I accidentally hit "Empty Trash" in my deleted folder on accident when trying to recover deleted files. How can I recover the files lost? How can I easily bring back the files that were in my deleted folder before I emptied it?
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.15
Hey there!
I’ve been there myself! Do you happen to use Time Machine to backup your Mac? If so, you can easily restore files from your backup:
Restore items backed up with Time Machine on Mac:
https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/restore-files-mh11422/mac
If not, do you know if these files were syncing with iCloud Drive? If so, you maybe able to recover them by signing into iCloud.com, go to Account Settings, under the Advanced section on the bottom, click on Restore Files. Do you see them there? If so you can select them to then recover.
Recover deleted files on iCloud.com:
https://support.apple.com/guide/icloud/recover-deleted-files-mmae56ea1ca5/icloud
If, possibly saved to iCloud as well, on your Mac, check this location:
Open Finder. On the top menu, select Go > Computer > Macintosh HD (Usually) > Users > Your user name > iCloud Drive Archive, (If there). You may find the files there.
You can find more information on that here:
Archive or make copies of the information you store in iCloud:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204055
Likewise if you have an iPhone/iPad, etc. you can check the Files app.
If none of those help, and they weren’t backed up using Time Machine or iCloud, do you use other services? (Such as Dropbox, One Drive, Google Drive, etc.)?
Likewise, knowing where the files originated from, or where exactly you deleted them from might lend some clues. Hope this or something else helps, let me know!
Hey there!
I’ve been there myself! Do you happen to use Time Machine to backup your Mac? If so, you can easily restore files from your backup:
Restore items backed up with Time Machine on Mac:
https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/restore-files-mh11422/mac
If not, do you know if these files were syncing with iCloud Drive? If so, you maybe able to recover them by signing into iCloud.com, go to Account Settings, under the Advanced section on the bottom, click on Restore Files. Do you see them there? If so you can select them to then recover.
Recover deleted files on iCloud.com:
https://support.apple.com/guide/icloud/recover-deleted-files-mmae56ea1ca5/icloud
If, possibly saved to iCloud as well, on your Mac, check this location:
Open Finder. On the top menu, select Go > Computer > Macintosh HD (Usually) > Users > Your user name > iCloud Drive Archive, (If there). You may find the files there.
You can find more information on that here:
Archive or make copies of the information you store in iCloud:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204055
Likewise if you have an iPhone/iPad, etc. you can check the Files app.
If none of those help, and they weren’t backed up using Time Machine or iCloud, do you use other services? (Such as Dropbox, One Drive, Google Drive, etc.)?
Likewise, knowing where the files originated from, or where exactly you deleted them from might lend some clues. Hope this or something else helps, let me know!
There are various data recovery softwares available. Try this one: https://www.easeus.com/
The free version is limited to 2 GBs of recovery. Also, recovery can be done for limited file types. If you're trying to recover an unpopular file type, it may not work.
*The data emptied from trash is actually still there on your hard drive until it is overwritten. If your laptop has overwritten the data you want to recover, it is lost forever.
Recovering emptied trash
