You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Trying to retrieve deleted file

Hello, I have accidentally deleted an extremely important file from my computer, and cannot find a time machine backup. Is there any way to retrieve this file from my emptied bin? Files only get deleted from a computer a month after emptying right? I tried time machine: can't go back in time.

Posted on Mar 21, 2022 12:36 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Mar 21, 2022 4:26 PM

I tried time machine: can't go back in time.

Did you create a Time Machine backup prior to deleting the file? Or, any other backup.

Time Machine does not run unless you enable it. If you made a Time Machine backup prior to deleting the file, we may be able to help you work through the problem you are having with it.

Files only get deleted from a computer a month after emptying right?

No, they get deleted as soon as you empty the trash.

5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 21, 2022 4:26 PM in response to APurrpleMoon

I tried time machine: can't go back in time.

Did you create a Time Machine backup prior to deleting the file? Or, any other backup.

Time Machine does not run unless you enable it. If you made a Time Machine backup prior to deleting the file, we may be able to help you work through the problem you are having with it.

Files only get deleted from a computer a month after emptying right?

No, they get deleted as soon as you empty the trash.

Apr 20, 2022 3:31 PM in response to KiltedTim

Is there a specific reason why we can't go back and retrieve an item from the trash that has been deleted? Is it a space issue? Is it a harder process than the average user understands? Even if it was for a specific time period, then, I suppose someone would always think that it wasn't enough time.


My mistake in cleaning up my desktop so that I could do a backup was deleting files under "Recent" (Which can be found under Finder) I did not know if you deleted files from this area that it would delete the original file from the desktop folder. Hard lesson learned.

Apr 21, 2022 11:18 AM in response to TLDavis773

TLDavis773 wrote:

Is there a specific reason why we can't go back and retrieve an item from the trash that has been deleted? Is it a space issue?

on a mechanical HDD, the reference to the data is removed, but the data still exists until written over. Data recovery software can “recognize” that there was some sort of data and might be able to recover it, if not overwritten.

On an SSD, the storage is marked for deletion, and eventually the bits are reset to be ready for writing. At that point it is gone forever.

Trying to retrieve deleted file

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.