Read the disk surface. Recover what the filesystem forgot.
When a file is deleted, macOS removes the pointer — not the bytes. Disk Recovery reads the raw surface of a volume, finds the fingerprints of 30 file formats in the noise, and rebuilds them. No folder, no Trash, no index required.
- file signatures
- 30file signatures
- categories
- 5categories
- source device
- Read-onlysource device
- automated tests
- 59automated tests
How carving works
Four stages, each one bounded by what the format actually allows — no guesswork dressed up as certainty.
- 01Read
Raw, read-only access
The volume is opened through a read-only raw device handle and streamed in chunks. iSweepy never opens the source for writing — there is no code path that can modify the disk you are scanning.
- 02Match
Multi-pattern signature search
Every chunk is searched for all 30 header signatures at once, not one format at a time. Chunk boundaries overlap so a signature split across two reads is still caught.
- 03Size
Four strategies to find the true end
Finding where a file starts is the easy half. iSweepy determines the end with the strongest method the format allows: a real format parser, a footer marker, the container's own length field, or a box-chain walk. Only when none apply does it fall back to a size cap.
- 04Verify
Validate, date, and de-duplicate
Each candidate is structurally validated before it reaches you. Original creation dates are pulled from embedded metadata where the format carries them, and a scan can be diffed against a previous run so you only review what is new.
Supported formats
Thirty signatures across five categories. The right-hand column tells you how precisely each one can be reconstructed — that is the difference between a file that opens and a file that is byte-exact.
Images
10 formats| Format | Extension | End detection |
|---|---|---|
| JPEG | .jpg | Format parser |
| PNG | .png | Footer scan |
| HEIC/HEIF | .heic | ISO-BMFF box walk |
| GIF | .gif | Footer scan |
| WebP | .webp | RIFF length field |
| TIFF | .tif | Size cap (estimated) |
| TIFF (big-endian) | .tif | Size cap (estimated) |
| BMP | .bmp | Size cap (estimated) |
| Canon RAW | .cr2 | Size cap (estimated) |
| RAW (TIFF-based) | .dng | Size cap (estimated) |
Video
4 formats| Format | Extension | End detection |
|---|---|---|
| MP4 / MOV | .mp4 | ISO-BMFF box walk |
| MKV / WebM | .mkv | Size cap (estimated) |
| AVI | .avi | RIFF length field |
| MTS / M2TS | .m2ts | Size cap (estimated) |
Audio
4 formats| Format | Extension | End detection |
|---|---|---|
| MP3 | .mp3 | Format parser |
| AAC / M4A | .m4a | ISO-BMFF box walk |
| FLAC | .flac | Size cap (estimated) |
| WAV | .wav | RIFF length field |
Documents
7 formats| Format | Extension | End detection |
|---|---|---|
| Footer scan | ||
| Photoshop PSD | .psd | Format parser |
| Office 97–2003 | .doc | Size cap (estimated) |
| RTF | .rtf | Footer scan |
| SVG | .svg | Footer scan |
| .eml | Size cap (estimated) | |
| SQLite | .sqlite | Size cap (estimated) |
Archives
5 formats| Format | Extension | End detection |
|---|---|---|
| ZIP (DOCX/XLSX/PPTX) | .zip | Format parser |
| RAR | .rar | Format parser |
| GZIP | .gz | Format parser |
| 7-Zip | .7z | Size cap (estimated) |
| TAR | .tar | Size cap (estimated) |
What “end detection” means
- Format parser
- The format's own structure is parsed to find the exact last byte. Most accurate — recovered files are byte-exact.
- ISO-BMFF box walk
- The box chain is walked from ftyp onward, summing each atom to reach the true end.
- RIFF length field
- RIFF containers declare their own length in the header — read directly, no guessing.
- Footer scan
- The format ends with a fixed marker; the carver scans forward until it finds it.
- Size cap (estimated)
- No reliable end marker exists, so the carver stops at a per-format upper bound. The file usually opens, but may carry trailing bytes.
What we guarantee
The source is never written to
The scanned device is opened read-only. Recovered files are written exclusively to a destination folder you pick.
The destination must be a different disk
Before a scan starts, iSweepy verifies your destination is not on the device being scanned — writing there could overwrite the very data you are trying to recover.
Nothing leaves your Mac
Carving runs entirely on-device. No upload, no cloud analysis, no telemetry — the disk contents never touch a network.
You preview before you recover
Candidates are listed with type, size and date. You choose what to write out; nothing is recovered automatically.
What carving cannot do
Recovery tools in this category routinely overpromise. Here is the honest boundary, so you can judge before you buy.
Overwritten data is gone
Carving finds bytes that are still physically present. Once macOS reuses that space for another file, the original is unrecoverable by any tool. This is why you should stop writing to a disk the moment you notice a deletion.
Filenames are not recoverable
Names live in the filesystem index, not in the file's own bytes. Carved files are named by type and offset; original dates are restored where the format embeds them, but the original name is not available.
Fragmented files may come back partial
Carving assumes a file's bytes are contiguous. If macOS split a large file across distant regions of the disk, only the first fragment is reconstructed — the result may open but be truncated.
Encrypted volumes must be unlocked
On a FileVault volume the raw bytes are ciphertext. Scanning works only while the volume is mounted and unlocked, because that is when readable data exists.
APFS snapshots are not the same thing
If a Time Machine local snapshot still holds your file, restoring from it is faster and gives you the original name and path. Try that first — carving is the fallback for when no snapshot exists.
Technical reference
- Source access
- Raw device, read-only
- Signatures
- 30 across 5 categories
- Matching
- Multi-pattern, overlapping chunk boundaries
- Size resolution
- Format parser · footer · RIFF · ISO-BMFF · cap
- Date recovery
- From embedded metadata where present
- Repeat scans
- Diff against previous run
- Media
- Internal · external · USB · SD · disk images
- Network
- None — fully offline
Questions
Which disks can it scan?
Internal drives, external and USB disks, SD cards, and mounted disk images. Any volume macOS exposes as a raw device can be read. External media is the most common case — a camera card or a USB stick that was erased.
How long does a scan take?
It is bounded by read speed, not by CPU. The whole surface is read once, so a 1 TB drive takes roughly as long as copying 1 TB from it. Progress shows bytes scanned and a live estimate, and the scan can be cancelled at any point without losing what was already found.
Can it damage the disk I am scanning?
No. The device is opened read-only and there is no write path to it in the module. iSweepy additionally refuses to start if your recovery destination is on the same device, because writing there is the one action that genuinely could destroy recoverable data.
Why do some recovered files have odd sizes?
Formats where the true end cannot be determined are cut at a size cap, so they can carry trailing bytes from whatever followed on disk. The file normally still opens. Formats with a real parser — JPEG, MP3, ZIP, RAR, GZIP, PSD — come back byte-exact.
Do I need Full Disk Access?
Yes, and for internal volumes macOS also prompts for administrator authorisation, because reading a raw device is a privileged operation. External media generally needs only Full Disk Access.
Is Disk Recovery included in the free plan?
No — it is a Pro module. Free covers everyday maintenance and malware scanning; deep carving is the one capability that stays behind the paid tier.
A cleaner Mac, without the leap of faith.
Preview-first cleaning, free forever malware scanning, and a Trash-safe delete model — for macOS 14 and later.