If you’ve ever unintentionally erased a crucial file from your Mac, you are familiar with the terror that ensues. How can you retrieve it? The good news is that you still have a chance to recover deleted files on Mac even after emptying the Trash. This post will show you step-by-step how to accomplish it.
Even if you’ve already emptied the Trash, there are still steps you can take to restore your lost data.
Summary: The files in the Trash are not immediately erased from your hard drive when you empty it. They are merely designated as open space that can be overwritten by new data. Using tools like Mac data recovery software, if you act promptly, you may still be able to retrieve your lost files. You have the option to restore deleted files after these apps have searched your hard drive for any signs of them.
How does Trash work on Mac?
Mac files don’t disappear when deleted. It’s relocated to Trash, a temporary folder for deleted data.
This tool lets you retrieve mistakenly deleted files with a few clicks.
To restore a file, open the Trash from Dock or Finder. Select Put Back by right-clicking the file. The file will be transferred back to its original place.
How to recover deleted files from emptied Trash on Mac
Don’t despair if you’ve emptied the Trash and require a deleted file. We’ll show you how to recover deleted data from the Mac Trash.
1. Recover deleted files from emptied Trash with Time Machine
A Mac feature called Time Machine regularly copies your stuff.
You can possibly restore deleted files from a backup if you’ve used Time Machine.
Select Time Machine from the menu.
the file’s most recent backup date, and then click “Restore.”
The original location of the file will be returned.
2. Try data recovery software to restore deleted files from Trash
You can use a Mac data recovery program if you don’t have a Time Machine backup or if the file you’re seeking to recover isn’t present in your backups. With the option to restore them, this will search your hard disk for any signs of deleted files.
When you’re unsure of exactly when you deleted a file from your Mac’s Trash, this method can be a terrific way to recover those data.
3. Use a backup to restore your deleted files
Checking to see if the file is still accessible on iCloud or any recent backup you have is an additional choice.
The deleted file can still be there in your iCloud account if you’ve been utilizing iCloud Drive to store your files.
Open the iCloud Drive app and check to see if the file is present to confirm this. If so, all you have to do is choose it and download it once more to your hard disk.
Important: After 30 days, any deleted files from iCloud.com will be permanently removed.
Try a different cloud account you frequently use to save your information, or if you have it on a device, send backups to it if you can’t retrieve the inadvertently lost files on iCloud.
4. Use Terminal to recover your deleted
While Mac has Terminal, Windows has Command Prompt. This program is integrated and can be used to restore deleted files from the Trash, among other things. However, it can be more difficult to recover any file that was unintentionally destroyed when the Trash is empty.
As long as nothing else was deleted since there is still a chance to recover the file. To do this, you can attempt the following actions.
Step 1: To search for Terminal, first click the Launchpad icon on the Dock. Click again to launch the Terminal.
Step 2: Enter “cd. Trash” and hit the Return key.
Step 3: Enter your file name, three dots, and a bar, followed by mv. Press Return.
It’s crucial that the file name match exactly for it to function.
Now that Finder is open, you may type the name of your deleted file to search for it. Add it to a backup or a safe folder.
However, if Terminal is unable to retrieve your deleted file, you can attempt one of the aforementioned solutions or get in touch with a data recovery agency.
5. Contact a data recovery service
You still have hope of contacting a Mac data recovery service even after trying all the other options and failing to recover your files.
SalvageData is an Independent Repair Provider and Apple Authorized Service Provider. This means that our specialists are skilled in recovering data from Mac computers and that we are certified to repair your Apple equipment without voiding its warranty.