us consider a real-life example of John

“A few days back, I got my MacBook Air repaired from the Apple store. They replaced my old hard drive with a brand new SATA. Further, for my convenience, they also transferred the data from my older drive to a new SATA drive. However, now after a few days, I realized that there are a few missing files that I need urgently. I don’t know why they were missed in the data transferring process, the only important point hovering in my mind right now is its retrieval. Unfortunately, I do not have a backup. Thankfully, Apple gave a ray of hope by providing me with my older drive, and it is still functional partially.

Now, the only big query, how can I recover my missing files from my older & at-times visible disk. Please advise!”

Best Way to Recover Data from Mac SATA hard drive

By unveiling the results of several discussions done on forums, it will not be erroneous to state that converting Mac SATA hard drive to an external drive is a viable solution.

Next, how to go about the conversion of internal Mac SATA to an external drive?

The process to convert Mac SATA hard drive to an external for data recovery is very simple.

What is required from you?

• Your Partially Functioning Hard Drive
• A Brand New External Drive Enclosure (You can purchase it from Amazon or eBay)
• A screwdriver to bolt and unbolt the enclosure screws

Step 1. Unscrew all the screws and remove the brackets from hard drive.

Step 2. Open up the enclosure and slide the hard drive into the enclosure in the right way up as per the SATA Port orientation.

Step 3. Bolt the screws

You have successfully placed the SATA drive into the enclosure. Next, attach the enclosure to your Mac using the included USB cable to recover the data.

Now, when you connect the SATA drive to your system, you may encounter two scenarios as mentioned in the below figure.

Scenario 1: You Can See the Drive on Desktop

In this case, simply copy all the data from the drive to your new Macintosh HD. Adding more, you can also Clone or Image the older SATA drive using Disk Utility.

Scenario 2: You Cannot See the Drive on Desktop

If you are unable to view your Drive on Desktop or Finder even after placing it in an enclosure, then go to Disk Utility and verify it in the list of the unmounted drive.

Fortunately, if you can find it over there, then you can trust Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac software to regain inaccessible data from your SATA external hard drive. This software is coined as the best Mac data recovery tool because of its smart attributes like recovery from a Corrupt disk, Time Machine hard drive, BootCamp Partition and Encrypted Media, etc.

Watch the Video to Know – How Stellar Data Recovery for Mac Works?

Conclusion

Go for placing your internal SATA Mac disk drive into a brand new enclosure. Fortunately, if this works, you will be able to copy back your files. However, in case, it doesn’t work as planned, then leverage Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac to scan and recover the converted SATA drive for recovering files.

Give a free shot to the Stellar Data Recovery application. The software is macOS Ventura, Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina, and Mojave compatible.

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About The Author

Vishal

Vishal is a data recovery expert @Stellar. He addresses data loss scenarios on a Mac. He intends to help people solve their macOS problems. Besides, Vishal prefers to read about astronomy and autobiography, and his favorite is Steve Jobs - The man who thought different written by Karen Bluementhal.