How to recover emptied trash on Mac?

It is quite easy for users to move files to the Trash on Mac, and most Mac users frequently empty the Trash as well. However, there are times when users realize they have accidentally deleted some important files and emptied the Trash, which can lead to severe data loss situations.

Clicking “Empty Trash” doesn't actually delete the files in your trash; it just deletes the directory entry on the hard drive. This means that the deleted file is still somewhere on your hard drive, though you can't see it. As long as OS X hasn't reused that directory spot and written over the information, you can recover it.

1. Stop using your Mac and the Mac Trash immediately!

When you empty the Trash and lose important data, it is highly recommended that you immediately stop using your Mac.

If you continue to use your Mac, the deleted files will eventually be overwritten by new data, making recovery much less likely. Of course, you should not write anything else to the Mac's trash.

Before you proceed to find reliable methods to recover or undelete files from Mac Trash, it is essential that you protect everything.

2. Recover or Undelete Data from Mac Trash using a Mac Data Recovery Software

Normally, you cannot recover emptied Trash on Mac. In this case, you need to turn to professional Mac data recovery software that supports all Mac OS X, including macOS Sierra.

A professional Mac Data Recovery tool can help you recover from Trash on Mac and get your lost files back as soon as possible. Here, we recommend that you try the Data Recovery Wizard for Mac, and follow the step-by-step guide for Trash recovery on Mac.

Step-by-step guide to Trash File Recovery and restoring Trash data on Mac:

Step 1: Search for the Lost File

On macOS Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave, Catalina, Big Sur, Monterey, and the latest Ventura, select the disk location where you want to search for the lost file (it can be an internal HDD/SSD or a removable storage device). Then, click the “Search for Lost Files” button.

Recover Data Step 1

Step 2: Browse the scan results

Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will scan the disk volume you select immediately and display the scanning results.

Recover Data Step 2

Step 3: Select the files to recover

From the scan results, select the files you want to preview and then hit the “Recover” button to get them back.

Recover Data Step 3

Apart from retrieving trash files on Mac, the Mac Data Recovery tool is also competent to recover lost data on Mac due to various reasons, like accidental deletion, virus attack, software conflict, system crash, etc. Before purchasing the data recovery software, you are allowed to preview all recoverable files for free.