How to Recover a File Deleted by McAfee Antivirus

Updated to File Recovery Tips by Nancy on Feb 1, 2024 | Approved by Christian Cawley

"McAfee keeps deleting my files on my computer. Is there any way to recover files deleted by McAfee? And how do I stop McAfee from deleting files?"

McAfee is a great brand for antivirus software to guard computer from being attacked by the virus. McAfee security software for Windows and Internet Security for macOS contains a program named as VirusScan. When you install McAfee on your computer, every time when you start your computer, the VirusScan module begins to scan your computer, scanning and compare software and files to known threats. If it finds the threats, then it can delete or quarantine the files. It’s a trustworthy tool. However, sometimes, it might be wrong when they compare the possible threats. In this case, you might want to know how to recover files deleted by McAfee. Actually, it’s simple to answer the question "how to stop McAfee from deleting files when you get the information below and in a secure way". Let’s learn the details below.

Here in the article, we’re going to talk about 2 ways to recover a file deleted by McAfee.

Method #1. How to Recover a File Deleted by McAfee from Quarantined Folder

Before we start, you should know that when a file or software is detected by McAfee as a threat, it might not be deleted right away. Instead, to prevent data lost permanently, McAfee will quarantine the file or software. The Quarantined folder is a place where you delete the quarantined files permanently or restore the quarantined files if you’re sure the files are safe. In this case, you can try your luck to recover McAfee deleted files by restoring from the Quarantined folder.

Where are the quarantined files stored in McAfee?

If you’re a Mac user and want to restore McAfee deleted files from the quarantined folder, follow the steps here:

  1. Launch the McAfee software on Mac. Next, click the McAfee icon and select "McAfee LiveSafe Internet Security console".
  2. Click "Mac Security". After then, you can click "Quarantine" and in the padlock, type in your password and confirm the operation.
  3. Check out the quarantined files. If they’re the files you need, click "Restore" to save them on your computer. If they’re the files you do not need, click "Delete" to delete them from your Mac.

If you’re a Windows PC user, you can recover deleted files by McAfee with the Quarantined Items.

  1. Launch the "McAfee Security" product and Click "Navigation".
  2. Click "Quarantined and Trusted Items".
  3. After then, you can open the "Quarantined Items" or "Quarantined Potentially Unwanted Programs".
  4. Select the files you need and click "Restore" to recover the McAfee deleted files.

IF YOU WANT TO STOP MCAFEE DELETING YOUR FILES, you can check out the Quarantined folder or just ignore the warning the software pop-up tells you, but it is risky.

Method #2. How to Recover Files Deleted by McAfee Antivirus with Software

If you can’t find the deleted files by McAfee in the Quarantined folder, then you must face the fact that you may lose the files permanently. To prevent it happened, try iBeesoft Data Recovery for help. It is able to scan your computer for all deleted, missing or lost files, show them and let you select the ones you need to get back. It’s a secure software, developed with the latest techniques, helping you restore files deleted by McAfee easily and efficiently. Here in the following, we’re going to tell you how to use it to recover files deleted by antivirus.

  1. Download Install the data recovery software
  2. Whether you’re using a Mac or Windows PC, you need to download the right version according to your computer operating system. Just click the DOWNLOAD button to get the installation package and install it on your computer. A separate version for Mac and Windows PC is available.

    Download for Windows Download for macOS
  3. (Optional) Select file types
  4. Next, launch the software. From the start-up window, you can click " go to setting" to the filter file types. By default, all files are selected. Please unselect the unwanted ones. It will shorten the scanning process, making it faster for you to recover McAfee deleted files.

  5. Select the drive/folder of McAfee deleted files store to scan
  6. Next, you can see all hard drives of your computer or external hard drives if connected any, are all listed in the window. Please make clear where the McAfee deleted files were before the deletion. Select the hard drive where the deleted files were and click "Scan", letting the software scan the selected hard drive for the deleted files.

  7. Recover files deleted by McAfee
  8. It might take a few minutes for the software to finish the scanning process. After then, you can see all found files are sorted into types, listing on the left panel. Select and filter the file types in the left, and check out the details on the right side. When find the target files, select them and click "Recover" to get the McAfee deleted files bacl.