Mac's hard drive, also known as Macintosh HD, is the primary storage device or database where Mac users save their system and data. Over the years, macOS or Mac OS X has been dedicated to providing the best protection for Mac hard drive to prevent data loss. However, there may be times when your Macintosh HD fails to boot and requires a macOS reinstallation. In this article, you'll first learn how to download Macintosh HD using macOS Recovery on either an internal or external drive. Then, you'll see how to recover data from Macintosh HD with professional Macintosh HD data recovery software – Data Recovery Wizard for Mac.

What's the difference between “Macintosh HD” and “Macintosh HD - Data”?

Many users are confused about the difference between Macintosh HD and Macintosh HD - Data. Here we will explain it briefly. It's necessary to know about it before downloading to or recovering data from Macintosh HD.

On most Macs, whether an iMac or MacBook, the default setup is to have one disk, called Macintosh HD. Macintosh HD stores your system and system support files, which you can't access. The Mac HD - Data stores your files and apps, which you can access like you would with a volume in an older system. Both Macintosh HD and Macintosh HD Data are on the same physical disk.

Macintosh HD and Macintosh HD - Data

How to Boot Macintosh HD from macOS Recovery

macOS Recovery is part of the built-in recovery system on your Mac. You can start up from macOS Recovery and use it to restore from Time Machine, reinstall macOS, get online help, repair or erase your hard drive, and more. Follow these instructions to download Macintosh HD on your Mac now.

Step 1: Start up your Mac from macOS Recovery

Turn on your Mac, then immediately press one of the following key combinations on your keyboard: Command(⌘)-R, Option-⌘-R, or Shift-Option-⌘-R. If prompted, enter your password.

When you see a utility window like the one shown below, you've booted into macOS Recovery.

Download - 1 on Macintosh HD

Step 2: Choose whether to erase (format) the disk

If you're selling, trading, or giving away your Mac, or if you need to erase all content and settings because of an issue, you can choose to erase your computer. Click “Disk Utility” > “Continue,” then follow the on-screen instructions.

Since erasing a disk removes all of its data and renders it unrecoverable, you should think twice before proceeding.

Download - 2

Step 3: Install macOS

You can skip to step 2 and choose Reinstall macOS to start reinstalling macOS right away. Follow the onscreen instructions.

    • If the installer doesn't see your disk or says that it can't install on your Mac or volume, you might need to erase your disk first. • While the installation is in progress, don't let your Mac go to sleep or close your laptop's lid. • What version of macOS you can install depends on your model of Mac. If you can't install macOS Catalina, you might be able to install an earlier version, such as macOS Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra, El Capitan, or Yosemite.

Download Macintosh HD - 3

You can also download macOS from the App Store or Software Update preferences. Or you can create a bootable installer disk and use it to install macOS on your Mac or another Mac.

Tip: If you have any queries regarding "Does recovery mode delete everything when reinstalling Mac OS X?" read the article to get your answers.

Recover from Macintosh HD – Retrieve lost data from Macintosh HD

While you can use the macOS Recovery feature to reinstall macOS or Mac OS X without losing user data, it seems that you can't avoid losing important photos, documents, emails, or videos on your Macintosh HD if you've formatted the disk with Disk Utility in HD Recovery. So, how to solve this problem? How to recover lost files from Mac? Now, you can directly fix all these issues with professional Macintosh HD data recovery software – tools Data Recovery Wizard for Mac.

Mac Data Recovery Wizard is a user-friendly and reliable data recovery solution for Mac users. It can recover over 200 types of data from your Mac's built-in hard drive as well as various external media storage devices. It is compatible with multiple versions of macOS, ranging from OS X 10.9 to the latest macOS 10.15.

    • Full File System Support: Recovers data from NTFS, HFS, HFS+, HFSX, HFS Wrapper, FAT file system volumes, and also performs APFS data recovery.
    • Convenient Data Preview: Preview scanned images, audio, and videos to effectively determine what to recover.
    • Diverse Types of Mac Data Recovery: Restore all common file types from both internal/external Mac hard drives, including documents, pictures, files, videos, and more.
    • Powerful Data Recovery Capability: Retrieve data from an emptied Trash, formatted HDD/USB/SD card, lost partitions, and more.

Only three steps would resolve the hassle of data loss from Macintosh HD.

Step 1: Search for the missing file

On macOS Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur, Monterey, and the latest Ventura, select the disk location where you lost the file (it can be an internal HDD/SSD or a removable storage device). Then, click the “Search for Lost Files” button.

Recover Data Step 1

Step 2: Browse the scan results

Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will scan the disk volume you select immediately, and display the scanning results.

Recover Data Step 2

Step 3. Select the files and recover them

Select the files(s) you want to preview from the scan results, and then click the “Recover” button to get them back.

Recover Data Step 3

Apart from retrieving lost data from Macintosh HD disk, Data Recovery Wizard for Mac can well help you with file loss due to:

    • Emptying the Recycle Bin.
    • Accidentally formatting the hard drive without backup.
    • Data loss after system recovery.
    • Incorrect operations on existing partitions leading to damaged partition tables.
    • Logical damage to the hard drive, making data inaccessible.
    • Inaccessibility of the hard drive due to virus attacks.

Macintosh HD Download FAQs

1. How do I download Macintosh HD?

How to Install a Fresh Copy of OS X on Your Mac

Step 1: Turn off your Mac.

Step 2: Press the power button.

Step 3: Hold down the “Command” and “R” keys immediately.

Step 4: Make sure you're connected to the Internet over Wi-Fi.

Step 5: Select Install Mac OS X and click Continue.

2. What is Macintosh HD?

In the Finder, both volumes appear as Macintosh HD. The Disk Utility app in macOS Catalina shows that Macintosh HD is the read-only System volume, and that Macintosh HD – Data contains the rest of your files and data.

**3. How do I find Macintosh HD on my MacBook Pro?** To locate Macintosh HD on your MacBook Pro, follow these steps: 1. Open the "Finder" (usually found in the Dock). 2. In the Finder's left sidebar, click on the "Devices" category. 3. Under "Devices," you should see the name of your MacBook Pro. Click on it. 4. You will then see a disk icon labeled "Macintosh HD." This is your main hard drive. If "Macintosh HD" doesn't appear in the sidebar, make sure the "Show Sidebar" option is checked in the view options at the top of the Finder window. If you still can't find it, try typing "Macintosh HD" in the search bar at the top of the Finder, and then press Enter. It should appear in the search results.

Add “Macintosh HD” to the Finder sidebar

Step 1: Open Finder on your Mac.

Step 2: Click on “Finder” in the menu bar, and then click “Preferences.”

Step 3: Click the “Sidebar” tab in Finder Preferences.

4. Click the “Hard Disk” option under “Show these items in the sidebar.”