Recovering deleted files

[Jomskylark]

Hi all,

Saturday evening I accidentally deleted (emptied trash) a folder containing several dozen small -- each 4 - 12 KB in size -- text documents. I attempted to recover the documents using various Mac freeware but I could not find the specific documents. Frustratingly, the applications seemed to be able to pick up files that I deleted weeks ago but could not find the files that I had deleted within minutes of starting the recovery process. After many failed attempts I powered my Mac off in a hope that it wouldn't write to the drive and permanently delete my files while I slept.

I was wondering if the reason I couldn't find the documents was because I had deleted them in batch -- that is, I deleted the folder instead of deleting the files individually. Every Mac recovery application I used listed hundreds of files, but each file was individual... there weren't any folders on the list. Could this be my problem, and if so, how do I get around it? I'd hate to just give up over simple technological confusion like this.

Also, does anyone have suggestions for free or low-cost Mac file recovery applications? I tried MacKeeper, EaseUS, among others.

Finally, if I can't get consumer-grade software to work, what are some typical options for working with a professional?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[simsaladimbamba]

If the data is not overwritten (thus stop any access to the HDD you were deleting from, especially if it is the HDD with the OS on it, since it writes temporary files onto the HDD and might overwrite the sectors with the deleted files), the following should help:

To retrieve files, that have been deleted and also been emptied from the Trash or are on unrecognisable partitions or HDDs or on accidentally formatted partitions or HDDs, you can use

• Data Rescue 3 - trial lets you scan for free, but recovery needs a purchase (99 USD)
• Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery - trial lets you scan for free, but recovery needs a purchase (99 USD)
• FileSalvage - trial lets you scan for free, but recovery needs a purchase (99 USD)
• DiskDrill - trial lets you scan for free, but recovery needs a purchase (79 USD)
• Nice To Recover - trial lets you scan for free, but recovery needs a purchase (69.95 USD)

Btw, as you probably have no backup procedure, do one from now one. Time Machine is the one, that could help you in such cases. Or for text documents use something like Dropbox, since you can recover files from there even for 30 days after being deleted.
And if the files were on the HDD the OS is using, you should boot from an external HDD with Mac OS X on to install any recovery software, in order to prevent overwriting.

[Jomskylark]

Thanks for the suggestions, but as stated in my post I already have tried various recovery software with no avail. I suppose I could give one of those apps a go, but I'm writing to figure out if my problem lies in how the files were deleted.

[simsaladimbamba]

Originally Posted by Jomskylark

Thanks for the suggestions, but as stated in my post I already have tried various recovery software with no avail. I suppose I could give one of those apps a go, but I'm writing to figure out if my problem lies in how the files were deleted.

Emptying the Trash does only delete the links to the file, the file is still there, but depending on its physical location, that file could have already been overwritten, if you use the HDD you deleted from on a daily basis.

[Jomskylark]

Hmm. So you're saying that even though the files I deleted were contained in a folder, they should be just as accessible as another file that wasn't contained in a folder? (Assuming, of course, that the location was not overwritten.)

Since there were so many files I deleted (50+), shouldn't it be statistically probable that I'd be able to locate and recover at least one of the files? I can't find any, so I'm wondering if the fact that I deleted them as a folder influenced that.

How would a deleted folder be viewed in a recovery application list? (All of the recovery applications I've used have some kind of basic bullet-point list that shows all of the recovered items.) Would there just be a single line for the folder, or would the application dump out all the files from the folder, spreading them around the list?

Thank you.

[blueroom]

In the future consider a backup such as Time Machine (an HDD can fail at anytime). At the very minimal use DropBox (best use both).

[Jomskylark]

I am not opposed to back-ups, but encouraging me to change my ways for the future doesn't really address the current problem. Thanks anyway.

[W4Win]

Not familiar with data-recovery issues.
I wonder if any apps can help you recover files by folders.
Some of my friends use Data Recovery Pro to restore deleted data.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/data...004?mt=12&ls=1
I've never used because it's expensive.

[Gregg2]

Originally Posted by Jomskylark

I'm writing to figure out if my problem lies in how the files were deleted.

No, it shouldn't matter how they were deleted. The options for recovery will be consistent.

[bobr1952]

The data recovery programs will find any files that have not been over-written--it makes no difference if you deleted the folder they were in or if you deleted them individually.

[Jomskylark]

@Win Looks okay, but yeah, expensive. :/

Thanks Greg and Bob! That answered my question.