6. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Are only audio, video, documents and photos recovered by this software?

No, all the files and folders in the selected volume can be recovered.

2. Can I recover a specific file by help of this software?

Yes, you can right-click the file and select Recover button.

3. I have deleted a volume. Can I recover the files in it?

Yes, choose the Search a Lost Volume option in the application to find the lost or deleted volumes. Then continue with the scan option to recover data from the deleted volumes.

4. What is Deep Scan?

Deep Scan does a comprehensive scan of the volume to recover every possible bit of lost or deleted data. This option is especially helpful in case of severely corrupted volume.

5. Can I recover data from my exFAT partition?

Yes, you can recover data from exFAT partition. Stellar Data Recovery software supports NTFS, HFS, HFS+, FAT, FAT16, FAT32 and exFat file systems.

6. Can I recover encrypted data from APFS file system? 

Yes, you can recover encrypted data from APFS file system. Stellar Data Recovery also supports APFS Encrypted Drive Recovery and APFS File Vault Recovery.

7. Can I recover data from APFS Fusion Drive?

Yes, Stellar Data Recovery is fully capable of recovering data from APFS Fusion drive.

8. Does Stellar Data Recovery supports recovery of data from T2 security chip systems? 

Yes, certainly. See, Why enable Kernel Extension (KEXT)? topic of this manual for detailed instructions. 

9. Can I recover my data from my M1 chip system? 

Yes, certainly. See, Why disable System Integrity Protection (SIP)? topic of this manual for detailed instructions. 

10. How to find only a particular file type and recover them?

You can search for a specific file in the preview window or from File List tab check the File Types category folders as per your choice. The files of the selected ‘file types folders‘ will be listed in the file list pane. Select the file(s) and click Recover. The files are saved at the selected destination.

11. What does the demo version of Stellar Data Recovery do?

Through the demo version of Stellar Data Recovery software you can scan the storage medium from which you wish to recover data and preview files that the software will be able to recover. The demo version of Stellar Data Recovery allows you to see the preview of files having size up to 10 MB after scanning. To recover and save files, you need to purchase and register the product.

12. Can I recover data from drive that contains bad sectors using Stellar Data Recovery?

Yes absolutely. To safely recover data from a drive with bad sectors, create an image of that drive. Stellar Data Recovery is equipped with a feature through which you can easily create such images of drives and securely attempt recovery. After successful image creation, run a scan on this image to recover lost data easily.

13. What is 4K Drive?

4K hard drive structure is developed to reduce the gaps between the sectors and improve hard drive space usage rate greatly. In 4K hard drive the sector size is 4096 bytes which is more than the size of traditional hard drive size.

14. Does the software support data recovery from 4K native hard drives?

Yes, Stellar Data Recovery completely supports recovery from 4K native hard drives. You can search lost partitons, create image, scan the data, preview the data and recover found data from all file systems (APFS, HFS+, FAT32, NTFS and ExFAT).

15. Can I recover data from a Non-Booting Mac/Crashed Computer?

Yes, Stellar Data Recovery has an option to recover the data from a Non-Booting Mac/Crashed Computer without using any external bootable devices. See Recovering Data from a Non-Booting Mac/Crashed Computer  for more details.

16. Can I save my recovered data on the same drive?

The software will not allow you to write data on the same drive from which you attempt recovery as a safeguard so that there is no over writing of data which may result in permanent data loss.

17. Do my media need to be connected to the system throughout the recovery process?

Yes, it is very important that you do not remove your media during scanning or recovery process as during this process the software reads & accesses all information present on the hard drive and reports it. Media should only be detached after recovery process has been completed.

18. How is media image file beneficial to recovery process?

Creating media image has the following advantages:

• Image file helps to speed up scanning and recovery.

• Prevents a drive with bad sectors to get damaged further and dilute data recovery prospects

• You can recover data from image file even if the source media is not available.

19. I wish to recover files of a specific format only. Is it possible to recover files of only specific format?

Yes, you can recover files as per your requirements using Stellar Data Recovery. To recover files of a specific format only, check whether this file format is supported by the application. If it is supported by the application, apply filter to recover files of this specific format. If this file type is not supported by the application, add this file type to the list of supported file types and then apply filter to recover your file.

20. Inadvertently, I have deleted some files / folders from Trash just now. Can I recover these files/folders quickly without having to wait for scanning to finish?

Certainly. To recover recently deleted data, stop the scanning process before it starts reading sectors of unused blocks. You will see the list of recently deleted file / folders in the preview window. Select desired files/folders and recover them. This way, Stellar Data Recovery recovers recently deleted files/folders with their complete information within a few minutes.

21. Can I Resume Recovery using an image created by any third party application?

This software recovers data from images created by itself only.

22. Can I retrieve data from any CD / DVD discs?

Yes, all optical discs are detected by the drive and you can safely recover data from them.

23. Can I recover data from severely damaged CD / DVD?

Yes, through the Optical Media Recovery feature you can extract all data from severely damaged optical media. This recovery option recovers everything that is found in the selected source.

24. Is recovery possible from partially burned / incomplete disc?

Yes, Stellar Data Recovery is capable of recovering data from partially burned discs as well.

25. Does ‘Stellar Data Recovery’ extract all file systems in a multi-session disc?

Yes, the software scans entire disc and lists out all sessions that it finds. You can then select the required file systems and recover your precious data.

26. I have burned some documents and photos to audio CD, but the drive is showing only audio files. Can I get those data files from CD?

Yes, Stellar Data Recovery is capable of recovering data from mixed mode CD. It can also extract data from CDs which have changed mode during multi session writing.

27. How much time will Stellar Data Recovery take to recover my data?

The time taken in recovering data depends on the size of the drive to be scanned. However, to speed up the recovery process, you can apply filters so that only desired files get scanned and recovered.

28. Can I attach another hard disk/media to my computer while Stellar Data Recovery is running on the computer?

Yes, you certainly can.

29. What is an Unallocated/RAW partition?

A free space on the disk which doesn’t belong to any partition or file system is act as an Unallocated/RAW space on a hard disk. This space is not listed under the drives on the PC therefore you cannot access any file or folder from this space. To access files and folders of Unallocated/RAW partitions use Stellar Data Recovery software. 

30. When a drive space becomes Unallocated/RAW?

A drive space becomes Unallocated/RAW in the following cases: 

• Accidentally deleted a hard disk partition 
• A drive letter is not assigned to the partition 
• Damaged or Corrupted file system
• An uninitialized partition of a hard disk
• Changed partition map when a screen prompts from operating system. 

31. Can I recover data from an Unallocated/RAW partition?

Yes, you can recover your lost or corrupted data from an Unallocated/RAW partition with using Stellar Data Recovery software easily. This software helps you to find your Unallocated/RAW partition on a connected drive and recover lost data from it. See "Recovering Data from Lost Drive/Unallocated Partition" for more details.