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[3 Ways] How to Recover Deleted Files on Mac?

Last updated: Jun 11, 2021 6:29 pm UTC
By Lucy Bennett
[3 Ways] How to Recover Deleted Files on Mac?

Hitting the ‘delete’ button accidentally on a file, whether it be a precious family vacation photo or a document for work doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the world.


Despite what it looks like, your deleted file is somewhere in your hard drive, and yes it can be recovered with the right tools.

[3 Ways] How to Recover Deleted Files on Mac?

What you need to understand is that there are several ways on how you can recover deleted files on a Mac computer:

Check Your Trash

[3 Ways] How to Recover Deleted Files on Mac?

After you recover from the shock that you deleted something that shouldn’t be, it’s time to calm down and think. Luckily, your Mac has a fail-safe function of putting deleted files in a temporary folder called ‘Trash’.


Your first step should be to get to the Trash folder in your computer by heading to the dock section. Open it, and you should be able to see the file you want.

Double click the file and a sub-menu will pop up. Look for the ‘Put Back’ option, which means it will be restored to its original file path. Alternatively, you can click the file and do a drag and drop maneuver to the folder you want.

Activate the Time Machine

[3 Ways] How to Recover Deleted Files on Mac?

Time Machine is a native feature on Macs. It allows you to recover the file that’s automatically backed up.


Time Machine must be enabled for this option to be viable. It’s a convenient and free solution, but the downside is that you’ll have to set it up first. But once you get past that then you get absolute peace of mind.

  • Open the app via Spotlight search and pick the nearest backup date to just before you deleted the file.
  • You’ll have to do a bit of hunting if you did a lot of file moving that day but the deleted file should be there.

If you haven’t activated your Mac’s Time Machine, now is the time. Head to your Mac’s System Preferences section, then choose ‘Time Machine’ and the hard drive you want the app to back up. Then, set how often you wish to create backups.


Use AnyRecover Software [No need for backup]

What if you have permanently deleted the files and didn’t create a backup? Fortunately, you can still locate and restore the lost data with a professional data recovery tool, for example, iMyFone AnyRecover, it’s available from OS X 10.10 to the latest macOS 11 Big Sur.

[3 Ways] How to Recover Deleted Files on Mac?

This Mac recovery software is your best ally when you need to recover lost or permanently deleted files. The best part is that using AnyRecover is very easy and you’ll soon be able to see your deleted files in just a few minutes.


This program is also powerful enough to be able to retrieve files that were deleted a long time ago. To this end you’ll need to do a deep dive and all-round scan so the software can check every nook and cranny.

If you’re at your wit’s end trying to recover a deleted Mac file, then try AnyRecover. It has a free trial version that allows you to recover up to 8 files for free and without any size limit. Now let’s see how easy it recovers lost data.


[3 Ways] How to Recover Deleted Files on Mac?

Restoring files using AnyRecover starts when you install and launch the program. It will ask you to direct it to the location where the file was last seen. Click on ‘Scan’ and let AnyRecover do the work for you.

[3 Ways] How to Recover Deleted Files on Mac?

Once scanning is complete you’ll get a preview window where lost files are seen. At this point you can choose to preview any file, then choose ‘Recover’ and set the new location.

[3 Ways] How to Recover Deleted Files on Mac?

The AnyRecover program has advanced algorithms that outperform many other Mac recovery software. It’s intuitive and only requires three steps – select, scan and recover, anyone can restore files on their own. The speed of recovery will depend on the performance of your Mac’s hardware and the data size.


Lost data can mean a number of things. AnyRecover can get back your precious files even when your Trash has been emptied, when the hard drive is damaged, formatted or due to a lost partition.

In conclusion, AnyRecover is your best choice for recovering deleted files on Mac. Download the software and enjoy its free trial if you are struggling to recover lost data! And if you have tons of files to recover, then you can proceed to its premium version.


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