How to recover a file that has been mistakenly deleted in OS X

We all have the experience of accidentally deleting important files, and this time the mood must sink to the bottom. It seems that these files have never been found again, but there is a way to recover the files. If you haven't emptied the trash, first open the trash to find the file. If you have been using time machine backup, the files are actually stored in the backup. If not, you need to try the file recovery software to search the hard drive to find the deleted files.

Method 1: Find in the Trash

1. 1 Open the Trash. The files you delete will be put into the trash, and if you don't empty the trash, the files will always be stored inside. You can open the trash on your desktop.
2. 2 Find the file you want to recover. Scroll the Trash interface to see if you can find the deleted file, if you can't find it, you have to try the other methods listed in the article.
3. 3 Right-click the file select "Put back", if the option is not selected, the original path of the file is already gone. You'll need to drag the file out of the trash and put it on the desktop, then you can put the file anywhere.

Method 2: Find Time Machine

1. 1 Open the action page where you want to restore the file. If you turn on the time Machine feature, the file is automatically backed up, and it is possible to restore an earlier version of the file. Then save the location before opening the file. For example, if the file you want to restore is originally stored in the Documents folder, open the document.
2. 2 Connect the time Machine driver. If your backup is saved on an external or network drive, connect the driver before you restore it.
3. 3 Click on the Time Machine menu. Find the time Machine menu in the Finder's sidebar and choose "Enter Time Machine". It will take a while for the computer to connect to the time machine driver.
4. 4 Locate the backup. Use the backward arrows to quickly preview a file thumbnail in a folder, or use the timeline on the right side of the window to directly find a backup of a past point in time. If an item on the timeline is dimmed, the hard disk that stores the backup is not connected.
   • You can also enter keywords in the search field directly to find what you need.
5. 5 Preview the file. Double-click to open the file, you can preview the contents of the file, you know which version of the file. Select the file that is closest to the version you want to recover.
6. 6 recover files. Once you have found the file you need, select it and click "Recover" and the file will be put back. You can select multiple files at once to recover together.
   • If the folder where the file was originally stored is deleted, you will be asked if you want to recreate the folder to put back the file.

Method 3: Use data recovery software

2. 1 do not use the hard drive again. The key to recovering data using software is that you immediately stop using your hard drive. Files are overwritten after they are deleted. If you no longer use the hard drive, you will be able to greatly increase the chances that files will not be overwritten.
   • Do not open any programs, and do not save create or delete any files. If the deleted files are in the system disk, turn off the computer immediately.
4. 2 Download Data recovery software. The software should be downloaded to another computer or another hard drive to avoid accidentally overwriting the files you want to recover. The commonly used data recovery software is:
   • PhotoRec (free)
   • Drill (free)
   • Data Rescue
   • Filesalvage
6. 3 Install the software on the USB stick. If possible, install the data recovery software on a removable device so that the software is running on the USB stick and the computer's hard drive will not be overwritten.
8. 4 Scan the hard drive. Depending on the software you choose, the scan takes a different time, but in general you can choose the hard drive you want to scan. Scan the hard disk where the file was mistakenly deleted, and perhaps choose the type of file you want to find. Narrowing the search scope can speed up scanning.
   • You may be able to select Quick Scan and full/deep scan. You can try a quick scan first to see if you can find the file you want to recover, because a full scan takes a long time. If the quick scan cannot find the file, then try a full scan.
   • If you are using PhotoRec, you may need to select the file system to use for the drive, just select "Other", unless the hard drive is using the EXT2 or EXT3 file system format.
10. 5 Select the files you want to recover. After scanning the hard drive, all files that can be recovered are displayed on the interface. In general, filenames are corrupted, so you may need to preview them separately to find the files you want to recover.
    • Not all files can be recovered. Because the file name is already illegible, you need to identify the files that you want to recover by carefully identifying them in several similar files.
12. 6 Save the file. After selecting a file to recover, a message prompts you to choose the path to save the file. If you are ready to recover multiple files, do not save them on the hard disk you previously deleted them from. You can choose to save the external drive or the drive.
    • If you want to recover multiple files, first restore the most important. Because even the process of recovering files will overwrite and corrupt deleted files, so make sure you restore the files you need first.

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How to recover a file that has been mistakenly deleted in OS X