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If you’ve ever deleted an important file from your Mac by mistake, you know the panic that sets in. How can you get it back? The good news is that even if the Trash is emptied, you have a chance to recover deleted files on Mac. In this article, we’ll walk you through how to do that.
Even if you’ve already emptied the Trash, there are still steps you can take to restore your lost data.
Summary: When you empty the Trash, the files inside are not immediately deleted from your hard drive. Instead, they’re just marked as available space that new data can overwrite. If you act quickly, you may still recover your lost files using tools, such as Mac data recovery software. These programs scan your hard drive for any traces of deleted files and give you the option to restore them.
How does Trash work on Mac?
When you delete a file on your Mac, it doesn’t immediately disappear forever. Instead, it’s moved to the Trash, a special folder where deleted files are stored temporarily.
This is a great feature in case you accidentally delete something important because it gives you a chance to recover the file with just a few clicks.
To do this, open the Trash from the Dock or Finder window and find the file you want to restore. Then, right-click on the file to select the Put Back button. The file will be moved back to its original location, and you’re good to go.
How to recover deleted files from emptied Trash on Mac
If you’ve emptied the Trash and realize that you still need one of the deleted files, don’t despair. There are a few different ways you can undelete files on Mac and we’ll walk you through each method to restore deleted files from emptied Trash on Mac.
1. Recover deleted files from emptied Trash with Time Machine
Time Machine is a built-in backup feature on Mac that automatically saves copies of your files if you need to restore them.
If you’ve been using Time Machine, there’s a good chance that you can recover your deleted files from a previous backup.
To do this, open the Time Machine on the Menu Bar.
Then, find the date when you last had the file and click “Restore”.
Source: Apple support
The file will be restored to its original location on your hard drive.
2. Try data recovery software to restore deleted files from Trash
If you don’t have a Time Machine backup, or if the file you’re trying to recover isn’t included in your backups, you can try a Mac data recovery software. This will scan your hard drive for any traces of deleted files and gives you the option to restore them.
This can be a great way to undelete files from Trash on Mac, especially if you’re not sure exactly when you deleted the file.
3. Use a backup to restore your deleted files
Another option is to check whether the file is still available on iCloud or another recent backup you have.
If you’ve been using iCloud Drive to store your files, there’s a chance that the deleted file is still available in your iCloud account.
To check this, open the iCloud Drive app and see if the file is listed there. If it is, you can simply select it and download it back onto your hard drive.
Important: If you have a deleted file on iCloud.com it will be permanently deleted after 30 days.
If you can’t find your accidentally deleted files on iCloud, try another cloud account that you regularly save your files on or if you have it on a device, you usually send your backups to.
4. Use Terminal to recover your deleted
Windows has Command Prompt, Mac has Terminal. This is a built-in tool to perform several tasks, including restoring deleted files from Trash. Although, once the Trash is emptied, it can get harder to recover any file accidentally deleted.
Source: Apple support
As long as you deleted nothing else since there’s still a chance to restore the file. You can try the following steps to do so.
Step 1. Click the Launchpad icon in the Dock then type Terminal in the search box. Then, click to open the Terminal.
Step 2. Type cd. Trash and then press the Return button.
Step 3. Type mv followed by your file name three dots and a bar. Hit Return.
Example: if your file name was Doc1, then input: mv Doc1…/
Important: The file name must be exactly the same to work.
Step 4. Type Quit.
You can now open Finder and look for your deleted file by typing its name. Add it to a safe folder or to a backup.
However, if you cannot restore your lost file with Terminal, you can try one of the above solutions or contact a data recovery service.
5. Contact a data recovery service
As you try all the other solutions and still can’t get your files back, you still have hope of contacting a Mac data recovery service.
SalvageData technicians are certified professionals that can restore your Apple device without damaging its warranty, and our experts are experienced in retrieving data from Mac computers.
Contact us 24/7 for a secure and guaranteed data recovery of your deleted files from emptied Trash on Mac.
TL; DR: To restore deleted files from emptied Trash on Mac, you can use built-in tools, such as Terminal, or third-party data recovery software. As long as you don’t overwrite your data, there’s always a chance to get accidentally deleted files back.
