How to Recover a Replaced File on a Mac

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More likely, though, we've made a more serious mistake than a careless delete or disk format. For example, we might have accidentally replaced a file with a new one of the same name. Though macOS would certainly warn you that a file of that name already exists, you might have been thinking about something else and clicked Replace anyway. Usually, for an overwritten Word document, you can search for a temporary file in Finder. But for other files and folders, such as images, text, or videos, you can restore previous versions from a Time Machine backup or with third-party Mac data-recovery software.

Restore from Time Machine	This is a built-in feature on Mac, so you don't need to install any additional software. It's straightforward and user-friendly. It automatically backs up your data and allows you to restore to a specific date. If Time Machine was not set up beforehand or the backup isn't up to date, it won't be able to help recover your files.
Use Third-Party Software	Some third-party tools can recover files without prior backups, which can be helpful if you didn't set up Time Machine. They often have advanced features like deep scanning, allowing recovery even after files have been overwritten.

Though it looks grim, that doesn't mean you can't do anything about it. Here, we've gathered two possible methods and step-by-step guides to recover replaced and overwritten files on Mac.

How to Restore Replaced Files on Your Mac from Time Machine

Advance notification to restore replaced Mac files:

1) If you replace a file with one of the same name and format, the chances of recovering the overwritten file are zero.

2) If you replace a folder with one of the same name, the files in both folders will merge, keeping all unique files and replacing older files in the target folder with newer ones from the replacement folder. Generally, you'll only lose what was replaced. Yes, you still can't recover overwritten files.

Restore Overwritten Files from Time Machine:

If you're an early riser and have created backups of important files on Mac, then the best option to recover an overwritten file on Mac is to restore it from a Time Machine backup.

Again: This trick for restoring replaced files from a Time Machine backup works only if you backed up those files before they were replaced.

Easy! You can use Time Machine to find the folder where the overwritten file was located in your backup:

Step 1: Connect the Time Machine backup disk to your Mac, and enter Time Machine by clicking the Time Machine icon in the Mac menu bar.

You can also do this by clicking “Finder” and opening the “Time Machine” application.

Step 2: Scroll along the bottom and lower-right side of the screen to view the dates and times when you backed up with Time Machine.

Additionally, you can choose the correct backup by clicking the up arrow next to the Time Machine window. You can double-click on specific files or folders to check if these are the files you want to restore from the backup.

If the covered files are in a Time Machine backup, you can select them and click Restore to get previous versions of the covered files.

The selected files (or the replaced file, on a Mac) will be restored from the Time Machine backup to their original locations on your Mac. You can then continue working with the recovered files.

Please learn the most effective ways to recover replaced files on Mac. Before you go, don't forget to bookmark this article by sharing it on Facebook, Twitter, or any SNS.

How to Use Data Recovery Wizard Tool to Retrieve Replaced Files on Mac

Usually, when you empty a storage device (like a USB flash drive) and save new files, the old ones get overwritten. Is there any chance to recover the replaced files? Yes!

For example, you have a 100 GB USB drive full of files; you empty it and put 50 GB of new files on it. Those 50 GB of new files will be irretrievable. But the lost files in the remaining 50 GB of space may be recoverable.

Advance notification to restore replaced files on Mac hard drive or flash drive:

1) When you delete files on a storage device and save new ones, the replaced files cannot be recovered from the allocated space. However, lost files from unallocated space can still be recovered using professional file recovery software.

If you encounter such a situation, you can restore all replaced files from Time Machine backup. Or if you want to recover replaced files on Mac without Time Machine, you can turn to professional Mac data recovery software for help.

The Best Ways to Recover Overwritten Files on Your Mac:

If you lost data due to formatting the storage device or saving new files that overwrite old data, you need a third-party Mac data recovery tool to retrieve files from the blank space. The powerful, secure, and user-friendly Mac Data Recovery Wizard is your best bet.

It can help you recover deleted files on Mac. It supports the recovery of various types of files, such as retrieving lost Mac PowerPoint files, images, videos, documents, music files, and more with just three steps.

Step 1: Search for the Lost File

Select the disk location where you lost the files (it can be an internal HDD/SSD or an external drive). Click on the “Search for lost files” button.

Note: Before data recovery, it's recommended that you click “Disk Backup” from the left sidebar and create a backup of your HDD/SSD to prevent further data loss. After the backup, the software can recover data from your disk image, and then you can use the HDD or SSD again.

Step 2: Preview the scanning results

The software will immediately scan the disk volume you select and show images, documents, audio, video, and email on the left.

Step 3: Select the files and recover them

Click on “Preview” to have a look at them and then hit the “Recover” button to get them back.

In short

At first, the idea of modifying or replacing files on your Mac might make you nervous. Losing a modified file entirely to the Trash can add to that anxiety.

Fortunately, the methods outlined in this book will get you back up and running quickly. You have a number of recovery options to choose from, ranging from Apple's Time Machine to data-recovery utilities such as Data Recovery Wizard for Mac.

Frequently Asked Questions on How to Recover Replaced Files on Mac

Here are 4 additional questions about recovering replaced files on a Mac. Click here to view the answers.

< strong > 1. Can I undo iCloud's replacement of a folder on my Mac? < / strong >

• Sign in to your account on iCloud.com using your Apple ID.
• After logging in, click "Account Settings."
• Scroll down to the bottom of the page and select "Restore Files."
• Once you find the file you want to restore, click "Restore."

**2. How do I recover a file that I accidentally replaced on my Mac?**

Open the file on your Mac, then choose File > Revert To > Browse All Versions.

To view each version, click the check marks on the timeline. Once you've selected the version you need, choose your option.

How do I recover a folder that was accidentally replaced on Windows?

Go to where the file or folder used to be, right-click it, and select “Restore previous versions.” If the folder is at the root level of a drive (like C:), right-click the drive and select “Restore previous versions.”

How can I restore a replaced folder on my Mac without Time Machine?

If the location of the deleted data has been overwritten by a new file, the deleted file cannot be recovered from the storage device. However, using specialized file recovery software, deleted files can still be retrieved from unallocated areas on the drive.

If this happens, you have two options: restore all the replaced files from a Time Machine backup or seek help from a trustworthy Mac data recovery tool. To recover overwritten files on Mac without Time Machine, you need to use a third-party Mac data recovery software.