We all occasionally delete a folder or a file on a Mac or erasing entire disk many times. But what if you realized it was a mistake after the Trash has already been emptied? Is there a way to undelete Mac Trash somehow? Yes, and the answer is Disk Drill!
MacOS Big Sur Ready!
If you are looking for software to help you undelete files on Mac, you’ve come to the right place. Disk Drill is the premier file recovery app for Mac OS X. If you’ve emptied your Trash and then realized that you need one of the files you deleted, we can help. Read on to learn all about how to undelete files on Mac — whether they are on your hard drive, an external drive, flash drive or camera disk.
Below is just a quick overview of the steps. For detailed tutorials, see How to Install Disk Drill and How to Recover Lost Files with Disk Drill Basic in our Knowledgebase. Note that there are special steps you should take if you are trying to recover files from your Mac's internal hard drive.
Use these steps to undelete files from your OS X computer or laptop.
Download and install Disk Drill for Mac. Don’t download the file to the device that has lost data as this risks overwriting the items you hope to recover. If the deleted information was on your computer’s main disk, use an external device to download and install the software.
Connect an external device if necessary and launch the application. Select the device from the list of available disks in the main window.
Click the Recover button to start scanning the selected device for deleted data. For the best recovery results, you should allow Disk Drill to run all of its scanning algorithms in the optimal order. You can select this option or choose to run a Quick scan to search for recently deleted data or a Deep scan that searches the device on a sector level to reconstruct hard to find files. We suggest that using the full scanning power of Disk Drill will allow you to recover the maximum amount of data. Scans can be paused and restarted at your convenience and the results can be filtered so you only see the recovered files that matter to you.
Preview the recoverable files and select those that you want to restore. Choose a new storage location where the recovered data will be saved. Do not use the device that had lost data to prevent file corruption during recovery.
Click the Recover button a second time to perform the recovery after specifying the storage location. Disk Drill will recover your files to the safe storage location so they can be accessed by the system and applications.
There are many benefits to using Disk Drill to undelete OS X files from your Mac or MacBook. Here are some of the features that set Disk Drill apart from its competitors:
Preview all recoverable files before upgrading to the Pro version of the tool Advanced scanning algorithms for a more complete recovery User-friendly interface that takes the stress out of the recovery process Free data protection with Recovery Vault and Guaranteed Recovery Free byte-level backups that can be used to guard against failing storage devices Free S.M.A.R.T. monitoring to ensure the health of your computer’s disks Disk Drill is fully compatible with all types of disk-based storage devices that you might find yourself using with your Mac. Whether you need to recover deleted files from your Mac Trash or have accidentally formatted a memory card, Disk Drill can get your files back.
Dell®, HP®, Acer®, Asus®, MacBook Pro®, MacBook Air®, Apple iMac® and more
HP®, Samsung®, Seagate®, Toshiba®, WD®, LaCie®, Intel®, Adata® and more
SanDisk®, Samsung®, Kingston®, Corsair®, Patriot®, PNY®, Verbatim®, Silicon Power® and more
SanDisk®, Transcend®, Toshiba®, Lexar®, Integral®, SP®, PNY®, Kingston® and more
Samsung®, HP®, Sony®, GoPro®, Canon®, Sigma®, Nikon®, Epson®, Panasonic® and more
Samsung Galaxy®, iPhone®, Lenovo®, Huawei®, OnePlus®, Google Pixel®, LG® and more
Disk Drill can handle virtually any type of file you need to undelete from your Mac home folder or other storage location. The tool provides the best way to recover your valuable video, audio, image, document, and archive files with just a few clicks of your mouse. Its deep scanning algorithms recognize and reconstruct over 400 different file types.
The best way to undelete data on Mac is to protect it beforehand. Free Disk Drill offers multiple options of protecting your important files: Guaranteed Recovery, Recovery Vault, and S.M.A.R.T. monitoring. With these protection features you save yourself lots of effort and time and don't even worry about ever losing your files.
Updated on by Disk Drill Team
Yes, you can. Deleted files can be restored with data recovery software on your Mac. When macOS deletes a file, it does not physically remove it from its storage media. It simply marks the space previously occupied by the files as available for use. Until that space is reused and the data is overwritten, the original file can be recovered.
To recover permanently deleted files from a Mac:
Recovery Vault is a feature included in the free version of Disk Drill that can recover deleted files from your Mac. You can designate specific files or folders to be protected as well as the length of time they will remain in the vault. When a protected file is deleted it can easily be restored from the Recovery Vault.
The best way to undelete files on Mac without software is with a Time Machine backup. Follow these steps:
Once a file has been overwritten, it usually cannot be restored with data recovery software. You can try scanning with Disk Drill to scavenge any recoverable data. You probably need to have a backup of the file if you want to retrieve it. Follow these general steps:
Yes, you can undelete files on Big Sur, the newest version of macOS. The Trash Bin is there and can be used to restore recently deleted files. In some situations, you can use the Command - Z shortcut to recover deleted data. Disk Drill is fully compatible with all versions of macOS and can help you recover from any data loss scenario.
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Simon Rüegg
iCreate Magazine #164