Recover Files from Unemptied Trash

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Level 1

13 points

Recover Files from Unemptied Trash

It used to be that I when I trashed a file, I could pull it back out of the UNEMPTIED trash bin no worse for wear. This saved my hide many times when I'd trashed something accidentally or unthinkingly. For about the last six months (sorry I can't be more specific, I just don't remember), I can no longer do this. I'd like have the ability to do so once again!

Further details:

On an iMac running Big Sur 11.6.3.

When I open the Trash, I see all the files I have deleted. I can open deleted folders in Trash's Finder window and see the thumbnails for the contents, I can move them around inside the window, I can get info on them from the file menu.

But I cannot preview them with space bar, cannot drag back to desktop, or use the "Put Back" control-click command; I get this error:

The Finder can’t complete the operation because some data in “id=6571367.19993571” can’t be read or written.

(Error code -36)

Weirdly, rather than getting the "cannot open file because it's in the Trash" message, I can sometimes open files that are nested at least one deep in folders. Control-clicking an mp3 and selecting "Open" opens it up in iTunes, but trying to open a PDF in Preview gets me:

Cannot communicate with a helper application

Try your operation again. If that fails, quit and relaunch the application and try again.

I'd appreciate any assistance or advice. Thanks.

iMac 21.5″, macOS 11.6

Posted on Oct 2, 2022 8:34 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

HWTech

Level 9

60,632 points

Oct 4, 2022 10:34 AM in response to calantian

Restore the file(s) from a backup.

Try rebooting the computer.

Try booting into Safe Mode to see if you can restore those files.

Try running Disk Utility First Aid on the hidden Container. Within Disk Utility you may need to click "View" and select "Show All Devices" so the hidden Container appears on the left pane of Disk Utility. Even if First Aid says everything is "Ok", click "Show Details" and scroll back through the report to see if any unfixed errors are detected. If there are any unfixed errors, then you can try running First Aid from Internet Recovery Mode, otherwise you will need to erase the drive and reinstall macOS and restore from a backup.

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