Deleted mac files. Recovering files in MAC OS - Instructions

Or Arq, Mac users never face the problem of data loss, because they can restore a particular file at any time. But there is another category of users who believe that OS X is much more reliable than Windows, and they are insured against unexpected data loss. This is how it is in principle, but now the user himself is responsible for all deleted files, who could accidentally delete important information. And if such a case occurs, then the utility will be able to recover deleted data.

Start

When you launch it for the first time, you will be asked to configure the program to suit your needs. The maximum result in data recovery is guaranteed when all Disk Drill modules are running until the moment of data loss. More detailed information about their purpose and functioning can be found by clicking on the icons with a question mark.

You will also be asked to study the manual. The main problem is that the local guide has not been translated into Russian at all, and when using the program you can notice flaws in the localization.

Interface

In the latest versions, the interface has been greatly redesigned and is significantly different from what you can see in outdated reviews and videos. The design has become more minimalistic, and when you launch an application, your eyes no longer run all over the window looking for the right button, and there were quite a few of them.

Search and recover data on Mac OS X

Now everything is simple - select the system drive (external drive, flash drive, SD card, etc.) and press the search button, after which a long scan takes place (120 GB SSD on a MacBook '13 was scanned in 15 minutes).

Supports all not only current, but also quite outdated file systems. HFS/HFS+, FAT16/FAT32, NTFS, EXT3, EXT4 and other formats are not dangerous for the program.

After the scan is completed, the utility will show all existing and reconstructed files. Recovered files will not be presented in the folders in which they were before deletion, but in categories depending on the type of files: images, documents, videos, and so on.

But the whole situation is saved by the built-in search with a filter:

keywords;
data type;
approximate size;
the period in which the file was deleted.

Works with all popular data formats, from simple video files (AVI, M4V, MKV, MOV) or Final Cut Pro files to contact databases (ABCDDB), disk images (XML, DMG) and others.

Select the files you are interested in and save to disk or mount as a disk in the system. It's simple! The scanning session will be saved and searching for files will be faster in the future.

We have given an example of deep scanning, but this is far from the only data search mode:

Quick Scan is the ideal tool for identifying recently deleted data. Scanning occurs in 10-20 seconds.

Deep scan - allows you to search not only individual partitions, but also scan the entire disk. The procedure is quite long and you can’t get away with it by brewing tea. The method is used if a quick scan does not produce results.
Universal partition search - allows you to find and restore a partition on a deleted disk.

Finding a lost HFS partition.

To increase the efficiency of data search and recovery, it would be a good idea to turn to the “ Types" And " List» in Disk Drill settings.

You can set up exceptions for search and display, so you can cut out the lion's share of unnecessary information.

Data protection

It’s great when you can recover accidentally deleted data, but it’s much better to take care of protecting information in advance. Information will be protected by two protection modes:

Recovery Vault- thanks to this mode, all attributes of deleted data will be stored in a special section of Disk Drill. It is possible to restore any deleted file, provided that no system data is written in its place (it is advisable to restore it immediately after losing information). The uniqueness of the mode lies in the fact that it is not a file backup and disk space will not be mercilessly consumed. The function is relevant for MacBooks with a small amount of memory on board.

Warranty restoration- classic mode, in which deleted files are backed up to a separate location. There are many attributes for more detailed configuration (exception masks, minimum file size, storage time and space size). Ideal for those who have a fairly impressive hard drive capacity.

Versions and cost

There are several versions of Disk Drill, distributed at different prices and with different functionality:

Drill Disk Basic (free)- there is no way to restore files. The demo version of the product allows you to test the functionality of the program to a limited extent.
Disk Drill Pro ($89/$44.5)- full-featured version of the program. It costs $89, but for residents of the post-Soviet space there is a 50% discount. Both amounts are exorbitant, but when it comes to missing files (and some of them can be priceless), you will pay the money without hesitation.
Drill Disk Enterprise ($399)- corporate version for an unlimited number of users and computers. Ideal for startups and large campaigns.
Disk Drill Media Recovery ($39.99)- limited version distributed through the Mac App Store. Due to Apple's strict policies, the program cannot gain full access to hard drive partitions and, as a result, the Recovery Vault system does not work. Files and folders are restored without problems.

conclusions

Disk Drill is one of the best data recovery utilities that allows you to recover a huge amount of information and protect existing data from most emergency situations. The only disadvantage is the price, but this parameter is subjective. It all depends on how valuable the files are at stake.

P.S.: Removing Disk Drill must be done directly from the program window ( Settings → Are common → Remove Disk Drill).

All desktop PC users have at least once encountered the problem of accidentally deleting necessary files. MAC OS has several simple and quick ways to return files to your computer's memory. Let's take a closer look at how to recover deleted data on MAC OS.

The most obvious and easiest recovery method is to check the Trash Can folder. It contains all OS objects that the user has deleted. If the Recycle Bin was emptied or the file was permanently deleted using a hotkey combination, you should use one of the following methods.

Recover files deleted from the Recycle Bin

Follow the instructions to be able to reuse documents that were previously added to Trash Can:

Open a desktop window and select the “Trash” folder;
Wait until all previously deleted files are displayed in the window that opens;
Find the document you want to return to your PC’s memory and right-click on it;
In the context menu, select “Return back” or “Put Back”. Now the object will appear on the desktop or in the directory from which it was deleted.

The cart is empty. What to do?

Let's consider what to do in a situation if the user has emptied the trash. After each cleaning of the Trash Can directory, the operating system automatically saves a backup of it in iCloud storage. To “pull out” the desired file, follow these steps:

Using a browser, go to icloud.com;
Log in and select the “Temporary Storage” folder;
Find the desired object and restore it using the appropriate key.

Note! You can restore files after emptying the recycle bin in MAC OS X only within 30 days. After this period, all temporary data is permanently deleted from iCloud.

Checking a Time Machine backup

To restore a file from a backup, find the “Time Machine” system utility shortcut on your desktop. In the window that opens, launch Time Machine, as shown in the figure:

Wait for Time Machine to load. Now navigate between the timeline on the screen and use the arrows on the desktop to select the item you want to return. Click on the file and click on “Restore”:

Third-party programs for returning deleted files

In addition to standard recovery methods, you can use third-party utilities that

Disk Drill

With Disk Drill you can easily recover files even after you delete them from the Recycle Bin. If Time Machine has not been launched on your PC, a third-party utility will help you recover file timestamps from the hard drive structure. In this way, information about the object is returned and restored.

The recovered file is damaged. What to do?

If, as a result of file recovery in MAC OS, you were able to return the desired file, folder or archive, but they do not open or the contents of the file are inaccurate, such a document is considered damaged.

The reason for damage to the document's program structure is due to errors in the operation of third-party programs or incorrect saving of the backup by the operating system. Unfortunately, users have no control over this detail.

If you do receive a damaged file, try opening it in several programs. For example, multimedia objects can always be opened without problems by the VLC player, even if they do not have a coherent structure. You can try to restore text documents for reading using online services. Or you can open the document using standard Notepad in UTF-8 encoding.

You can also “fix” damaged files in MAC OS using the following programs:

Wondershare Data Recovery;
Refresh Files;
RS File Recovery.

Now have you ever faced this problem? I can say that this happened to myself, and that's not very good either. Everyone loses some files that they want to get back at some point, and because of this best data recovery software now very complicated. It's so advanced that things we would have thought impossible a few years ago now look easy. You can simply select a drive and click "Scan" and suddenly start seeing thousands of deleted files appearing in front of you. The question remains: how to recover deleted files in MAC OS X ?

With these tools, you can easily recover almost any file, including but not limited to documents, photos, videos, music, email and archived files. You can also recover from any internal and external hard drive, SD card, USB flash drive, digital camera, memory cards, iPod, media player and other portable devices.

Here are some tips on.

What to do first when you lose important data?

The first thing to do is assess how much risk you are taking. If you just deleted one small document, the chances are very good that you will get it back, even if you are very careless about everything. Following steps one is optional and the two listed below are very important only if you have deleted an important file.

If you lose many files or one very large file, then when is it more appropriate to start acting as if you are in a forensic situation, and the following steps below would be highly recommended.

Step one (optional)

Stop using this Mac's drive as soon as possible. If it's a boot drive, stop using that Mac altogether. If your computer is downloading or copying something to the disk, stop the process. You should close your data connection and your email clients. Do the bare minimum for your computer to put it in a position where it will write to disk as little as possible in the near future. There is no need to close it.

Step two

Download data recovery software. You should not download it to a drive that is not the one you will be recovering data from, because the download of the data recovery program itself is written to the drive. If the data recovery program is small in size (let's say less than 5MB), this is not such a problem because the write says that 5MB on a drive with thousands of MB of space on it has a very low risk of writing over the exact piece of data you want to recover. Mac Data Recovery Guru is very small in size, so there is very little consideration when downloading this program.

Step three

Run the data recovery program. It's preferable to have a second drive, USB drive or key, or SD card ready to recover the files you want to get back to (if you're recovering one small file, this likely won't be strictly necessary). You will receive a warning from the software if you are restoring a file on the same drive you are restoring it from.

We will always be there to help you and here is the list Top 3 Data Recovery Tools which can help you do the necessary to recover deleted files on MAC OS X. The below recovery tools are based on user review and beating in business.

Best Data Recovery Software for MAC

Lazesoft Mac Data Recovery

Lazesoft Mac Data Recovery, a free Mac data recovery software, is specially designed for Mac OS environment and can be used to recover data or files from HFS/HFS+, FAT, FAT32, NTFS, EXFAT (new), as well as other file systems. Lazesoft Mac Data Recovery helps recover deleted Mac OS files from any mountable media such as your internal hard drive, external hard drive, USB flash drive, memory cards, iPods Classic, etc.

Lazesoft Mac Data Recovery uses the most advanced, secure, fast and powerful data recovery engines. It can recover data on a disk even if partitions are formatted, damaged or deleted.

Disc Drill

Disk Drill is not only about Mac data recovery. It also comes equipped with useful disk tools for all data professionals and home users. Even when files are accidentally deleted, the files often remain there, hidden from the operating system. It uses two powerful methods: file recovery and disk recovery to help you recover Mac OS X files.

The following additional tools are free and included in Disk Drill right out of the box. From these tools, there is no need to buy more applications separately to clean your Macintosh, you can also find duplicates on your hard drive, you can backup your data or monitor the status of your drives. Download the free Disk Drill and you're all covered.

It includes support for 10.5 and higher Intel Macs, including Mac OS 10.9 Mavericks, Mac OS 10.8 Mountain Lion, Mac OS X Lion 10.7, Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6, Mac OS 10.5 Leopard, and Mac OS Server 10.5 Leopard. Supported file systems: HFS, HFS+, HFSX, FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, NTFS5, EXFAT.

Data and file browsing are supported during search. You will learn about the progress of scanning your disk and whether it will be able to do so after your “lost” data is located.

iSkysoft Data Recovery

ISkysoft Data Recovery for Mac, now anyone can recover data themselves, painlessly. Secure complete data recovery is just a few clicks away: scan, preview and restore. This tool uses the latest powerful scanning algorithms; it can scan any Mac based hard drive or external hard drive without destroying any data and allows you to recover data in no time. This tool is available in 4 recovery modes to cover almost all data loss scenarios such as accidental deletion, formatting, malfunction, etc.

Master Mode Recovery - Simply answer 2 simple questions and the rest of the recovery will be completed by the program.
Lost Data Recovery - Retrieving lost data emptied from your trash container or deleted by +Delete command.
Partition Recovery - Recover data from lost, deleted, resized and damaged partitions.
Resuming recovery. Save the scan results for later data recovery.

Big question

Well, the question that arises here is how do you know if each file you recover is exactly what you want? Well, the tools listed below will allow you to preview your lost files before recovering them, help you recover data at your own pace, and quickly find the files you need.

View photos as thumbnails or covers and easily check image quality before restoration.
Preview video and audio files to check if they are what you are looking for.
Open documents, emails and archived files to see what's intact and what you need.
Scanning files of the selected file type saves time.
Find files in seconds with file filters and folders.
Easily differentiate between valid and invalid files before data recovery.
Recover lost files complete with original file names and file folders.

The tools listed above in How to Recover Deleted Files on MAC OS X will be fully compatible with 10.8 (Mountain Lion), 10.7, 10.6 and 10.5. With these tools, you can recover data from HFS+, HFSX, FAT16, FAT32, exFAT and NTFS file systems.

Finally

I hope you enjoy our useful article How to Recover Deleted Files on MAC OS X , if this is useful for you, don't forget to comment me in the comments below. Also comment if you have any questions regarding this article or any suggestion.

It refused to boot. CMD+R Does not help. What should I do?

The start of the working day did not foretell anything bad. A cup of coffee, a good mood, the Power key and the MacBook displays the following sad picture:

A restless thought immediately flashed through my head about the safety of the data, the current version of the backup copy TimeMachine(which was not at hand) and possible loss of information.

Attempt No. 1. Booting into recovery mode

Being an interested user and an avid Mac user, I immediately tried to start the MacBook in recovery mode by holding down the keys CMD+R. Instead of the usual disk utility, the system greeted me with a window with an attempt network recovery.

Having chosen my home Wi-Fi network, I began to wait for further developments. After a few minutes, OS X's recovery progress was interrupted error -4403F.

Attempts to start the process again led to exactly the same result. Rebooting the router confirmed that everything was fine with the network connection.

Trying to diagnose the Mac, fix possible hard drive errors, or simply reinstall the system was now out of the question. Section with Recovery HD, in which the tools for restoration are stored, ordered to live long.

Attempt No. 2. Resetting PRAM and NVRAM

Mac computers were created by highly qualified engineers, so the correct organization of the entire system and the presence of “hidden hardware reserves” allows you to avoid a number of interruptions in its operation. One of these reserves is memory sections PRAM And NVRAM. It stores settings data that is not reset even after the computer is disconnected from power. To revive the fallen system, a decision was made reset PRAM and NVRAM settings.

1. Turn on the Mac.
2. After the white screen appears, quickly press the key combination CMD + Option + P + R.
3. Hold until the Mac reboots again and the Mac greets the sound.

PRAM and NVRAM reset completed.

Although they say that hope dies last, it, lifeless and barely alive, continued to lurk in my mind. Resetting PRAM and NVRAM did not affect the error when booting the system. The MacBook continued to test my nerves.

Attempt No. 3. Reset SMS

Having become accustomed to storing all the necessary data “in the cloud” or on removable media, the simplest solution to global problems has always been to reinstall the system “from scratch.” This case was special. I needed data stored in memory and I needed a working Mac today.

In the Mac environment there is something called system management controller SMC. The stability of the entire system depends on the reliability of its operation. Resetting SMC settings can cure a number of problems like:

Sleep mode

To reset the SMC, follow these steps:

Laptops with built-in batteries

1. Turn off your MacBook and plug in the power adapter.
2. Press and hold the keys at the same time Shit + Control + Option + Power and hold until the MagSafe adapter indicator changes color.
3. Release all keys and press the key again Power.

Laptops with removable batteries (older models)

1. Turn off your MacBook and unplug the power adapter.
2. Remove the battery from the laptop.
3. Hold down the key Power And hold for at least 5 seconds.
4. Release Power, insert the battery and connect the power adapter. Turn on your laptop.

Desktops (iMac, Mac mini, Mac Pro)

1. Completely disconnect the computer from the mains power.
2. Wait at least 30 seconds.
3. Connect the power and wait another 5-10 seconds and then turn on the computer.

The above actions can become really effective and the system will start. In my case, a miracle did not happen.

Attempt No. 4. Recovery using a bootable USB flash drive

An attempt to revive the system using the above actions was unsuccessful. The only option left was to reinstall OS X using a bootable USB flash drive. For this step you will need:

another computer running the OS X operating system;
Flash drive with a size of at least 8 GB.

Preparing a flash drive

1. You will need to download the OS X Yosemite distribution from the Mac App Store.
2. To create a bootable USB flash drive, download the DiskMaker X utility (distributed for free). You will need it to deploy the distribution.
3. Format the flash drive using Disk Utility V Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

4. After the distribution has finished downloading, cancel the proposed installation and run the utility DiskMaker X.
5. Choose a system Yosemite (10.10). The utility will detect the distribution in the folder Applications. Click Use this copy(use this copy).

6. Select the drive installed in the USB port and agree to the warning about completely deleting all data present on the flash drive.

7. The process of mounting the distribution kit with OS X Yosemite to the drive will begin.

The copying process takes about 10-20 minutes and depends on the writing speed of the USB flash drive. During mounting, dialog boxes and folders may occasionally open on the screen. Do not pay attention.

Once the OS X Yosemite image has successfully deployed, remove the drive.

System installation
1. Insert the flash drive into the USB port of the “problem Mac”, press the key Power and hold down the key Alt.
2. In the list of available partitions for downloading, select OS X Base System. Please note that there is no section Recovery. .

3. The Mac will boot into recovery mode. After selecting the main system language, the installation menu will open. In the top menu you will find a standard list of utilities.

Use disk utility and first try to check the access rights to the system partition and correct any errors. If after rebooting the system still refuses to boot, you will need to separate a partition of at least 20 GB in size in order to install a new system. You will find detailed instructions on how to partition a disk.

From the same menu, you can either begin the process of installing the system on a newly created partition, or restore the system using a TimeMachine backup (see).

CAREFULLY! Be careful when choosing the installation partition. The installation must be carried out not on top of the old partition, but on a newly created one.

After the installation is complete, you will have access to all the data located on the “damaged” partition with the old version of the system.

If you cannot create an additional disk partition

If for some reason you were unable to create an additional disk partition to install a new version of OS X, and saving the data remaining on the broken partition is still a priority, there is an option to install OS X using a previously created bootable USB flash drive on an external drive.

The most terrible situation for any computer user is data loss due to deletion, damage to the hard drive, formatting of the storage medium, etc. Depending on the situation, you can use various methods for recovering information in Mac OS.

Search in Cart

Photo: recycle bin icon on desktop

If the information was recently deleted and the trash was not emptied, then it is easy to return it. On Mac OS, the Trash is located at the very end of the Dock. Physically, each user has their own recycle bin, like an invisible folder. Until it is cleared (Empty Trash), any file from it can be recovered.

To return data you must:

open the Tpash window by clicking on the icon;
find the required file among the icons of deleted files;
drag the document outside the trash can.

If deleting a document was the last action when working in Mac OS, then you can return it with the keyboard shortcut and Z. These are shortcut keys for undoing the last action. The file will be returned even if the trash can is closed.

Time Machine function

Mac OS developers have created a universal tool that can return any file that existed in the operating system. Time Machine creates hourly backup copies of all changing data, including the operating system.

The peculiarity of the program is that the first time it is launched, it creates a complete copy of the hard drive, which takes a lot of time. After that, every hour it copies only those files that have changed. Thus, you can find the date of deletion or modification of a file in the program timeline, select it and click the button to return it. No reservations are made until the program is activated.

The graphical interface is presented in the form of a scrolling catalog of backups, a timeline on the right and the main interface at the bottom of the screen. It’s easy to use and you can return absolutely everything. But you need a large hard drive or removable media. When the storage is completely full, data replacement begins, so some of the oldest changes may no longer be returned.

Photo: Data recovery in the program

Data recovery programs

A universal tool for returning deleted or damaged data is special programs.

Programs for recovering data from a Mac OS hard drive have several features:

If a graphical interface is implemented for ease of use, then the application is paid. The cost can vary from a few dollars to several hundred;
the quality of information recovery varies, as different algorithms and methods are used;
It is possible to successfully return information in 90% of cases. Difficulties arise when working with images, but there are separate applications for them;
Using the demo version, you can evaluate the ease of use of the application and the quality of data recovery. Many people will need the functions of restoring data after emptying the recycle bin, as well as creating a backup copy;
To work with objects up to 5 MB, you can use free demo versions.

The range of programs is quite large. Among them there are several that are the most versatile and easy to use.

Video: Working with disks in Mac OS

PhotoRec

This utility is designed to recover image files, videos, documents, archives, etc. from memory cards. It works with various file systems and operating systems. The peculiarity of PhotoRec is that it does not have a graphical interface. This free application does an excellent job of recovering data after formatting a memory card, even retrieving what was long deleted.

Photo: General view of the PhotoRec software window

Data Rescue

Another easy-to-use data recovery program is Data Rescue. The application does not try to restore the file system, but simply retrieves from the hard drive, external USB and Flash drives, and memory cards those objects that can be read. Great for recovering recently deleted files and any other information from a disk.

Photo: Stage of choosing a working method (mode)

To work with the program, you need to launch it, select the media type (hard drive), and decide on the search mode (Fast, Deep, For deleted files, or Cloning to create a copy of data from the disk on the working media). Next, you need to wait a while: for deep scanning, 1 minute per 1 GB.

The program will display a directory of recovered data in the form of a tree. It is easy to find the necessary pictures and documents. After checking the box, saving, or rather restoring them, starts. Some file types allow you to preview them before saving them.

FileSalvage

The FileSalvage program can be used to recover deleted files damaged for various reasons, as well as after formatting the system or disk. It has the ability to work with different media and recovers files of many formats. Works especially well with video and image recovery.

Recovering deleted files on Mac with Disk Drill

A Disk Drill utility is released specifically for the Mac OS platform, which can recover data after it has been deleted. Works with all major file types, with native media, removable data storage devices (Flash, memory cards.).

Available in 4 variations, the most common of which are basic and professional.

The optional Recovery Vault feature allows the program to create backup copies, simplifying the recovery process. In addition to its own bytes, the information on the disk has a header - meta-data. They store information about the name and size of the file, its location on the media, etc.

By deleting it is the meta part that is erased. Recovery Vault saves exactly the meta part.

To restore, you need to launch the application window and select the scan type. If a little time has passed since deletion, you can use a quick search; in other cases, a deep search. Scanning can be interrupted at any time, with or without saving its results. From the list of found files, you need to select the necessary ones and start their recovery.

Getting a file back on Mac OS is not difficult. It is advisable to install a special utility or program in advance for creating backup copies. Otherwise, you will have to spend a lot of time purchasing specialized tools and performing a full disk scan.

It is difficult to recover files after mechanical damage and if they were deleted a long time ago. The sooner the recovery operation begins, the greater the likelihood of success.

If you discover a missing document, you must immediately stop any work on the computer. This will reduce the chance of data being written over a lost document.