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I really screwed up
- Thread starter 420benz
- Start date
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I was going to suggest... CMD+A in the Trash to highlight all files, right-click, and select 'Put Back'. This will restore all the files to their original destination.
At least, it should. I just tested on two Macs (one on 10.10, the other 10.11) and neither would do that. Even if two individual files could be put back by themselves, when highlighting them both, the Put Back option isn't available. It seems to work only if all the highlighted files were deleted from the same destination, but not if some were from different destinations.
This is very annoying. Any workarounds you know of @Weaselboy? But to the OP, if all your files were trashed from the same destination, the steps outlined should work.
At least, it should. I just tested on two Macs (one on 10.10, the other 10.11) and neither would do that. Even if two individual files could be put back by themselves, when highlighting them both, the Put Back option isn't available. It seems to work only if all the highlighted files were deleted from the same destination, but not if some were from different destinations.
This is very annoying. Any workarounds you know of @Weaselboy? But to the OP, if all your files were trashed from the same destination, the steps outlined should work.
Urrghhh this is going to be a tricky one. Looks like at some point, 'All Files' had been selected and moved to the Trash, and it's a little too late to undo as other changes has been made.
This is really frustrating because when files are moved to the Trash, they're technically still in their original location and just haven't yet been permanently deleted. There has to be a simple fix for this. I feel like I'm overlooking something really simple.
Weaselboy, please tell me there's a "sudo fix Trash stuff" command you know of...
EDIT: tested a few AppleScripts online that people posted to fix this and they don't work. Tried both https://codeload.github.com/gist/3d58e144a3fc2e47c54a/zip/5e3efe074c241f52dff3e2c2fce6671805f8c2af and https://codeload.github.com/gist/5661253/zip/b45dd5426c3008c027b5ca8e2034a36060acc7e2
EDIT 2: Tried dragging from Trash to 'All Files' to see if they'd restore to their original location. They didn't (so don't try this).
This is really frustrating because when files are moved to the Trash, they're technically still in their original location and just haven't yet been permanently deleted. There has to be a simple fix for this. I feel like I'm overlooking something really simple.
Weaselboy, please tell me there's a "sudo fix Trash stuff" command you know of...
EDIT: tested a few AppleScripts online that people posted to fix this and they don't work.
Tried both https://codeload.github.com/gist/3d58e144a3fc2e47c54a/zip/5e3efe074c241f52dff3e2c2fce6671805f8c2af and https://codeload.github.com/gist/5661253/zip/b45dd5426c3008c027b5ca8e2034a36060acc7e2EDIT 2: Tried dragging from Trash to 'All Files' to see if they'd restore to their original location. They didn't (so don't try this).
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Unfortunately no... but put back like you mentioned seems to work okay with folders even if they contain a bunch of files... so that might be a good start.
420benz> What do you see if you open the Trash folder in Finder? How much stuff are we talking about?
Yes, hopefully not much. @420benz, it may also be helpful to right-click the 'Name' tab in Trash and tick 'Date Added'. Then sort by the newly visible Date Added column. This will provide a cut-off point for when the files were trashed... with any luck that should cut away the legacy un-emptied rind from previous deletes and make this process a little easier. Hopefully.
Heading home from work shortly so I'll be back with y'all in about 30 mins...
Sorry 420, forgot to mention that you needed to change the view in order to edit the tab. It's this one here, as highlighted below:
Then when the columns are visible, right-click amy one of them and select Date Added:
Then sort by Date Added. This will at least separate the old deleted chaff from the new. A very small step, but a step nonetheless…
Do you have a Time Machine backup at all? If so, that would be great... we could just restore directly to that. (please tell us you've got one!)
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I hate those "meta"/smart views in the finder. WTH is the point of having a "flat" view of files?
IMHO be careful until you get a fix for this (ie dont do a lot on the machine).