Somehow I accidentally installed Big Sur on my external hard drive. Lots of obvious mistakes that I learned from here (back up and disconnect external hard drive before update). I can't locate any of the files that was on the external hard drive. Is there some way or some program that can help me recover these files? I'm hoping someone can help me!
MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15
I found my files!!!
You need to open Disk Utility. See if you can find a section of the hard drive that has an "other volumes" area. Right click to see that section in Finder. When in Finder, type Command + Shift + . to see the hidden files. Go to the one called volumes. That's where my files were located!
I found my files!!!
You need to open Disk Utility. See if you can find a section of the hard drive that has an "other volumes" area. Right click to see that section in Finder. When in Finder, type Command + Shift + . to see the hidden files. Go to the one called volumes. That's where my files were located!
I am sorry you are having this problem. Could you please provide more specific details of exactly what steps you took? It sounds as if you may have erased your hard drive. If so, that is where your files were likely to be. If you did erase it, they are gone unless you have them backed up. It sounds like they weren't backed up. Incidentally, there is nothing wrong with having an additional operating system on an external drive. I do and that's the drive I use since it is faster than my internal HD. Finally, it is possible to recover erased files, but it is normally done by a recovery service and they tend to be very expensive. There is software sold which purports to recover files, but it is difficult to use and is not suitable for recovering all the files on an erased disk. What happens is that it presents virtually many hundreds of files, including all the older versions to choose from, unless they have been overwritten. A lot of files will turn out to be only partial files. Not a good solution for you.
Thank you for this information, Ronasara! I was going through the install process and thought it was asking where I could download the files for the update. I was surprised to see that my external hard drive was an option and picked that option since I thought it would be a file that would go with my other files, not a wipe of the system.
I didn't realize that it was even an option to install the operating system on to a hard drive. Does this mean that you run everything directly through that hard drive? I gave up trying to work my way through that install when I realized what happened and ejected my hard drive, just in case that would give me a slightly better chance at getting any of the files back.
I have found some of the software options in my searches, but I was nervous that the may be risky to use or mostly useless. It sounds like they normally aren't too helpful in situations like mine.
Thanks again for your help and any further help/insight you might be able to give!
You asked Does this mean that you run everything directly through that hard drive? Yes, you can if you elect to. Here is how it works in simple terms. You have your computer' HD, It should have an operating system on it even if it's not the one you choose to use. You can have another operating system on an external drive and you can choose to select that one to startup and operate from. This selection is made in System Preferences: Startup Disk. I think it's good to have both operating systems because it gives you another one to use if the other one encounters serious problems or won't start up. So, I suggest you use the external disk to start up. Then install a new operating system on your hard drive. At this point, unless you fully erased your hard disk, you might find that your data is still there. Maybe????
I did exactly the same... My backup files were all on my external drive though. This is where I installed my Big Sur update and it looks like all my archive files are gone. My files on my laptop drive are luckily on iCloud.
I am grateful for the advice you have received as this is a very recent mistake I made. So still in the throws of figuring out where I stand.
I just did the SAME THING last night and totally thought that I was only downloading the "installer" file onto my hard drive but alas, it installed the entire update onto my external hard drive and I can't find any of my files that were on the external hard drive previously. I believe it erased it or reformatted it. I may pursue professional recovery help but please let me know if you find any solutions that work for you and I'll do the same for you!
This has just happened to me!!
Big mistake on Apple's part here, because it really makes you think your just selecting a location for the installer files!
Luckily, I chose an Ext HD that wasn't majorly important, but it still puts me in the position of not really knowing what I've lost which is frustrating!
If anyone finds a solution, please let me know
I think I may have solved this...
So I just searched in Finder for something that I knew was definitely on that Ext HD before the Big Sur installation and I found it
So then I followed the pathway at the bottom and it revealed a folder that was hidden from view
So if you go to your Ext HD and click Command + Shift + .
You should see all hidden folders, one of them is called Volumes
Hopefully your lost folders are in there as mine were
Hope this helps
Hi Nik8882,
I thought all hope was lost, but I read this reply and followed the instructions you gave and I have found the files I thought were erased! So firstly thank you so very much!
I've looked at the pathway at the bottom, and similar to you they are in a folder called Volumes.
I tried clicking Command + Shift but nothing happened for me. Do you by chance happen to know of another way I can see this hidden volumes folder? I tried following the pathway and that didn't seem to work either.
OK wait- mine is now showing all my prior data. It seems to have created two discs in one. Is that happening for you?
The same exact thing happened to me! Please tell me someone was able to help you with this!?
I'm so glad that yours was saved. Sadly, I was never able to find my files. I was really sad and frustrated by it. It was partly my fault for not backing up the drive. Lesson learned there.
Did you ever have any luck?
Where is “other volumes” located in disk utility? I can’t find it.
Could you please respond with the steps you took , i have unfortunately done the same thing as you
Big Sur Accidentally Installed on External Hard Drive
