How to recover deleted files from emptied trash on a Mac

Macworld

Files deleted on a Mac will be moved to the Trash bin and stay for 30 days before being permanently deleted. However, many Mac users may accidentally empty the Trash bin without realizing the essential files are included. This guide contains all effective ways to recover deleted files on a Mac from emptied Trash.

When you realize you’ve accidentally emptied the Trash bin on your Mac, act quickly and stop using it; continuing to use it puts important files at risk of being overwritten by new data, making them virtually unrecoverable.

Method 1: Recover emptied Trash on a Mac with data recovery software

Using a data recovery program is the fastest way to return your deleted files after emptying the Trash. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is one of the best data recovery software with a user-friendly interface to perform Mac Trash recovery.

With the EaseUS data recovery tool, you can restore permanently deleted files after accidentally emptying the Trash bin on your Mac, including photos, documents, videos, archives, etc.

Follow the steps below to recover emptied Trash on a Mac with data recovery software:

Step 1: Scan for lost and deleted files

Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac, and choose the “Macintosh HD” or other disk in your Trash bin folder. Click “Search for lost files”.

EaseUS

Step 2: Find the deleted files

After the quick and deep scan, the deleted files from the emptied Trash bin folder will be displayed. This powerful data recovery software provides a filter feature to help you quickly locate the recoverable files you want.

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Step 3: Preview and recover the deleted files

Click the eye icon to preview the file content if you need help determining which deleted file you need. And click the “Recover” or “Recover All” button to restore your deleted files from an emptied Trash.

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Sometimes, you can still recover emptied Trash without software. Check out the following three methods to recover Trash on a Mac.

Method 2: Recover accidentally emptied Trash on a Mac from Time Machine backup

macOS provides a powerful Time Machine program. It can restore your Mac to a specific time, including its settings and data. If you have backed up the deleted files in Time Machine, you can restore them after emptying the Trash bin. Here are the steps you can refer to:

Step 1: Connect your Time Machine backup disk to your Mac.

Step 2: Click on the Time Machine icon at the top menu, and select the “Browse Time Machine Backups” option.

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Step 3: Search for the files you want in their original locations; filter the files’ versions by time and date, then click “Restore” to get them back on your Mac.

Method 3: Recover deleted files after emptying Trash on a Mac with iCloud backup

Besides using Time Machine to back up your data, iCloud provides a convenient cloud backup service; once you open the iCloud synchronization on your Mac, the Mac deleted files can be retrieved through the iCloud backup. It is worth noting that this method also has a time limit of 30 days.

Check out the following steps to recover emptied Trash on a Mac with iCloud backup:

Step 1: Go to iCloud.com and sign in with your Apple ID.

Step 2: Choose the “Data Recovery” option, and wait for the site to search for recoverable files in your iCloud account.

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Step 3: Locate the files you want to recover, check the boxes in front of the files to select them, and click “Restore Files” to save them.

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Note: iCloud backs up limited file types, including photos, videos, contacts, calendars, notes, iWork documents, and emails.

Method 4: Recover files from emptied Trash on a Mac using Terminal

The Terminal is a built-in program on Mac, just like the Command Prompt on Windows computers, which allows users to perform different tasks using the command line, such as recovering deleted files from Mac Trash.

But frankly speaking, if you empty the Trash, it’s hard to retrieve the deleted files from the emptied Trash folder via a command line. You can try this useful command line way to recover your deleted Trash files.

Here’s how to recover emptied Trash on a Mac with the Terminal program:

Step 1: Launch Terminal from the “Finder > Applications > Utilities > Terminal” path.

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Step 2: Type cd. Trash and hit the Enter key. Then, input mv xxx, replace the “xxx” with the name of the deleted file, and hit the Enter key again.

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Step 3: Type Quit to close the Terminal. Launch “Finder” and enter the names of the deleted files in the search bar at the top right of the window to find the restored files.

Mac Trash recovery FAQs

Here are frequently asked questions about Mac Trash recovery:

Does emptying Trash permanently delete files on a Mac?

Emptying Trash doesn’t mean permanently deleting files on your Mac, and you can recover the deleted files from emptied Trash using data recovery software, such as professional and trusted EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac.

Can you recover deleted files after emptying the Recycle Bin Mac?

As long as new data doesn’t overwrite the deleted data, you can recover deleted files after emptying the recycle bin on a Mac. Check out the following steps:

Step 1: Install and launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac.

Step 2: Choose the target disk to scan for recoverable data.

Step 3: Preview and recover the deleted files from the emptied recycle bin on a Mac after the scanning process is finished.

How to recover deleted files on a Mac in emptied Trash free?

You can recover deleted files on a Mac from the emptied Trash for free by the following methods:

Restore deleted files on a Mac from an emptied Trash with Time Machine backups

Recover files on a Mac after emptying the Trash with iCloud backups

Recover deleted files from emptied Trash with EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac free version

How to recover deleted files from Trash Mac without the software?

You can recover deleted files from Trash on a Mac without software by restoring them from Time Machine or iCloud backups. But there is an obvious limitation to restoring deleted files from a backup: You must back up the files before deleting them. Otherwise, you have to consider using software or asking data recovery services for help.

Conclusion

Emptying the Trash without determining whether important files are in it could result in severe data loss and a huge blow to your work and life. But don’t panic. This article discussed a professional data recovery tool and effective methods to recover deleted files after emptying your Trash bin.

You can choose the suitable method to perform Mac Trash recovery and return your valuable data with step-by-step guides.

Cleaning and Data Recovery Software, Personal Software