"I accidentally deleted some files. I now realize they are quite important. Unfortunately, then I emptied the trash, thinking those files were clutter. Is there any way to recover my files?"
If you are facing the same situation where you deleted files on your Mac by mistake, don't worry! This post will walk you through the whole process of Mac data recovery, from simple checks to advanced techniques!
Method 1. Recover deleted files from the Trash folder
Deleted a file? Let's talk about the undelete workflow. Your first and most logical stop is the Trash or Bin, depending on your locale. Hitting Command+Delete or dragging a file to the Trash is just a logical delete; the system marks it for disposal.
To recover deleted files from Mac, locate the Trash icon on your Dock, open it, find your target file, and secondary-click (right-click or two-finger tap). The context menu key is "Put Back". This action doesn't just move the file; it reverses the deletion entry in the file system index, restoring the original path. It's the most straightforward undo operation for file deletion on macOS. Super straightforward.
Method 2. Restore previous files from Time Machine
Time Machine is macOS’s built-in backup tool. Suppose you have a Time Machine backup. The most reliable way to recover deleted files is to restore them from backups.
Here’s how to restore files from the Mac Time Machine:
Step 1. Connect your backup drive to your Mac and launch Time Machine. Click the “Enter Time Machine” option.
Step 2. Browse the Time Machine backups using the timeline on the right.
Step 3. Find the files or folders you want, and click “Restore” to get them back.
Here’s a heads-up if you’re using Time Machine to get a file back: the restored version might not be the absolute latest one you were working on. It’ll be whatever was saved at the time of the backup.
So, you might lose some recent changes, which can be annoying. But honestly? In my book, getting most of your work back is a clear win compared to losing every single bit of it forever.
Method 3. Recover "Recently Deleted" files from iCloud Drive
Files saved in iCloud Drive benefit from an additional protection against accidental deletion. You can find your deleted iCloud files in the “Recently Deleted” folder. They remain for up to 30 days before permanent deletion.
Check out the following steps to recover deleted files from iCloud Drive within a month:
Step 1. Go to the iCloud official page using your Mac.
Step 2. Sign in with your Apple ID and click on “iCloud Drive".
Step 3. Click “Recently Deleted" in the window and find your deleted files here.
Step 4. Recover the deleted files in the Recently Deleted folder.
Only when the deleted files are stored in iCloud Drive can you find them in the Recently Deleted folder. So if you never enable the iCloud settings, try the last method!
Method 4. Recover permanently deleted files using software
EaseUS' Mac data recovery software is the last resort after you empty the Trash folder. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac handles complex data loss scenarios, including permanent deletion, formatting, partition corruption, etc.
This reliable Mac data recovery tool offers an easy-to-use interface that lets users retrieve their data by following the clear instructions, without prior skill required!
Step 1. Select a Mac hard drive or volume where your important files were deleted from, then click "Search for lost files" to scan.
Step 2. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will find almost all deleted files on the selected volume or hard drive, as long as newly written data has not overwritten the data in those files.
Step 3. Filter wanted files through the "Type" and "Path" options. Preview the deleted files if needed. Then, click the "Recover" button and choose a safe storage location to save the recovered files.
Conclusion
The easiest way to recover deleted files on a Mac is to check the Trash folder. Use the “Put Back” option to restore the deleted files you want.
If you emptied the Trash folder without realizing essential files were in it, Mac Time Machine also provides a "Restore" feature that lets Mac users restore previous versions of backed-up files.
For files stored in iCloud Drive, you can find files that were deleted within a month in the “Recently Deleted” folder. And use the Restore feature to get them back.
Professional data recovery tool, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac, offers a robust data recovery capacity for restoring permanently deleted files without any backup.
FAQ
1. How do I recover permanently deleted files from my Mac?
To recover permanently deleted files on a Mac, you should check if you have existing backups first. Time Machine and iCloud backups help restore permanently deleted files effectively.
If no backup here, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac can recover permanently deleted files in 3 steps:
Step 1. Choose your Mac hard drive and click “Search for lost files”.
Step 2. Find the recoverable files you want by filtering them by name or file type.
Step 3. Click “Recover” to save the deleted files.
2. Can I find deleted files on my Mac?
Yes. For a more technical route to the Trash, you can use the Finder’s “Go to Folder” feature. Just open a Finder window, click “Go” in the menu bar, select “Go to Folder,” and then type in ~/.Trash and hit return.
This opens the hidden Trash directory directly. Files you’ve deleted will sit here for about 30 days before the system cleans them out for good, so that’s your window to recover them using the same “Put Back” method.
3. How to recover permanently deleted files on Mac without Time Machine?
If the file is already gone from the Trash and you don’t have a Time Machine backup, things get trickier. This is where third-party data recovery tools come into play. Software like EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac can scan your drive for leftover traces of “permanently” deleted files. It’s not magic, and success isn’t guaranteed; it really depends on whether the data has been overwritten.
But it’s often the last option worth trying. You’d need to download it from their official site and follow the steps. A crucial tip: stop using the Mac immediately to avoid overwriting the very data you want to recover.
4. Can Apple recover permanently deleted files?
The Apple company doesn’t offer a direct data recovery service. But if you have iCloud Drive turned on on your Mac or other Apple devices, you can recover files deleted within the last 30 days from the Recently Deleted folder.
5. Where do permanently deleted files actually go on a Mac?
Permanently deleted files don’t get moved to a secret folder somewhere. Instead, the Mac’s system simply marks the space they occupied as “available for new stuff”. It’s like a library taking a book off the catalog and saying the shelf space is free, the book might still be there until a new one replaces it.
On modern Macs with SSDs, a feature called TRIM works in the background to actively wipe that “free” space clean for efficiency, which makes recovering data after that point extremely difficult, if not impossible. That’s why acting quickly is so important.