– How to Restore Files Deleted or Emptied from Mac Trash?

Similar to the Windows operating system’s Recycle Bin, the macOS (or earlier Mac OS X) Trash is used to temporarily store deleted files. Typically, if the user changes his mind, he can restore the deleted files from the Trash with ease. And if he is sure that the deleted files are no longer needed, he can empty the Trash and permanently delete these files. However, for various reasons, Mac users may accidentally delete important files and empty the Trash. How to recover these valuable documents, photos, videos, emails and other files from Mac Trash? This article will introduce a professional Mac data recovery tool, and show you the steps to get back lost files from Mac Trash.

In Which Cases can the Files that are Emptied from the Trash be Restored?

Typically, Mac Trash files lost due to the following reasons can be restored:

1) normal emptying trash: drag files that are no longer needed into Trash and empty Trash.

2) immediately delete the files: when erase files with “Delete Immediately” option, the files does not enter the Trash, but is deleted directly.

3) combination keys: use the “Option-Shift-Command-Delete” combination keys to completely delete the files.

4) when the Trash folder is filled, oldest files will be emptied from the Trash, so as to give space to store the newest deleted files.

5) macOS sierra empties the Trash every 30 days.

Trash files lost due to these reasons are not completely erased, and they continue to be stored in the previously occupied address spaces until they are overwritten by newly written files. Once overwritten, they really disappear completely. Therefore, if you accidentally lose important files, it is recommended that you download and install professional Mac Data Recovery software immediately. And make it  to scan your Mac hard disk as soon as possible, otherwise, the missing files may be overwritten by new files, and result in permanent data loss.

Is it Possible to Recover the Lost Files after “Secure Empty Trash”?

Generally speaking, the answer is NO! When the user executes “Secure Empty Trash”, the Mac OS clears all the files in the Trash folder and covers them several times with random data. However, it is said that “Secure Empty Trash” is not always effective. In addition, the “Secure Empty Trash” causes multiple reading and writing operations on the SSD and shortens the life of the SSD. As a result, the “Secure Empty Trash” feature has been cancelled on the OS X 10.11 El Capitan or the latest macOS 10.12 Sierra. However, in any case, it is recommended that users scan your Mac HDD / SSD using the Mac Data Recovery software, and there might be unexpected gains.