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How to recover Data after an update done in EXTERNAL HARD DISK

Hi, As I didn't have internal space, I Updated my Mac to an external hard disk.

Now the Data in the external hard disk is hidden/lost(i used a trail recovery software which showed the data exists).


Is it possible to do a Migration Assistant from this Hard disk to another one and get the files back as it was in the first(before i did the update)


Thanks.

Posted on Sep 27, 2021 2:31 AM

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8 replies

Sep 27, 2021 6:15 AM in response to Mac_Update_In_externalHarddisk

OR how to revert back to the previous hard drive condition to find my old files.

Unless you have a backup of that drive, there is no way to revert it to a previous state.


When you install the OS on a drive, it moves any files it finds into the Relocated Items folder on the data volume created for that install. That is where you should find them if they still exist.


Do you know how the drive was formatted before installing the OS? If it was already in a Mac format, then nothing would have been erased. If it wasn't in a Mac format, then the drive was reformatted and you would need file recovery software or a service to recover those files.

Sep 27, 2021 5:43 AM in response to Mac_Update_In_externalHarddisk

Thanks Luis, But will i not loose the files that way?
...
The Shared folder is empty.

If you didn't boot from the external drive, which Shared folder did you look at? You would need to look in /Users/Shared on the External which would actually be /Volumes/Macintosh HD - Data/Users/Shared if you are not actually booted into that external drive.


Did you erase the drive before installing Big Sur, or did you just install the OS onto that drive?

Sep 27, 2021 6:08 AM in response to Barney-15E

I didn't choose to erase the drive, i just click on install.


To explain more what happened:


I choose to make the update happens on the external hard drive.

the external hard drive had some work files i'm not sure is it gone or is it existing yet.

what i'm trying to do is to either get my files which i can't find now on the external hard drive OR how to revert back to the previous hard drive condition to find my old files.

How to recover Data after an update done in EXTERNAL HARD DISK

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