Accidentally deleting files and emptying the Trash is an easy mistake to make on your Mac. The good news is that even after emptying the Trash, it may still be possible to recover deleted files on Mac for free using some simple techniques.
Can you recover files after emptying Trash on Mac?
Yes, it is often possible to recover deleted files from emptied Trash on a Mac. When you delete files on Mac, the files are not immediately erased from your hard drive. Instead, the space they occupied is simply marked as available to be overwritten by new data.
So until that space is used again, the original deleted files remain on your hard drive. They just need to be “undeleted” to be accessible again. This window where deleted files can be recovered is limited though – the sooner you act, the better your chances.
How to recover deleted files from emptied Trash on Mac
Here are the best free methods to recover deleted files after emptying the Trash on your Mac:
Method 1: Restore from Time Machine backup
If you have Time Machine backups enabled, you may be able to restore deleted files from a previous backup point before you emptied the Trash. To do this:
- Open Time Machine from the menu bar or System Preferences
- Navigate back in time to a backup point before you deleted the files
- Find and restore the deleted files or folders
This is the quickest and easiest way to recover deleted files on Mac, provided you have backups.
Method 2: Scan disk with data recovery software
If you don’t have backups, your best bet is to use free data recovery software to scan your hard drive and find recoverable deleted files. Good options include:
- PhotoRec – recovers photos, videos, documents, archives
- Disk Drill – recovers 500MB data free, easy to use
- TestDisk – open source recovery tool, more advanced
Be sure to download the recovery software to another drive, not the one you are scanning. Then scan your Mac’s drive and select the found deleted files to recover them to a safe location.
Method 3: Restore from cloud backups
If you use cloud backup services like iCloud, Dropbox or Google Drive, you may be able to restore deleted files from previous versions stored in the cloud. This works best for files you actively use and backup.
Tips for successfully recovering deleted files on Mac
Follow these tips when trying to get back deleted files that are emptied from Trash:
- Act quickly – your chances diminish over time as deleted files may be overwritten
- Avoid writing new data -minimize using the drive with deleted files to avoid overwriting
- Scan the disk – don’t just look in Trash, scan the entire drive for recoverable files
- Have patience – scanning and file recovery takes time, so be patient
- Save the files – be sure to save any recovered files to a different safe location
Why files are not in Trash after emptying on Mac
When the Trash is emptied on a Mac, the files are no longer visible in the Trash folder. But they still exist on the drive until overwritten. So why are they not shown anymore? Here are some reasons why:
- The disk locations of the deleted files are removed from the file system index, so they can’t be easily located anymore. It’s like removing a book’s card from the library catalog – the book still exists, but finding it is harder.
- The space the deleted files occupied is marked as free/available space to be used when saving new files. So new data may overwrite the deleted files.
- Any pointers to the deleted files’ disk locations are cleared when Trash is emptied. So the normal file system can’t find them anymore.
- The files still exist as data until overwritten, but are invisible to standard access methods like searching folders until recovered.
Can Mac data recovery software guarantee recovery?
No data recovery software can guarantee complete recovery of deleted files in all cases. But the best tools greatly improve your chances.
It depends on factors like:
- How long ago were the files deleted – newer deletions are easier to recover
- Has any new data been written to the drive – overwriting deleted data makes it harder to recover
- The recovery tool’s scan technology – advanced tools recover more types of files from more conditions
- File system format – some like APFS make deleted file recovery harder than HFS+
Doing a thorough scan soon after deletion, before major new data is written, gives you the best chance to get back deleted files.
Can you recover permanently deleted files on Mac?
It’s possible to recover even permanently deleted files on Mac, as long as the original data still exists on the drive and hasn’t been overwritten.
When you permanently delete files on Mac via:
- Deleting files without sending to Trash
- Erasing data from Secure Erase tools
- Formatting a disk
These actions bypass the Trash and immediately mark deleted files’ disk space as available for writing. But the original data still exists briefly until new data overwrites it.
So recovery is possible if you act quickly before new data is written. However, permanent deletes make recovery much more difficult than standard deletes that use the Trash.
How to avoid and prevent file deletion issues
Here are some tips to avoid needing to recover deleted files in the future:
- Enable Time Machine backup on your Mac to easily restore accidentally deleted files
- Use cloud sync services like iCloud or Dropbox to keep alternate versions of important files
- Undelete files from Trash before emptying it – this gives you an extra safety net
- Delete individual files by moving to Trash – avoid permanently deleting with Shift+Delete
- Install and periodically run anti-malware software to protect against viruses/ransomware that may delete your files
- Make extra copies of irreplaceable data for redundancy
Prevention is always better than needing recovery. But if you do need to restore deleted files, use these tips to increase your chances of getting back important data on Mac when free space is limited.
Conclusion
While accidentally deleting files and emptying the Trash can seem disastrous at first, there are often good chances of recovering that lost data on a Mac. Make use of backup copies, cloud versions, Time Machine, or preferably data recovery software to get back deleted files. The sooner you act after deletion and avoid overwriting, the better your recovery prospects will be.