I generally don't write reviews but this is one of those rare businesses that you can't not write a review about. William and the Lazarus staff are incredibly skilled, kind, professional, communicative, and fair with pricing. He is one of the most experienced recovery professionals in the business (practically invented the industry) and you will be hard pressed to find a better price/quality ratio for data recovery (both locally and nationally). My Mac came back in better shape than when I had given it to them. They recovered all my files and I cannot recommend them enough. read more

Fantastic service. Could not be more satisfied with my experience here. The owner, William, is extremely friendly and attentive. I live a couple blocks away from this business and have used them on 2 occasions to fix macbook's. Both times he addressed the problem with ease and at a fair price in a more than timely manner. Great guy and very knowledgeable. I would highly recommend going to William at 2630 Judah St. for any and all tech needs. Thank you, William. You're the man! - Pat read more

I was thankful to find William at Lazarus following a a very poor experience with a different data recovery outfit. I had a portable hard drive fail and William was able to recover all my data. He sent me regular progress updates, and he delivered as promised, and on budget. He is also a very easy to communicate with. He takes the time to explain the technical issues, and is genuinely concerned about his clients. I would not hesitate to use him in the future. Fantastic! read more

Easy to work with, professional, and recovered all the photos from an old MacBook with a seriously compromised battery

My Jitterbug/Android phone died. No trauma, just died. I chose the closest data-recovery specialist and was SO lucky! He is amazing!! I wanted data-recovery of my photos desperately, and 24 hours later, I had my phone back. He fixed the phone! I was expecting data recovery, but he actually fixed the phone! William is such a nice person, over 30 years in the business, and very reasonable with the pricing. NO WORRIES - LAZARUS IS GREAT!!! read more

My Macbook Pro died and Apple Genius Bar suggested to go to a Data Recovery service. William at Lazarus was great. We discussed problem over the phone and he had an idea of what happened and what could be done. I dropped off my Mac, cables and external HDD to save files and he was able to recover everything in a Time Machine backup, which the Apple Store wasn't able to do. Got all my data back. Thank you William! read more

I accidentally wiped out the data on my external hard drive and brought it to Lazarus hoping that they could help me recover it. when I dropped it off, William explained the process to me and the time it would require. When I returned I was happy that William was able to recover all of my data which consisted of thousands of valuable pictures. This review is long overdue, but I haven't forgotten how valuable it is to have a resource like Lazarus when things happen! Thanks William for your help. read more

William is awesome. I took him a misbehaving hard drive and he was able to recover the data and save 10+ years of critical files and pictures. Process was smooth, he kept me informed at every step, and explained everything clearly. Cost was well in line with expectations and frankly a bargain. I'd recommend him to anyone needing data recovery services. Bonus was that he's "in the neighborhood " #shoppocal read more

My Seagate HDD stopped working and William at Lazarus was great. He is a lot like your friendly techy uncle who explained the potential work to diagnose the issue, any fees considering that process, and the amount of data to recover. His fees were reasonable and was about half as much as what others quoted. As other reviews have said it was more in the $$$ range rather than the $$$$ range that was quoted from other data recovery services, and takes a wide range of payment options. To be fair, my case was a pretty cut and dry electrical failure with little or no damage to the disk so I didn't incur much additional complex work. The HDD had 2.4 TB of my work and decades worth of photos so I was very appreciative that William was able to recover everything. William also recommended a new drive (a solid state Samsung) for me. After I purchased it, William transferred everything to it and so far it is still working great. Good bye to my third and last Seagate HDD! Don't be intimidated by the facade of the store at the Judah location, William is a reliable guy. read more

William was professional, communicative, and successful in saving the files on my dead portable hard drive! Couldn't have asked for better service or value for price. read more

The guys at Lazarus spent over a month trying to rescue my data from a failed Seagate hard drive. They were able to clone the drive but the files were too corrupted. They really worked hard, charged a fair price and kept me in the loop with regular updates. These guys are really knowledgeable and can fix most phone and computer issues. I would use them again, though hopefully I will never need too. read more

Lazarus Data Recovery - Hopefully this is where the magic happens. - Data Recovery Near Me - San Francisco, California

This is a great service - I had a disc that two other recovery places tried to help recover without success. I had all but given up hope of recovering my files, but sent Lazarus the disc. They called within hours of receiving it with complete recovery and repair. Amazing. Friendly, professional - just great. I can't recommend them highly enough - fantastic. read more

I reached out to William after I had accidentally dropped my Seagate hard drive and it stopped working, so I was looking to see if he could fix it. He was able to diagnose the problem and reformat my hard drive so that it would work again. William provided excellent service, and is extremely kind and informative in giving updates about the recovery status. Compared to the $$$$ prices of other recovery services (including other cheaper recovery services too), the price I was offered for my 1.41 TB of data recovered was on the lower end of a $$$ price, a satisfying service with a super personable recovery experience too. read more

William recovered all my files from a broken seagate drive. Couldn't be happier with the service and results. He was very good with communication and what to expect. The price was also reasonable and I'd go back to use their services again. read more

William is a total gem. He was able to recover my data (something which Apple could not do) super quickly and at a very reasonable rate. Recommend highly. read more

Great service. This guy is an expert. And his prices are quite reasonable compared to other similar businesses.

William was very helpful and thoughtful about helping me recover my data. I cannot recommend his service highly enough.

Accidentally deleted files off of my Mac and William was able to recover about 90% of what I lost! Excellent service and at a reasonable price and completed recovery quickly. Highly recommended read more

I had such an amazing experience working with William from Lazarus. I had an issue with an external hard drive and he was able to retrieve the information and transfer it on another drive. From the quick response from my initial inquiry to picking up my hard drive after the transfer was over, I would highly recommend their services. I'll definitely be coming here for any future data retrieval issues. read more

William was great. He managed to recover all data from my external hard drive that suddenly stopped working. He was very responsive, honest, friendly, and very easy to work with. He really worked for it and gave me a reasonable price. After 5 days he finally recovered all my data. I was surprised and happy because the data is important to me. I will recommend him to everyone who I know. Thank you again William! read more

I recently used Lazarus to consolidate and recover 8 drives that I had laying around and get all the information backed up to my new 8TB extórnala drive. I couldn't figure out why I was unable to get my iMac to read the drives and was nervous about storing multiple drives forever as I know they degrade. I got an initial quote and took my drives in to the office to review. They took the time to discuss the process and inventory and label each drive. There is a lot of equipment in there and it looks like they do a lot of business. They kept my drive for a few days and kept me updated on the process. A few drives were damaged but they were able to get the information off after some attempts. It turns out many of the drives had already degraded which is why couldn't get my information off. After a few more days I went in and got my drive and all my old drives. Everything is backed up and labeled and I was able to back up my laptop too. I was very happy with the works, the communication and the overall price. I would highly recommend. Justin read more

Lazarus Data Recovery - My old drives. All types - Data Recovery Near Me - San Francisco, California

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William at Lazarus is the absolute BEST. I spilt water on my Macbook Air and it would not turn on at all. Apple quoted me over a thousand dollars and I called a data recovery business that Apple directed me to, and they quoted me at upwards of $3900 dollars... Being desperate as all of my work was on my laptop and not backed up, William responded right away and quoted me at a fraction of the price if he is able to recover my data. Don't be dissuaded by the office exterior, these guys are the real deal and truly professional. When he needed a bit more time to work on my device, he would call or text me to keep me updated along the way. He was very transparent, telling me his success rate with projects like this, and even when he ran into any issue, he would send me an update and tell me he was going to keep trying. After about a week and a half, he was able to not only recover all of my data, but he fixed the laptop completely, saying it was a wedding gift for me!!! If you need data recovered, I can't recommend Lazarus enough. Thanks again for everything, William! read more

Due to a water spill, my MacBook Air wasn't able to restart. After a referral from the Stonestown Apple Store and getting a few quotes from Yelp, I decided to reach out to Lazarus Data Recovery to see if I could retrieve my data from the laptop. Firstly, Lazarus Data Recovery was the only service that empathized with my situation in the quote, which was a surprise and showed me that there are humans on the other side. Secondly, the end-to-end process was smooth, with regular updates and communication. The laptop was assessed within a couple of days and I was given the assessment as well as a quote before agreeing to the service. William also shared a list of all the files that they recovered before starting the transfer process, and I was able to get the files, for a reasonable fee, within a week of dropping off my laptop. Lazarus Data Recovery was even able to fix my laptop, for no additional charge, so that it could restart again! Please note that the office is a bit unconventional (reminded me of Mr Robot or maybe something in an 80s hacker movie) and parking/traffic can be a bit tough. Even though I backed up most of my data on iCloud and have alternative devices, the process of potentially losing some data was stressful. Lazarus Data Repair and William were really reassuring, kind, and capable in helping me resolve the issues. read more

At Lazarous Data Recovery I received an excellent service. William Chang was sensitive to my concerns and provided me with personalized solutions. He was also very considerate regarding the price and charged me the minimum amount he has available at the store. He is very knowledgeable and experienced in the topic and does not hesitate to help the really motivated client learn to solve their technological issues with the minimum and only the necessary investment. read more

William at Lazarus recovery is the REAL DEAL. I cannot say enough good things about this man and his business. He has worked his magic on my hard drive. In 2013 I had a hard drive that crashed. In it contained precious photos that meant a lot to me. I took it to two different places who couldn't recover any data for me. I was afraid my files got corrupted from the numerous attempts to recover from different places. I was even desperate and considered taking it to one of those big name clean rooms but the prices I was quoted were crazy. Thousands of dollars. I didn't want to spend that amount. So years went by, every year I always had it on my to do list to take my hard drive to Lazarus in SF. Because of all the amazing reviews. Years and years A DECADE went by and I finally just last week had it taken in for a diagnosis from William. Today, he reached out and said that 100% of my precious files were recoverable. I am beyond the moon. I was scared a decade worth of waiting would have hurt my hard drive more and I was already bracing myself that I would lose those files forever. But no... today I got the most wonderful call that it got recovered. I am so happy I want the world to know how amazing this shop is. William is so professional. Not to mention kind as well and understands how important files are to people. I cannot recommend this man and his business enough. I hope he stays in business forever. I hope to never have a hard drive crash again, but in case it does this is the first place I am going to. Thank you so so much William of Lazarus for saving my precious files! God bless you! read more

Lazarus Data Recovery did an excellent job salvaging a hard drive of mine that developed a weird firmware/hardware issue and wouldn't mount. They also kept me informed through the process. Overall very satisfied and felt like I was in good hands! read more

I've known William Chang since I worked at Limbach & Limbach LLP in late 90's. He did data recovery on hard drives while I was there and at Beeson, Tayer & Bodine. After I left IT, in 2015, I still need his services! I reformatted a hard drive by mistake, and I was lucky he was able to retrieve at least some of the data for me. When ever I leave a review I like to ask myself these questions: Would I refer Lazarus Data Recovery to friends? Yes. Would I use their services again? Yes. read more

This review is long overdue. A while back, a staff from the Apple store literally wiped out the memory of one of my iPhones. He said, there was NO way I would be able to retrieve any of it unless I pay someone thousands of dollars. There was also NO way I believed what he said, because I know that I live in the Bay Area. There's a lot of geniuses here! I was so lucky I came across Lazarus Data Recovery on Yelp. Read some reviews, and followed my gut instinct. William was able to literally recover all my data. ALL OF IT! He's a very nice person that you can trust! Thanks to William my phone still works, and he was able to save all my information on a usb. I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND his company 100%‼ read more

Great job recovering most of my files intact from a dead USB flash drive. Very responsive and flexible at a reasonable price. Highly recommended! read more

I reached out to Lazarus to see if they could help recover data from my failed external hard drive. My drive stopped mounting/wouldn't be detected by any computer. I received a response very quickly from William and was able to drop off my hard drive in a couple days. In another couple of days, William gave me the good news that he was able to recover my files! He loaded my data onto a loaner hard drive ad said I could take as much time needed to purchase a new drive and transfer the files. He also kept me updated throughout the entire process, which I appreciated. I would highly recommend using Lazarus if you need help with data recovery! read more

Outstanding. Got 100% of my data back from my heavily water damaged Mac for a very reasonable price! William & his team are honest, hardworking, and extremely competent. Went the extra mile to communicate with me too. So glad I went with him instead of Apple's referral - Drive Savers - who are extremely expensive & dishonest! I was devastated thinking I had lost 1000's of photos, documents, and more, but Lazarus got it all back for me! - and my peace of mind. Could not recommend more! William is a great dude. read more

I feel so lucky to have brought my hard drive to Lazarus Data Recovery. There are so many choices for this type of service in SF and the options are mind boggling. This is where you should go! Conscientious, hard working, honest, reasonably priced and excellent at communicating and staying in touch until the job is finished. Five stars is well deserved. Thank you, William for doing so much for me. You love your job and it shows! I'm back up and running at a speed I never knew and all of my data is back. Clap! Clap! Clap! read more

WARNING: Don't come here if you have an iPhone problem! While these guys MIGHT be a pro on computer hardware or SD card recovery, they are not skilled to work on iPhones. I brought in my iPhone with a software bug. They promised they will be able to recover all the pictures and data but after paying $150 and getting the due date pushed back twice, nothing was done. I basically lost everything + time and money. Valuable lesson learned to always backup to the cloud :( read more

Need to have your data recovered from a bad drive? William at Lazarus is the place to go. Helped tremendously with recovering my data with great communications and timely updates. More than satisfied with their service and would totally recommend this fantastic business. Thanks read more

It worked!!!!! After spending two days dealing with Applecare "geniuses" trying to talk me through how to recover my crashed iMac from a funky time machine, I turned to William. What a fantastic experience. It seem like I had the perfect storm of everything going wrong or my computer crashed and my external hard drive unmounted. But was the best part of working with William is he gave me a peptalk and told me I didn't need to stress, that he would figure it out and he asked me to promise him that I would not stress. That was worth the money right there! A couple days later my computer was restored, my Time Machine/external hard drive was fixed with all of the backups visible again. I echo other reviewer's in saying he is very honest, reasonably priced, sensitive to your timeline, and easy to work with. Thanks again!!! read more

I recommend taking your data/drive issues to Lazarus/William! Responsive, transparent, and friendly! One of my NAS drives failed and I accidentally formatted the backup NAS drive. I started one of those quote requests on Yelp with a few businesses, and William replied promptly with his guess on the problem with my drives and the range of the cost, and also included a phone number for me to call. I called and after our conversation, I decided to bring in the drives. Throughout the process, William was very friendly, and when asked, he was transparent about what he would be doing with the drives and how long it would take. This was happening around Christmas and New Year's, and I didn't expect him to work much on those days, but he did and it showed me how dedicated he is. He gave me text updates, which assured me that I was in good hands, even if the drives weren't recoverable. Fortunately, one of them was (Tip: if you accidentally formatted your HDD, stop doing anything else to them and safely eject it!). In getting me my data back, William made sure the files were safe and clean and gave me two versions of the data recovery attempts just in case. He also gave me advice on backup management, which I'm taking right now to make my data safer. I wish more businesses had great customer service like Lazarus. Thanks, William! read more

This place is the bomb dot com. It's easy to miss (unless they've added a bigger sign since the last time I was there), but it's well worth the search. You go up a long flight of stairs and you're greeted with a whole slew of computers, computer parts, hard drives, etc. If you're looking for some fancy shiny tech lab, you've come to the wrong place. BUT if you're looking for someone who gets the job done and can recover probably all your files, then you've come to the right place. William is a really great guy. So friendly and welcoming, and very very knowledgeable. He talks to your level of tech knowledge, and I find that really impressive. He's also really genuine and empathetic, and really goes the extra mile to help you out. I overheard him talking to an elderly couple after he recovered all their photos after their computer died. They were going to the Apple store to get a new computer and hopefully get all their files restored on that computer, and William says "if there are any problems or they have trouble understanding what you want, have them call me". That's just insane, to me. The customer service and work ethic of this guy is incredible. In terms of what he did for me, he recovered all the files off my dead SSD. Well, he tried to but the SSD was dead beyond dead, so he was able to use his programs to scour my secondary hard drive, which I had moved my files over to previously before the SSD died (lucky break). He took a few days to do it, and really scoured my drive for all the files. I'm really impressed at the amount of data he recovered for me. Super duper grateful, and you best believe I'll be back, if ever my drives fail again XD read more

William is superman! I wish I can give him 10 stars. My Seagate external hard drive wasn't able to be recognized by my MacBook, it was so scary because everything of mine is inside. I searched for some data recovery stores online and luckily found Lazarus Data Recovery. William took over my hard drive, kept updating the progress with me, explained what happened to my drive, told me how to protect data, and shared suggestions with me to avoid such kind of situations in the future, anything he knows, he is so helpful. Finally, he got all my data back! The overall experience was great. The location is nice, just right here in the city, so I don't have to drive too far away. People here are friendly and professional, they can get the work done perfectly. If you are looking for data recovery, this is the place to go. Thank you, William! read more

So about three years ago I purchased a new laptop from Staples. I had some important files on my old machine and they assured me that there would be no problem transferring them to the new machine. I had future plans for those files and I wanted to make sure they would be available. Three years later I tried to access them and they were completely unreadable. I went back to Staples but they were of no help. I then tried Best Buy but they couldn't help either. A friend suggested I find a data recovery service. I found Lazarus on Yelp. I called and was told there would be a small charge to examine the files and an additional charge if they could untangle them. I agreed and I couldn't be happier. I dropped the laptop off on a Monday and by Wednesday I had a thumb drive with my restored files. The fees were more than fair. read more

William was fantastic. I was surprised he was able recover my data from an external drive that had been mangled by MacOS. He diagnosed the problem and ensured that I knew what was happening through every step of the process. read more