Missing files

Unfortunately, I had my MacBook in the pawn shop for over a year. The only thing i did was sign out of Icloud at that time. When I got my laptop back, all my folders saved to my laptop are empty. They contained all my son's schoolstuff along with his pictures and artwork. He passed away 5 years ago. I can't find any of it. Anyone know how to retrieve my documents and pictures? I can only find how to retrieve if I deleted them up to 30 days ago. I didn't do this and It's been over a year ago. Please help.

Posted on Nov 14, 2023 5:50 AM

Top-ranking reply

Encryptor5000

Level 5

7,788 points

Posted on Nov 14, 2023 8:42 AM

Hi bjp46,

Sorry for your loss. I'm hoping that the files are recoverable, but it isn't guaranteed.

When you gave your Mac to the pawn shop, did you provide them with your password? If yes, they could have done anything to that Mac - including deleting those files.

Your best chance of recovering those files at this point would likely be to shut down the Mac and take it in to a professional data recovery service. Unfortunately this can be very expensive.

Alternatively, if you made a backup of your Mac before giving it to the pawn shop, you can recover your son's files from the backup: Restore items backed up with Time Machine on Mac - Apple Support (CA)

Best of luck in recovering your data.

EDIT: Is it possible that your son's files might be in iCloud? Try signing into the Apple ID that you used before giving the Mac to the pawn shop, and check iCloud Drive: https://icloud.com

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