When scanning a drive with Stellar Data Recovery for Mac, it’s normal for the process to take some time—especially for drives with large amount of data. But if the scan feels too slow, here are the reasons why and what you can do to improve it.

Why the Scan May Be Slow

1. Drive Size & Condition

- Large-capacity drives (1TB, 2TB, or more) naturally take longer to scan.

- Old or failing drives with bad sectors can significantly slow down the scan.


2. Type of Scan Selected

- Quick Scan is faster but may miss files from erased/formatted drives.

- Deep Scan examines every sector, which is much more time-intensive.


3. Connection Type

- Using USB 2.0 instead of USB 3.0/Thunderbolt can bottleneck speed.


4. System Resources

- Running multiple apps alongside Stellar may reduce performance.

- Low RAM or heavy CPU load can slow the scan.


What You Can Do

1. Check the Drive Connection

- Use the original cable or a high-quality USB/Thunderbolt cable.

- If possible, connect the drive directly to your Mac—avoid hubs.

- Switch to a faster port (USB 3.0/Thunderbolt).


2. Optimize the Scan Settings

- If you’re only looking for specific file types (e.g., Photos, Documents), select them instead of scanning everything.

- Try Quick Scan first; if files are missing, then run Deep Scan.


3. Monitor the Drive’s Health

- If the scan is extremely slow or stuck, your drive may have bad sectors.

- Open Disk Utility → First Aid to check for disk errors.

- For severely damaged drives, consider cloning the drive first (Stellar Data Recovery Professional has a Drive Monitor + Clone feature).


4. Free Up Mac Resources

- Close unnecessary apps during the scan.

- Ensure your Mac has enough free disk space to handle scan and recovery operations.


5. Be Patient with Deep Scan

- Deep Scan can take hours on high-capacity drives—it’s normal.

- As long as you see progress (increasing file count or percentage), let it complete.


When to Seek Help

- If the scan freezes completely and doesn’t progress for hours.

- If your external drive is making unusual noises (clicking, grinding).

In such cases, stop scanning and contact Stellar Data Recovery Services.