If this recovers your computer, I would highly recommend that you upgrade your Mac to the latest version of macOS.
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Accidentally erased Macintosh Hd
- Thread starter Cruzgomez
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If you "accidentally formated" it then it depends on how you did it. Physically, when data gets deleted, it does not really get deleted - the space it occupied is just flagged as empty and can be overwritten in the future. As long as this doesn't happen, the data should still be there (unless you made a "secure format" that overwrote the data with garbage before declaring it empty).
So, the worst thing you could do, if you want to get your data back, is to overwrite it with a new OS-installation. If you just want your mac running again, go ahead - but if you want to recover your data, talk to someone knowledgeable first - it still might be possible.
So, the worst thing you could do, if you want to get your data back, is to overwrite it with a new OS-installation. If you just want your mac running again, go ahead - but if you want to recover your data, talk to someone knowledgeable first - it still might be possible.
That only applies to hard disk drives, so it's not true in this case. The solid state drive in the M1 has TRIM enabled by default. When files are deleted or formatted on an SSD with TRIM enabled, the files are deleted permanently and irrecoverably to speed up SSD performance. They can't be recovered. His files are already gone. His only option at this point is to start again with an install of macOS and hopefully some important things were backed up to iCloud or another cloud storage service. Otherwise this is a very unfortunate situation.
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You're right, my explanation was about storage without TRIM enabled, like SD-Cards or HDs. I'm old 
. Still, he got a "pink screen" before it happened, so it might still be something like a corrupted directory tree or something else a qualified technican should have a look at before making further steps. If he can't afford one or hasn't made a backup then I guess that homework has to be done again. Either way, if he didn't do anything, I wouldn't trust the disk not to do it again in the future - and visit a computer technician anyway. Shame that the disks are soldered to the mainboard now.
. Still, he got a "pink screen" before it happened, so it might still be something like a corrupted directory tree or something else a qualified technican should have a look at before making further steps. If he can't afford one or hasn't made a backup then I guess that homework has to be done again. Either way, if he didn't do anything, I wouldn't trust the disk not to do it again in the future - and visit a computer technician anyway. Shame that the disks are soldered to the mainboard now.Yes, good luck to you.
Reinstall as you have been advised above from the recovery partition. That's the way
If you've got all your data backed up you should be able to reinstall it and using icloud is really good for that next time if you haven't. Ask about using icloud and backing up if you haven't as you really need to.
The next thing is to try and find out what happened.
You clearly didn't erase your disk something else did.
Either it failed in which case you'll need to get it fixed or much less likely but still possible it was erased by some sort of malware. If it's telling you that you've got a disk it's a good sign so do you think you might have caught some nasty malware? Found a USB key lying around for instance (I know it's unlikely on the mac as they don't work without an adapter but they can contain a trap to wipe your disk) Unsecured network? Some sort of pirated game?
It is possible that it won't be recoverable I'm afraid as what's happened to you isn't normal and it may well fail again quickly and then either a trip to apple or sending it in if you have that option might be necessary because it's probably a hardware problem.
You should be ok from a fresh install if it works but just think what might have triggered malware and be careful not to put it back again if you think it's possible. Don't put everything back at once just reinstall apps and files you really need and see how it goes then if you open a file (with macros) or install something and it happens you know what it is. If you reinstall hundreds of things at once the possibilities are endless and you learn nothing.
Reinstall as you have been advised above from the recovery partition. That's the way
If you've got all your data backed up you should be able to reinstall it and using icloud is really good for that next time if you haven't. Ask about using icloud and backing up if you haven't as you really need to.
The next thing is to try and find out what happened.
You clearly didn't erase your disk something else did.
Either it failed in which case you'll need to get it fixed or much less likely but still possible it was erased by some sort of malware. If it's telling you that you've got a disk it's a good sign so do you think you might have caught some nasty malware? Found a USB key lying around for instance (I know it's unlikely on the mac as they don't work without an adapter but they can contain a trap to wipe your disk) Unsecured network? Some sort of pirated game?
It is possible that it won't be recoverable I'm afraid as what's happened to you isn't normal and it may well fail again quickly and then either a trip to apple or sending it in if you have that option might be necessary because it's probably a hardware problem.
You should be ok from a fresh install if it works but just think what might have triggered malware and be careful not to put it back again if you think it's possible. Don't put everything back at once just reinstall apps and files you really need and see how it goes then if you open a file (with macros) or install something and it happens you know what it is. If you reinstall hundreds of things at once the possibilities are endless and you learn nothing.
I had good results a couple of times recovering erased data and data on partitioned drives with "disk drill" utility. Did it for friends and relatives and recovered most of the valuabe user data files.
Only backdraw is that you need a second (large) drive to restore the files to and it might not be too easy to get a clear picture of what goes where during data recovery.
Second step would be then to install macOS fresh from scratch and copy/sort back the user data.
(Did not read whole thread, so if there is some kind of backup/time machine dump then that way to recover from there is obviously more straightforward and hassle-free).
Only backdraw is that you need a second (large) drive to restore the files to and it might not be too easy to get a clear picture of what goes where during data recovery.
Second step would be then to install macOS fresh from scratch and copy/sort back the user data.
(Did not read whole thread, so if there is some kind of backup/time machine dump then that way to recover from there is obviously more straightforward and hassle-free).
As I explained above, data recovery is impossible on SSDs with TRIM enabled. The trade off for speed with modern day SSDs is files that are unfortunately not able to be recovered once deleted. So cloud backups and external drive backups are an absolute must. I’m not sure what happened in OP’s case, but something seems to have completely wiped the main partition. Of its software, this install should fix it. If it’s hardware, he needs to send it to Apple to be diagnosed.
Yes, I am fully aware of tech. differences between (TRIMmed) SSD and mechanical drives.
It depends on how data was lost. If i.e. just directory/allocation tables are corrupted and drives "seems" empty or unmountable, you can still get good results as there are no files actually "deleted" and no TRIM commands are sent to the drive. As said, I had files recovered with the mentioned tool on a SSD of a friend who also lost even bootability on it...
It depends on how data was lost. If i.e. just directory/allocation tables are corrupted and drives "seems" empty or unmountable, you can still get good results as there are no files actually "deleted" and no TRIM commands are sent to the drive. As said, I had files recovered with the mentioned tool on a SSD of a friend who also lost even bootability on it...
Has anyone tried to disable TRIM and noticed any difference or disadvantage? This article says:
"Be aware that disabling the TRIM command will reduce the performance and affect the lifespan of your SSD. Therefore, once you are done recovering your data, you should re-enable the TRIM command on your Mac. The steps are the same as the disabling process; just replace the disable command with sudo trimforce enable."
"Be aware that disabling the TRIM command will reduce the performance and affect the lifespan of your SSD. Therefore, once you are done recovering your data, you should re-enable the TRIM command on your Mac. The steps are the same as the disabling process; just replace the disable command with sudo trimforce enable."
I read all the messages you guys wrote and no I’m not a guy 😅 and I didn’t really have anything important on the MacBook I just wanted to work to where I can log in to the MacBook But again thank for everyone that was giving me advice .
Did you end up recovering the MacBook after the macOS install? Sorry for the "guy" confusion. It's hard to tell online with usernames.
It’s working now thank you guys for helping me I appreciate, and it’s okay I understand I never stayed I was a girl
Woohoo! Glad the forum was able to get you back up and running. Sorry for some of the crankier people around here, we're not all like that haha.
