Recovering lost data from a Macintosh HD can seem daunting, but it is possible if you follow the right steps. The key is to act quickly before the deleted files get overwritten. In this article, we will walk you through the best practices for recovering deleted files on a Mac HD and provide solutions for more complex recovery scenarios.
Quick Overview of File Recovery on a Mac
When you delete a file on your Mac, it isn’t immediately erased from your hard drive. Instead, the space it occupied is marked as available to be overwritten by new data. As long as that space hasn’t been reused, recovery software can scan the hard drive and restore the deleted files.
Therefore, it’s crucial to stop using the Mac right away after accidental deletion to prevent overwriting the files you want to recover. The sooner you run data recovery, the better your chances.
There are a few options for DIY file recovery on a Mac:
- Recover from Trash – If you just deleted the files, they may still be in your Trash for up to 30 days.
- Time Machine Snapshots – If you have Time Machine backups, you may be able to restore deleted files from a previous snapshot.
- Data recovery software – Apps like Disk Drill and Stellar Data Recovery can scan and recover deleted files from your hard drive.
For more serious data loss from drive failure, corruption or formatting, you may need to remove the hard drive and use advanced recovery methods. We’ll go over some options later in this article.
Recovering Deleted Files from the Trash
If you’ve just accidentally deleted files on your Mac, the first place to check is the Trash. When you delete files or folders, macOS moves them to the Trash rather than erasing them completely. Files in the Trash remain there for 30 days before being permanently deleted.
To recover deleted files from the Trash:
- Open the Trash folder – click the Trash icon in your Dock or choose Go > Trash from the Finder menu.
- Select the files/folders you want to recover.
- Choose File > Put Back to move them back to their original location.
This allows you to easily retrieve items that were just deleted within the past 30 days. However, there are a few caveats:
- If you continued using the Mac after deletion, the Trash may have been emptied automatically to free up disk space.
- Some applications like Preview and Disk Utility empty their Trash automatically after closing.
- If you deleted system files required for booting, they won’t be in the Trash.
So while the Trash should be your first stop, don’t count on it having everything. Read on for more recovery options.
Restoring Deleted Files from Time Machine
If you have enabled Time Machine backups on your Mac, you may be able to recover deleted files from a previous backup snapshot.
Time Machine stores hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month, and weekly backups until your backup drive is full. This allows you to jump back in time to before a file was deleted.
To restore deleted files from Time Machine:
- Open Time Machine from the menu bar or System Preferences.
- Navigate back through different backup snapshots to before the file was deleted.
- Select the file(s) or folder(s) you want to restore.
- Click Restore to copy the files back to their original location.
Time Machine makes it easy to recover recently deleted files. But there are limitations:
- It only works if you have Time Machine enabled and backed up regularly.
- Backup snapshots get replaced as the drive fills up, so you can only restore as far back as your oldest snapshot.
- Encrypted sparsebundles count as free space, so it may delete older backups than expected.
- Time Machine does not back up external or network drives.
If you need to recover files that were deleted further back than your Time Machine backups go, you will need another solution.
Using Data Recovery Software
If you’ve exhausted the Trash and Time Machine options, the next step is to use dedicated Mac data recovery software. Apps like Disk Drill and Stellar Data Recovery work by scanning your entire hard drive sector-by-sector to find and restore recoverable deleted files.
Here are the basic steps to recover deleted files with data recovery software:
- Select your Mac hard drive – Typically named “Macintosh HD” and select “Recover Deleted Files” or similar.
- Scan the drive – The software will read the hard drive and reconstruct deleted files it finds.
- Preview and recover files – Browse the found files, preview as needed, and restore those you want to keep.
Recovery software can retrieve a wide range of file types like documents, photos, video, archives, and more. The key advantages over Time Machine include:
- More flexible recovery time – Can restore files deleted months or years ago, if the space hasn’t been overwritten.
- Recovers from external drives – Will find deleted files on connected USB drives, SD cards, etc.
- Bypasses the Trash – Restores files even if the Trash was emptied.
However, there are some downsides to keep in mind:
- No guarantees – The software can only restore files that still exist partially on the drive.
- Overwrites risk – Continuing to use the Mac could overwrite deleted files before scanning.
- Advanced skills required – Choosing the right scan and being able to preview files takes some tech skills.
As long as you avoid further use of the drive and can understand the data recovery workflow, DIY software can recover deleted files when other options fail. Ideally, create a bootable clone backup first for the best results.
Creating a Bootable Clone Backup
Before running data recovery software, it’s advisable to make a complete bootable backup of your Mac’s hard drive. This cloning process makes an exact sector-for-sector copy of your drive to another device.
Benefits of cloning before recovery:
- Protects against data overwriting during scanning.
- Allows recovery of the full drive contents, not just deleted files.
- Acts as a backup if recovery goes wrong and corrupts the drive.
Apps like SuperDuper! and Carbon Copy Cloner can create bootable clones. Then you work with the clone rather than risking the original drive.
The process involves:
- Connect an external hard drive that’s at least the same size as your Mac’s drive.
- Run the cloning app and select the source (internal HD) and target (external drive).
- Wait for the clone to fully copy – this can take hours for a large drive.
- Boot from the clone drive to test it started properly.
- Run data recovery software on clone drive instead of original internal drive.
Having a current bootable clone is the best way to maximize your chances when running DIY file recovery software.
Advanced Recovery Methods
Up to this point, we’ve focused on software-based file recovery techniques. But if those fail due to drive hardware issues or extreme deletion methods, more advanced recovery may be required.
Here are some advanced options when DIY software can’t restore deleted files:
- Send to data recovery pros – Pro engineers can dismantle drives and fix mechanical issues beyond DIY capabilities.
- Repair disk corruption – Try Disk Utility’s First Aid or fsck in Terminal to fix filesystem damage.
- Extract data from failed drive – Use Target Disk Mode or a drive enclosure to read unbootable failed drives.
- Low-level disk editing – Hex editors can directly inspect and modify drive sectors in desperate cases.
These methods require advanced expertise and come with risks like drive damage. So they are best left to professional recovery services if initial attempts are unsuccessful. But let’s go over some of the options in a bit more detail:
Data Recovery Services
When DIY software can’t recover lost or deleted files, a professional data recovery service may be able to repair and restore data where consumers can’t. Some of their capabilities include:
- Bypassing failed electronic components
- Performing disk transplants between matching drives
- Repairing motors, heads, PCB, etc.
- Extracting data with specialized forensic tools
This requires technical skills and resources beyond what most people have access to. The main downsides are high costs starting around $300+, and risk of shipping damage.
Repairing Drive Errors
Before recovery software can read deleted files, any filesystem corruption needs to be repaired. Disk Utility’s First Aid and terminal fsck command can check and fix certain drive errors like:
- Directory damage
- Bad sectors
- Catalog file issues
- Permissions problems
While limited, built-in disk repair tools may resolve some problems hampering data recovery. Just be sure to clone the drive first.
Reading Unbootable Drives
If your Mac or its hard drive suffers catastrophic failure and cannot boot into the operating system, you have a couple options to try extracting the data:
- Target Disk Mode – Connect to another Mac and access like an external drive.
- Drive enclosure – Remove and insert HD into USB enclosure to connect to another system.
This allows file recovery software to read an otherwise inaccessible drive. But if the disk has physical damage, it may not mount properly even via USB.
Hex Editors
As a last resort when all else fails, hex editors like Hex Fiend can directly inspect and edit the raw contents of a drive. This extremely advanced method can potentially find deleted files where recovery software fails by looking at the raw sectors.
This approach requires deep knowledge of hard drive formats and structures. Even a small mistake can permanently destroy data. Use hex editing only if you have no other option available.
Preventing Data Loss
Recovering lost or deleted files from a Mac hard drive can be a painful experience. While best practices can improve your chances, there is no foolproof solution once that data is gone.
The best protection against data loss is preventative measures:
- Enable Time Machine automatic backups.
- Consider online backup services like Backblaze.
- Don’t just trash files, use Secure Empty Trash.
- Encrypt sensitive files with FileVault.
- Store critical data in multiple locations.
No backup system is perfect, but combining Time Machine, cloud backups, and redundant storage can provide excellent coverage against data loss. And be sure to encrypt sensitive documents for safety.
Following best practices for Mac data management can reduce how often you need to resort to recovery. But accidents happen, so keep this article handy in case you ever need to reclaim lost files from your Mac’s hard drive.