If you’ve ever had to recover deleted files from a Mac, you know that the process can be a bit daunting. Luckily, this guide will help you get through it as quickly and efficiently as possible. We’ll cover the different Mac data recovery from a Mac, as well as some tips on how to avoid losing files in the first place.
So whether you’ve accidentally deleted a file or have had to recover one for some reason, this guide will have you covered.
Back up your Mac
Before you begin recovering files from your Mac, you should make sure to back up all of your data just in case something goes wrong. This will ensure that you have a copy of all your files somewhere else in case the worst happens. So, make sure to back up your Mac using a separate drive or your cloud service of choice.
If you don’t have a backup yet or you’re looking for an easy way to back up your Mac, try using Mac Backup, a powerful backup app that lets you back up multiple Macs and iOS devices. Mac Backup is available as a free download with a one-time fee of $49.
Check for deleted files
Before you try to search for your deleted files, it’s a good idea to check first to see if they’re gone. Open up your Finder, go to File > “Show Box” and click on the “All Files” tab. There are a few things to keep in mind when looking for deleted files in your Mac.
First of all, inconsistency is one of the most important things to look for. If you’re performing a search for deleted files, be sure that you do it in the correct directory.
It’s easy to think you’re looking in the correct place when, in fact, you’re not. So make sure you check each and every single directory in your Mac to make sure you don’t miss anything.
Another important thing to keep in mind is that you should search for these files in multiple places. So, for example, if you’re using Mac OS X’s search feature, you should also try searching in the Trash and the Finder’s “Recent Items” tab. This will ensure that you catch as many of your lost files as possible.
Recover deleted files from a Mac
Now that you’ve double-checked for deleted files, it’s time to start the search. The first thing you should do is open up Terminal, which you can find in /Applications/Utilities. From there, you can use the “du” command to see how much space each of your directories is using.
If you’re looking for deleted files on your local Mac, you can use the “/local/var/folders/zz/zzzt95vfiqlp1cxkxj8yj940000gn/Files” drive.
If you’re looking on a remote Mac, you can use “/remote/var/folders/zz/zzzt95vfiqlp1cxkxj8yj940000gn/Files”.
The more specific you are when searching for your files, the better your chance of recovering them. For example, if you know that you’ve recently received a lot of music from friends, you can search for the specific type of music to increase your chances of finding the files.
Mount-only volumes
One way to avoid losing files on your Mac is to use a mount-only volume instead of a standard volume when storing data.
A mount-only volume is a special type of volume that allows you to access data on the volume but is not written to the disk. This means that if the drive crashes or is unmounted improperly, your data is not at risk of being lost.
Mount-only volumes first became available in Mac OS X 10.6 (aka Snow Leopard). To use a mount-only volume, you need to put the volume on a special disk partition and then mount the volume.
Once the disk is mounted, you can write data to it without having to be concerned about it appearing in other places or having other people write to it.
Avoid deleting important files
One of the most important things you can do to make sure you don’t delete important files is to create regular backups. Another important thing is to make sure you’re keeping track of what files are on your computer.
If you’re working with a lot of files or using a program like Dropbox, it’s easy to lose track of what’s where.
One quick way to keep track of your files is to use a file explorer like iExplorer or CuteFTP. These programs can be used both locally and remotely and make it easy to manage your files.
Another important thing to remember is that while it can be scary to open up your computer and see files you didn’t expect, it’s much easier to recover from a mistake after the fact than during the time it occurs. So, don’t let your fear of losing files get in the way of doing what needs to be done.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this guide helped you learn how to recover deleted files from your Mac. When in doubt, it’s best to back up your files before they get deleted. This will help ensure that you don’t lose important data and that it is easily accessible if something happens to your Mac.