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User profile for user: behor55
behor55 Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Accessing trash folder on external drive

Hello everybody,


Recently I switched to a new MacBook. One of my external drivers have a really important information on it's " .Trash " folder but as I know I can't have a promission to access this folder, only with the original user where those files were trashed. Unfortunately it’s not possible.

How can access to that folder and copy its content back to my current MacBook?? It is super important to me.

Thanks in advance ❤️‍🔥


Using MacBook Pro 16'' M1 Pro with MacOS Monterey 12.1

MacBook Pro (2020 and later)

Posted on Jan 24, 2022 4:23 PM

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User profile for user: Niel
Niel
User level: Level 10
732,257 points

Posted on Jan 25, 2022 2:04 PM

Navigate to the folder above it in the Finder, choose Go to Folder from the Go menu, and provide .Trash as the path. If you encounter a permissions issue during the process, drag the folder involved to the desktop and click Authenticate, or control-click it, choose Get Info, and give yourself access.


If the volume containing it wasn't the one containing your home folder at the time, open it and use .Trashes/501/ as the path, incrementing the number as needed. You may need to select the volume in the Finder, choose Get Info from the File menu, and set it to ignore ownership.


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User profile for user: Niel
Niel
User level: Level 10
732,257 points

Jan 25, 2022 2:04 PM in response to behor55

Navigate to the folder above it in the Finder, choose Go to Folder from the Go menu, and provide .Trash as the path. If you encounter a permissions issue during the process, drag the folder involved to the desktop and click Authenticate, or control-click it, choose Get Info, and give yourself access.


If the volume containing it wasn't the one containing your home folder at the time, open it and use .Trashes/501/ as the path, incrementing the number as needed. You may need to select the volume in the Finder, choose Get Info from the File menu, and set it to ignore ownership.


(212887)

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User profile for user: Eric--F
Eric--F
User level: Community Specialist

Jan 25, 2022 12:53 PM in response to behor55

Hello behor55,


Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.


We understand that you have a new MacBook and you have some important information in the Trash folder on an external drive. The only way you can access those files would be to change the permissions on the Trash folder and/or the specific files. Changing the permissions would likely require the username and password of the user that created those files.


Best regards.

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Accessing trash folder on external drive

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