Accidentally Deleted Everything on Mac? 6 Ways to Recover Files from Mac

When using your computer, you store a lot of essential data on it, including significant documents, photos, videos, and more. Imagine accidentally erasing everything on your Mac; retrieving deleted data can be an arduous process, especially when it comes to recovering permanently deleted files on Mac.

In some cases, the deleted data is gone for good and cannot be restored unless you have an iCloud or Time Machine backup. One user on the Apple Community reported that he accidentally used the Command + R keys to boot his Mac into Disk Utility or Recovery Mode, which ended up in him erasing everything on his Mac.

If you have accidentally deleted all your files due to various reasons, such as using the rm command on Mac, do not worry. This article will introduce you to effective methods to recover your data.

What Happens When You Accidentally Delete Everything on Your Mac

As we know, deleting items on Mac doesn't really erase their data. Normally, this means moving the item to Mac's Trash, where all your removed files can be restored with the “Put Back” or “Restore” option.

However, if you permanently delete files on Mac by clicking the “Erase” button in the Disk Utility window and wiping out all data on the disk, it would be difficult to recover deleted files unless you use professional and powerful data recovery software – Data Recovery Wizard for Mac.

In this article, we will show you how to recover deleted files from Mac trash or retrieve them after emptying the trash if you deleted everything by accident. First of all, after you have erased everything on your Mac, you might come across two situations:

Scenario 1: Deleted files go to the Trash on your Mac.

If you fall into the first category, accidentally deleted everything on Mac but can find the deleted data in the Trash, the applicable recoverable method is as follows:

• Recover Deleted Files from Mac Trash
• Restore Deleted Files from "Recently Deleted" on Mac
• Recover Deleted Files using Mac Terminal Commands

Scenario 2: You erased everything on your Mac, but it's nowhere to be found

In the second case, all the data you delete will be inaccessible on your Mac, including recently deleted folders, Trash, and so on. The applicable recovery methods are:

• Recover Deleted Files on Mac with Software
• Restore Deleted Files on Mac using Time Machine
• Recover Deleted Mac Files from iCloud Backup

Accidentally Deleted Everything on Mac: How to Recover

If you accidentally delete all data from your Mac, don't worry. Here are 6 practical solutions to help you quickly recover deleted files:

Solution 1: Recover Deleted Files on Mac Using Software When you accidentally delete files on your Mac, data recovery software can be used to retrieve them. Here are some reliable tools you can try: 1. **Disk Drill**: Disk Drill is a powerful data recovery software designed for Mac users. It scans your hard drive and retrieves lost files, including photos, documents, and videos. Simply download and install the software, then select the drive you want to scan, and Disk Drill will work to recover your files. 2. **tools Data Recovery Wizard**: tools offers a data recovery software tailored for Mac. It supports various types of file recovery and has an intuitive user interface. Follow the software's instructions to start scanning and recovering your files. 3. **Stellar Phoenix Data Recovery**: Stellar Phoenix is a professional data recovery tool for Mac that can restore lost files from various storage devices. Its advanced scanning features help locate deleted or lost files. 4. **Recuva**: Although Recuva primarily targets Windows users, it also has a version available for Mac. This software can assist in recovering deleted files, but it may not be as robust as the dedicated Mac solutions mentioned above. Before using these tools, ensure you stop writing any new data to the affected disk to avoid overwriting the deleted files. Always try free versions or trial editions first to confirm the software can successfully recover your files before purchasing the full version.

Using professional data recovery software is the most effective and powerful method to retrieve deleted data from your Mac. Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is a user-friendly recovery tool that you can easily use, even with no prior experience in data recovery.

It also aids in SD card recovery on Mac, external hard drive recovery, USB drive recovery, and more. In case you accidentally erased all content and settings on Mac, you can recover deleted data by following the steps below:

Note: You can create a backup of your Mac by clicking "Disk Backup" on the left first. The software will recover the deleted files from the backup image, which prevents further damage to your disk and data, making it safer and more reliable.

Step 1: Choose a location and scan.

Run Disk Drill for Mac, select the disk with lost data, and click “Search for Lost Data” to start scanning.

Step 2: Preview and filter the lost files

After the scan, you can use the file format filters in the top left or top right corner to find the deleted files you need.

Step 3: Recover Lost Data or Files

You can double-click a file to preview its content or select multiple files for recovery at once. Click "Recover" to restore the lost data to your local drive or cloud storage.

Fix 2: Recover Deleted Files from Mac Trash

We all know that files sent to Trash can be restored via the Trash window. Just follow the steps to recover files from Trash on Mac:

Step 1: Open the Trash on your Mac by clicking the ? icon on your desktop.

Step 2: Find the deleted file or folder in the Trash.

Step 3: Right-click the selected files and choose Put Back to restore them to their original locations.

Fix 3: Recover Deleted Files from Mac's Recently Deleted

You might see a special folder called Recently Deleted in your favorite app (like Photos). Items that you recently deleted appear in the Recently Deleted folder. For example, to recover a photo you deleted on a Mac, follow these steps:

Step 1: Open the Photos app on your Mac and choose “Recently Deleted.”

Step 2: Select the deleted photos you want to recover and click “Recover” to get them back.

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Solution 4: Recover Deleted Files with a Mac Terminal Command

Aside from the standard “Undo” command (Command + Z), which only undoes the last deletion and has limitations regarding the number of actions and time, there's a useful command-line tool to recover deleted files on your Mac. Let's take a look:

Step 1: Open the Utilities folder in the Applications folder, and run the “Terminal” program.

Step 2: Type cd.Trash, then press "Enter" to open the Trash.

Step 3: Type ls -al ~/.Trash to see all the deleted files in the Trash.

Step 4: Type mv filename ../ and press "Enter" to move the specific file back into your home directory. Replace "filename" with the name of the deleted file you want to restore.

Note that this command will only work before you empty the Recycle Bin.

Fix 5: Recover Deleted Files on Mac with Time Machine

If you take data preservation and backups seriously, then you're no stranger to Time Machine. It's a invaluable built-in backup utility for macOS that lets you safely restore deleted or lost data. Plus, you can use it to restore a Time Machine backup to another Mac without worrying about losing any information.

Please note that restoring from an old backup can overwrite newer data, so make sure you have the latest version of your files saved before proceeding. Here's how to restore deleted files using Time Machine:

Step 1: Click the Time Machine icon in the menu bar, and choose Enter Time Machine.

Step 2: Choose a Time Machine backup, then click “Restore” to put the file back where it was.

When backing up your Mac using Time Machine, you might encounter errors that prevent the initial backup from completing. In such cases, you can find solutions in the following article.

Please provide the English content you would like me to translate, and I will translate it into Chinese for you as soon as possible.

Solved in 2023: Time Machine Unable to Complete First Backup

This article will guide you on how to fix the issue of Time Machine waiting to complete its initial backup. Read More >>

Fix 6: Recover Deleted Mac Files from iCloud Backup

Recovering permanently deleted files from a backup is an effective way to perform Mac data recovery. Apart from Time Machine backups, iCloud is another common backup tool for Macs. By uploading important files to iCloud Drive, you can access them on other Apple devices. For instance, you can recover deleted photos from iCloud: locate the desired photo on iCloud Drive and download it to your Mac.

The bottom line?

Accidentally deleted everything on your Mac? Don't worry! Here are 6 tested methods to help you recover deleted files from your Mac, whether it was before or after emptying the Trash: Use Data Recovery Wizard for Mac, execute commands in Terminal, restore from the Trash or the "Recently Deleted" folder, and retrieve from Time Machine or iCloud backups.

Frequently Asked Questions about Accidentally Deleting Everything on a Mac

Here are some common questions people ask when they search for "accidentally deleted everything on my Mac":

**1. I accidentally deleted data on my Mac, how can I recover it?** If you unintentionally removed files from your Mac, try the following methods to retrieve your data: 1. **Check the Trash:** First, look in the Trash to see if the deleted file is still there. If found, simply drag it back to its original location or right-click and choose "Put Back." 2. **Restore from Time Machine Backup:** If you had previously set up Time Machine backups, connect your backup drive and restore the file from a backup point prior to when you deleted the file. 3. **Third-Party Recovery Tools:** If the above options don't work, consider using a data recovery software such as Disk Drill, tools Data Recovery Wizard, or Stellar Data Recovery. These tools scan your hard drive for recoverable files, but you may need to purchase the full version to recover them. 4. **Professional Services:** If the file is crucial and other methods fail, you might need to seek professional data recovery services. They have specialized equipment and techniques to attempt recovering deleted data from your hard drive, though this can be more expensive. Keep in mind that the sooner you act, the higher the chance of successful data recovery. Before trying any recovery methods, avoid writing new data to the disk to prevent overwriting the deleted files.

There are two scenarios to consider.

• Scenario 1: The deleted files go to the Mac Trash: You can recover them by clicking "Put Back" or using a professional data recovery tool like Data Recovery Wizard for Mac.
• Scenario 2: The deleted files are nowhere to be found on your Mac. In this case, the removed data might have been permanently erased, and only dedicated data recovery software like Data Recovery Wizard for Mac stands a chance of retrieving the lost data.

2. Can You Recover Permanently Deleted Files on Mac?

It's possible to recover permanently deleted files on a Mac. Check out these 3 useful methods:

• Method 1: Use the Tool Data Recovery Wizard for Mac
• Method 2: Recover from a Time Machine Backup
• Method 3: Use Open-Source Mac File Recovery Tools