Mac Data Recovery

How to Repair APFS and HFS Partition on Mac?

Written By Vishal
Approved By Rohit Arora
Updated on 14 Feb, 2024
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Summary: This blog helps you repair your APFS or HFS partition on Mac SSD or hard drive. Download the free-to-try data recovery software for Mac to rescue APFS or HFS partition data.

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If you are using macOS Ventura, Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina, or Mojave, then most likely, your internal storage drive is partitioned in APFS format. In case your Mac is running on macOS Sierra or OS X Lion, the internal drive partition may be in the HFS+ format. Many users, these days, are upgrading their macOS and moving to APFS to be on par with the current technology.

If your APFS or HFS partition is not functioning properly due to aging or usage, repair the partition immediately to avoid data loss. The next section describes how to fix an APFS or HFS+ partition.

1. Repair Damaged APFS or HFS Partition by Using Disk Utility

You must be using Disk Utility in your system to perform disk management tasks. You can also use it to repair your logically damaged APFS or HFS partition.

To fix your APFS or HFS partition using Disk Utility, do the following:

Press Command + Space Bar to launch Spotlight, and then type ‘disk utility’ and press Return. The Disk Utility window will open. Or else, navigate to Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. Double-click the Disk Utility icon to launch it on your Mac.
Select an APFS or HFS partition from the left pane of the Disk Utility window. From the top pane, click the First Aid tab, then click Run. Disk Utility will analyze the partition and repair any logical errors.
If Disk Utility can’t repair the partition, it suggests the next action course. For instance, “Disk Utility fails to repair the startup disk. Backup as much data as possible and erase this drive.”

To repair “Macintosh HD,” the partition that stores your macOS, perform the following steps:

Start or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold Command + R keys; release the keys when the Apple logo appears. Your Mac will boot into macOS Recovery mode.
From macOS Utilities, select Disk Utility, then click Continue. From the sidebar of Disk Utility, select Macintosh HD the startup disk, then click the First Aid tab. Next, click Run to initiate the repair process.
When the repair is unsuccessful, recover data from the drive using a data recovery software for Mac (as explained next). Next, erase the drive and reinstall macOS. Finally, restore the recovered data.

2. Recover Failing or Irreparable Partition Data by Using Software

When your non-startup Mac APFS or HFS volume is severely corrupt or inaccessible, you won’t be able to back up its data as you would typically do. In such a scenario, you need to recover your data using a data recovery software for Mac. The recovery steps are as follows:

Download and install the *trial version of Stellar Data Recovery Premium for Mac on your MacBook Pro/Air, iMac, or Mac mini.
Launch the software, and from the “Select What to Recover screen,” specify the type of file that you wish to recover, then click Next.
From the “Select Location” screen, select the non-startup APFS or HFS partition, toggle on Deep Scan, and then click Scan. Allow the software to scan your drive.

Preview the scanned files, select the required ones, then click Recover. Specify a different drive location, then click Save. Navigate to the save location to check all your recovered data.

*Trial version of Stellar Data Recovery Premium for Mac allows free scan and preview but needs activation to recover data. Activate the software with complete assurance as it has a 30-day money-back guarantee.*

In case your Macintosh HD is severely corrupt or inaccessible, your Mac won’t boot. In such a case, use a working Mac to run the activated software, then create a recovery USB drive. Connect the recovery drive to your non-booting Mac and access your data. Read More.

Apart from recovering data, Stellar Data Recovery Premium for Mac helps you repair your corrupt photos and videos. Use the file repair feature in case you find some of your recovered photo and video files corrupted due to bad sectors on the Mac partition.

Conclusion

This blog focused exclusively on repairing a corrupt Mac startup or non-startup APFS or HFS partition. But if macOS can’t fix your disk, you need to use Stellar Data Recovery Premium for Mac to salvage your data. The software has four unique features to provide you with data recovery, drive monitoring, and repair module for photos and videos. For any query related to APFS or HFS partition repair and recovery, ask us in the comment box below.

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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.

36 comments

Craig says:

October 19, 2016 at 5:28 pm

Hello. An external drive on my MAC – HSF+ will not mount. I want to repair or rebuild the permissions to access the data on the drive however it does not show up in the Volume list in Stellar Volume Repair.

Reply
1. Vishal says:
  
  October 24, 2016 at 8:17 am
  
  Hi Craig,
  
  What OS X you are running and is your external hard drive encrypted?
  
  Update: Kindly verify if the volume is visible in Disk Utility in any of the forms mount or unmount. If it is not shown then partition map of the disk is corrupt, and Volume Repair does not work on corrupted partition map. And if it is shown in Disk Utility then we have to check and verify the case via Remote Access. You may reach our Tech Support through support[@]stellarinfo[.]com.
  
  Reply
Gertrude A. Coll says:

September 8, 2016 at 4:32 am

How can I resize my partition with Stellar Volume Repair?

Reply
1. Vishal says:
  
  September 9, 2016 at 5:45 am
  
  Hi Gertrude,
  
  Thanks for writing to us!!!
  
  Stellar Volume Repair is a Mac hard drive repair application. To resize Mac hard drive and external media you need to download and run Stellar Partition Manager. The app supports OS X El Capitan and resizing BootCamp partition. Hope this helps!!
  
  Regards
  Vishal
  
  Reply
Justin says:

August 9, 2016 at 11:09 am

Today morning when I ran Disk Utility Repair on WD 1 TB External hard drive, then it gave back me Invalid B Tree Node size error. I tried repairing the drive again but no luck. Can it be repaired through Windows PC Disk management since I have Windows 10 OS?

Reply
1. Vishal says:
  
  August 12, 2016 at 5:58 am
  
  Hey Justin,
  
  You can’t repair the hard drive having Invalid B-tree node size problem either through inbuilt tools of Macs or a PC. I guess, your hard drive is HFS formatted hence use Stellar Volume Repair application to fix this issue.
  
  Regards
  Vishal
  
  Reply
Jodi C. Lewis says:

June 13, 2016 at 3:03 am

My Mac OS X El Capitan isn’t booting since Monday and I tried repairing it with a bootable USB (Yosemite) but it doesn’t seems to work. How can I create a bootable USB of OS X El Capitan or is there a better option for repairing the drive. I don’t even have the backup of my Mac hard drive. Help needed ASAP.

Reply
1. Vishal says:
  
  June 14, 2016 at 3:43 am
  
  Hi Jodi,
  
  Please contact Stellar Data Recovery Support using the below information and they will provide you Bootable Copy with Volume Repair utility. This will help you boot the Mac OS X and repair the corruption on the Mac hard drive or a partition.
  
  email – support[@]stellarinfo[.]com
  Call at – +1-877-778-6087
  
  Reply
Jeff Sifuentes says:

May 23, 2016 at 3:37 am

My Mac HFS+ partition got damaged after sudden power failure? How should I correct it?

Reply
1. vishal says:
  
  May 25, 2016 at 3:32 am
  
  In order to correct your Mac HFS+ partition, you need to use Stellar Volume Repair Software on your Mac OS X. Please follow all the steps mentioned above to properly use the software and resolve your issue.
  
  Reply
Bobbie Parrott says:

May 10, 2016 at 3:26 am

How long does Stellar Volume Repair take to scan and rebuild corrupt hard drive or an external hard drive?

Reply
1. Vishal says:
  
  May 11, 2016 at 6:11 am
  
  Depends upon the size of the hard drive and its health of the surface. It the drive is large and/or have bad blocks then software will take more time to complete the scan. Otherwise, it should scan the hard drive depending upon the size.
  
  Reply
Harry Vincent says:

March 18, 2016 at 3:25 am

HI Admin,
I did a huge mistake on my Mac OS X Yosemite internal hard drive. I deleted my partition tables on the drive and my Mac stopped booting. I turn it tries to boot but fails. I don’t have any OS X DVD of previous versions to boot my Mac from it. Will your software help me restore Mac and repair the corrupt partition table?

Reply
1. Vishal says:
  
  March 21, 2016 at 3:49 am
  
  Sure Harry, Please contact our tech support department for bootable DMG link of Stellar Volume Repair utility which will help you boot Mac hard drive and repair the corruption. Thanks!!!!
  
  Reply
Lee White says:

March 8, 2016 at 3:45 am

I ran Disk utility disk repair on my 2 TB WD external hard drive backed to Time Machine and it reported me nasty error which states: Error: Disk Utility can’t repair this disk.Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files. I don’t want to reform this drive since it has another partition for Windows. Suggest me what to do?

Reply
1. Vishal says:
  
  March 9, 2016 at 3:35 am
  
  Hi Lee,
  
  Your hard drive is suffering from directory structure corruption. I recommend you run Stellar Volume Repair software to rebuild hard drive directory structure. Thanks.
  
  Reply
Billy Strickland says:

December 7, 2015 at 4:26 am

Hi Vishal,
Like DiskWarrior, can Stellar Mac data recovery software recover and repair Mac hard disk drive?

Reply
1. Vishal says:
  
  December 7, 2015 at 4:41 am
  
  Dear Billy,
  Yes, Stellar Mac data recovery Platinum Edition has the ability to recover deleted, formatted files and repair corrupt Mac hard drive. This Edition includes an extra utility called Stellar Volume Repair that repairs and rebuild damaged directory structure of Macintosh HDD. You can also choose to have Recovery CD with the Platinum Edition of Stellar Mac data recovery software.
  Thanks!!
  
  Reply
Sigma says:

August 12, 2015 at 9:09 am

How should I proceed in repairing the iMac startup drive? Late 2013
OS X 10.10 8 GB RAM 2TB hard drive

Reply
1. Vishal says:
  
  August 13, 2015 at 3:55 am
  
  Download Stellar Volume Repair tool and create a bootable media to repair your iMac startup drive. Once you boot into iMac with the bootable media, click Rebuild button to repair your iMac OS X drive
  
  Hope this helps your issue
  
  Do let me know for further query
  
  Reply