How to Recover Permanently Deleted Files on a Mac (2024)

We believe that most readers have experienced the moment of data loss. That's why data recovery is always a hot topic and will never end. Losing data permanently on your Mac can be painful, especially when you lose important documents or files. Some people can recover quickly from the pain, but some cannot afford the loss of value in the lost files.

Don't worry. In this tutorial, we'll start with a general troubleshooting guide on how to recover permanently deleted files from macOS that are no longer in the Trash.

[1] Can permanently deleted files be recovered on a Mac?

Yes, you can use professional Mac data recovery software to recover permanently deleted files.

Firstly, on a Mac, the primary methods for permanent deletion involve using the keyboard shortcuts Shift-Command-Delete or Option-Shift-Command-Delete. These shortcuts delete the selected files without sending them to the Trash. There are also other ways to permanently remove files from a Mac.

• Delete Immediately
• Use the rm or rmdir command in the Mac Terminal
• Force delete files with certain third-party apps, or Empty the Trash on a Mac
• Turn on the "Remove items from the Trash after 30 days" option in Finder preferences

When we say delete, we mean that the data will be gone from your computer for good, and you won't be able to get it back unless you have a backup.

How to Recover Permanently Deleted Files on a Mac (with No Limit)

A Mac data recovery app can restore files that have been permanently deleted, formatted disks, or corrupted data. However, the success of the recovery largely depends on how you handle the lost data after the incident. Ideally, you would avoid writing new data to the device. More importantly, you wouldn't risk using a cracked Mac data recovery software. Lastly, if the target file loses its original filename and folder path, you might need technical support to locate it.

The Mac Data Recovery Wizard offers a reliable recovery solution for restoring deleted files from Mac without backup.

• Recover permanently deleted photos, videos, documents, emails, and other files on Mac.
• Retrieve lost files from MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, and other Mac devices.
• Restore deleted files from SD cards, USB flash drives, pen drives, and external hard drives on Mac.
• Compatible with all macOS versions, including the new macOS Sonoma.

Download this powerful Mac file recovery tool to restore an unlimited number of Mac files with just a few simple steps.

Note: You can create a backup of your Mac by clicking "Disk Backup" on the left first. The software will then recover the deleted files from the backup image. This prevents further damage to your disk and data, making it a safer and more reliable option.

Step 1: Choose a location and scan

Launch the Mac Data Recovery Wizard, select the disk where you lost data and click "Search for Lost Files" to start scanning.

Step 2: Preview and select the lost files

After the scan, you can use the file type filter in the upper left or upper right corner to find the deleted files you need.

Step 3: Recover Lost Data or Files

You can double-click a file to preview its content, or select multiple files for recovery at once. Click "Recover" to restore your lost data to your local drive or cloud storage.

Want to help others? Share this professional Mac file recovery software on social media and start posting about it.

How to Recover Permanently Deleted Files on Mac for Free?

For those who don't want to pay, there are two free solutions that can help you recover deleted files on your Mac for free.

Method 1: Use Free Mac Data Recovery Software Tools

Mac Data Recovery Wizard offers both free and paid solutions for retrieving lost files. Most data recovery software available in the market offer a free plan with file recovery size limitations ranging from 500MB to 2GB.

In comparison, Mac data recovery software offers a free trial with a 2 GB limit. So, if you're not confident using the open-source TestDisk utility to recover a few files, try the Tools Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free.

Method 2: Restore from a Time Machine Backup

Another useful method is to restore a permanently deleted file from a Time Machine backup. But there's a catch: you need to have created a Time Machine backup of your data before you can restore it after it's been deleted.

Steps to recover permanently deleted files from Mac using Time Machine:

Step 1: Connect the external drive with the backup to your Mac.

Step 2: Launch Time Machine from the menu bar.

Step 3: Find the folder that contained the deleted file. You can search for a specific file.

Step 4. Choose the backup version you need. Then select the files or folder you want to restore and click on the "Recover" button.

Method 3: Use Free Open Source Mac File Recovery Tools

TestDisk is a powerful free and open-source data recovery software that primarily focuses on restoring lost partitions and making unbootable disks bootable again. It can also be used on multiple platforms, including Mac OS X/macOS, to recover deleted files.

This is the official website where you can find information about the product and download it: https://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk.

It might take some time for first-time computer users to get the hang of the entire process, owing to the lack of an intuitive interface design and one-click recovery button. But once you're comfortable with it, this irreplaceable Mac data recovery tool comes at no cost.

Conclusions

How to recover permanently deleted files on Mac? If you, like many others, are confused about this issue, you will find the answer in this article. You can use the tool "Data Recovery Wizard" to restore any permanently lost data from your Mac. Its free version allows you to recover deleted files on Mac without spending a dime.

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How to Recover Permanently Deleted Files on Mac – FAQ

For more information on how to recover a permanently deleted file on a Mac, see this FAQ.

**1. Can I recover permanently deleted files on Mac?**

Yes, if you previously backed up your deleted files using Time Machine, you can restore them from the Time Machine backup. Alternatively, you can use a third-party data recovery tool like Data Recovery Wizard for Mac to help recover the permanently deleted files.

2. How to Recover Permanently Deleted Folders on Mac?

Here are the steps to recover a permanently deleted folder on your Mac:

• Download and install the Mac Data Recovery Wizard tool.
• Launch the software and select the device where you want to scan for the lost folder.
• Preview and recover the deleted folder from your Mac.

How can I recover permanently deleted files from my Mac without software?

Aside from third-party data recovery software, Time Machine is the only built-in tool you can rely on to restore permanently deleted files. Time Machine is the backup tool for Mac. It saves copies of selected files to a backup disk. You can recover lost photos, videos, and documents from a previous version.

4. How to recover permanently deleted files from Mac without Time Machine?

To restore files on your Mac without a backup, follow these steps:

Run the Universal Data Recovery Wizard on your Mac. Select the storage device or disk where you want to scan for deleted files. Search for the file or folder that you want to recover. Then, preview and restore the file to a secure location.