How to recover permanently deleted photos on Mac?

If you have a Time Machine or iCloud backup, then restore from the deleted photos from backup. Otherwise, go and try a dedicated data recovery software instead. Those are professional programs for recovering deleted files from your Mac. Here is a detailed review you can check out:

https://www.sysgeeker.com/blog/top-best-6-data-recovery-software-for-mac-unleash-the-power-to-retrieve-your-lost-data.html

As you can see from the following screenshot, some of the deleted photos can be recovered.

P.S. No matter which method you are going to choose, make sure try it on your Mac first. Most of third-party data recovery apps has a free trial feature.

Providing you with some steps to recover permanently deleted photos on Mac:

1. Stop using the affected drive: If you've permanently deleted photos on a Mac, stop using the affected drive immediately to prevent further data loss. Avoid writing any new data to the drive, including downloading or installing any software.

2. Try recovering deleted photos using Time Machine: If you use Time Machine to back up your Mac, follow these steps:

- Connect the backup drive to your Mac.

- Open the folder where the deleted photos were stored.

- Click on the Time Machine icon from the Menu bar.

- Select "Enter Time Machine".

- Use the timeline on the right side of the screen to find the date when the photos were still present.

- Once you've found the desired snapshot, select the photos and click on "Restore".

If Time Machine backup is not an option or did not work for your case, you can use a third-party data recovery tool.

When a file is deleted, it is still there in the disk; it's just that the pointer to it in a directory is erased. Over time, though, that area of the disk, being marked as available, may be overwritten with something else.

In the absence of a Time Machine, or other backup: STOP using this mac, and take it to an expert in recovering contents from disk. The more this mac is used, the more likely it is that space where deleted files were stored gets overriden with new content.

Permanently deleted files usually means exactly that permanent.

If you were storing the photos in iCloud, if you log into www.icloud.com

You can check there too and see of the photos are appearing in the Trash

From memory, they used to hold deletes files for 30 days before that are permanently deleted

If one truly values their non replaceable personal files

Use the 3 - 2- 1 Rescue Plan

3 Backups using 2 methods and 1 Off Site incase of Natural or Un-Natural Disaster

Always make a Time Machine Backup   and keep it up to date at all times

Types of disks you can use with Time Machine on Mac

If the Time Machine backup disk for your Mac is full

Some weird here

Getting notifications e-mail of new replies to OP question and yet none appear here

Luis Sequeira1 wrote:

When a file is deleted, it is still there in the disk;

Unfortunately the OP mentions using an Apple Silicon Mac meaning the files were deleted and emptied from the Trash. With an SSD, those items are permanently gone due to the use of TRIM on the SSD which clears the SSD blocks. On an older model utilizing a hard drive, those deleted files would still reside on the hard drive until overwritten by the system at some point.

Without a backup or another copy stored elsewhere, the user has just learned a very hard lesson.

You mention that the photos were on your Mac: how did they get there? From a phone camera, the phone likely still has a least some of them. From a camera with a digital card -- do you still have the camera card(s). Even if "erased" by the camera, most camera card manufacturers have "recovery" software that runs to cover such images from formatted or erased cards. Did someone send them to, maybe in text messages or emails? They should still be there. Others have already mentioned iCloud, but some people use other cloud tools, Dropbox, Google, Microsoft, could any of your photos be there? Often family members, relatives, friends have copies (or the originals) of people's photos, check with them, people who sent them to you or to whom you sent them (or some of them).

Because of HWTech's sobering note about SSDs, I am suggesting these "low tech" approaches which may seem obvious to many, but are often overlooked by people who are under stress.

Recovering permanently deleted photos on a Mac, especially after they've been removed from the Trash or after the Trash has been emptied, can be challenging and might require professional assistance. If you've reached this point, a professional data recovery service or workshop could be your best bet. These services specialize in retrieving lost data from various storage media, including hard drives, SSDs, and memory cards, even in situations where all seems lost.

To increase the chances of recovery, it's crucial to stop using your Mac as soon as you realize your photos are missing. Continuing to use the Mac can result in new data being written to the disk, potentially overwriting the space where your deleted photos are, making recovery more difficult or impossible.

Now, look for reputable data recovery services with experience in Mac data recovery. Focus on companies with positive reviews and testimonials. Ensure they have a clean room for hardware recoveries, as opening a hard drive outside such an environment can cause further damage. Check their policy on data privacy and security to ensure your data is handled confidentially.

Once you've identified a potential service, contact them to discuss your situation. Be ready to describe the problem in detail, including how the photos were deleted, the type of storage device your Mac uses (HDD or SSD), and any steps you've already taken to recover the photos. They may offer initial advice or a preliminary assessment over the phone or via email.

Fortunately, several methods exist to recover permanently deleted photos on Mac. Various built-in functionalities and external applications offer support in this endeavor, though none can promise complete recovery success.

Upon noticing the deletion of photos, the immediate action should be to cease all activities on your Mac. This is advised because erased files aren't immediately removed from the storage device. The possibility of successful photo recovery diminishes with each subsequent operation performed after the deletion. Therefore, it's crucial to learn the most efficient way to restore lost photos.

To recover the deleted photos on Mac, consider accessing your backup service, like Time Machine, iCloud, or Dropbox. Sign into their respective websites and navigate to the period when the photos were originally saved to recover them.

Remember, backups aren't limited to cloud services. You have the option to synchronize files across two different Macs or save your data on an external hard drive for backup purposes.

Did you create a TimeMachine backup in the past?

If yes, these backups may still contain your data:

Restore items backed up with Time Machine on Mac - Apple Support

My Mail said: Three new replies. One from you, one from Luis, plus the original question by the Author.

Looks like they are updating the system again.

Yup 👍