How to Undelete Mac Files

You accidentally hit the delete button on your Mac and now you're panicking, right? Take a deep breath and relax for a moment and let's see if we can get those files back for you. Believe it or not, file deletion is a very common occurrence. Perhaps you've hit the delete button by accident, or maybe you thought you didn't need the file anymore and didn't realize until it was too late that you weren't ready to part with the file yet. While files can be lost for a variety of reasons, the good news is there is a good possibility you can recover those files with undelete programs designed specifically for Mac files.

	The majority of recovery programs are designed for Windows operating systems and are often incompatible with Macs because the operating systems are different. The reason for the drastic difference is that Mac is based upon a microkernel Unix system. This generally means that software that works on one of the operating systems will not work on the other. Therefore, Mac users require a recovery program designed specifically for their operating system to restore those deleted files. A recovery program designed for Mac systems will have the ability to recover files from the Mac-specific HFS/HFS+/HFSX partitions while still scanning for all file types that are common to both types of operating systems. However, you have to take the first, most important step right now. Stop using the computer. Do a hard shut down by pulling the plug and then leave the computer alone until you’re ready to restore those files. While it appears on the surface you have deleted the files, what the computer has actually done is designate the file space as "free" space. As the computer continues to read and write files, the information from those deleted files is overwritten with new information. When you turn the computer off, there is no new reading or writing activity, thus no overwriting. RECOVERING YOUR FILES Now, let's go through the process of restoring those deleted files step by step. Step 1: If you are attempting to recover files from a computer with a corrupted hard disk, virus or very low disk space, it is best to make a disk image and save it on an external device. A disk image makes a replicate copy of the disk so you can work from the replicate rather than risking further corruption of the original hard disk. Once you have made the image on an external device, attach the device to another computer. Step 2: Install a Mac-compatible program, such as R-Tools, R-Studio for Mac, or Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery, to recover the files. In order to restore your files, you need to have a data recovery tool. This type of program is designed to search through your computer and find the missing files. Once the program is installed, simply follow its instructions to search for the deleted files. If the search does not return your files, don’t give up hope yet, there is one more trick to try. Step 3: Perform a raw file search. Most high quality data recovery programs come with an additional search feature whereby you can customize the search. This allows you to search the hard disk for particular digital signatures (such as .pdf, .jpg) or more uncommon signatures. This allows you to pinpoint your search, making it more likely to recover the files. Once the files are recovered, save them onto another computer or onto an external device
	Conclusion
	As you can see, with the right tools, data recovery from a Mac operating system is not terribly difficult. With the right Mac-compatible recovery program, there is always a good chance you will be able to restore the deleted files. However, prevention is always the best defence. From now on, try to remember to regularly back up your files on a scheduled basis so you never have to worry about losing them again.

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