Can a disk's catalog directory be recovered after a Quick Erase? A disk's data directory seems to me to be the most vulnerable Achilles's Heel to protecting data.

With the 2 clicks of an accidental quick erase and format via Disk Utility, the roadmap to potentially multiple terabytes of data gets erased.

Even if zero data files were overwritten and all of the data files get recovered (though it may take days), (please, please correct me if I'm wrong) data recovery software can't retrieve the filenames, folder names, and the organizational, hierarchical structure, which then can only be painstakingly rebuilt by hand.

Relative to the size of the data, the directory is tiny. Wouldn't recovering a backup of the directory (that should always be automatically made as a fail-safe whenever an erase/format is done) make complete recovery fast and easy?

This seems waaayyyy too obvious to be overlooked, but everything I read indicates that with 1 click, it's gone and can't be recovered!

Is there any way to recover a disk's catalog directory after a Quick Erase?
That's how companies like
Prosoft (Data Recovery),
Micromat (Tech Tool),
Cleverfiles (Disk Drill) &amp;
Alsoft (DiskWarrior)
make their money.

They each have different ways of protecting or recovering your data.

Data Rescue &amp; Disk Drill are designed to recover files after the type of incident you mentioned.

Tech Tool goes further, by cataloguing each partition on every other partition, so it has a 'map' of where things were if anything goes wrong.

DiskWarrior concentrates on being able to rescue &amp; rebuild damaged directory &amp; filesystem information.

All are exemplary tools to use for different types of disaster &amp; in my opinion all worth the expenditure.

However - nothing is better than a good backup strategy.
Time Machine in-house, for if a drive goes down.
Backblaze or CrashPlan for off-site backup, in case the worst happens &amp; the house goes up in flames.

This is not a comprehensive list, just the ones I use or would recommend personally.