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Can I recover deleted videos from the Trash on my Mac? I accidentally deleted some home videos while editing them, and emptied the Trash after that. These videos are very precious for me. Is there any way to get them back?
Compared to other types of files, videos are taking up an increasingly significant portion of storage on our computers, especially for Mac users, because they can capture important moments or express our ideas more vividly. If you are looking for ways to recover your precious videos that were lost due to accidental deletion, you’re in the right place. The article is exactly what you need. Besides, it will tell you how to repair damaged video files.
Absolutely, yes! Though the way macOS handles deleted videos varies depending on their original storage location and how they were removed, the bottom line is that they are still saved on your storage device, with their location or format having simply changed. Next, we will provide an in-depth analysis of different video deletion scenarios and recommend the most suitable solutions for each.
| Scenario | Video Status | Applicable solution(s) |
|---|---|---|
| While organizing videos in Finder, you accidentally pressed Command + Delete, right-clicked to select "Move to Trash," or directly dragged them into the Trash. | The deleted video(s) will be moved to the Trash. | Using the "Undo" option or the "Put Back" in Trash will restore the video(s) to their original locations. |
| Remove video(s) from an album in the Photos app. | The video(s) will be moved to the "Recently Deleted" album and saved there for 30 days. | Check the "Recently Deleted" album and restore them selectively. |
|
Emptied the Trash after deleting videos. Deleted videos by pressing Command + Option + Delete. Accidentally deleted videos using Terminal commands. Erased a hard drive, SD card, or other storage device without a backup. Virus attacks, macOS reinstallation, etc. |
macOS does not erase the video files; it removes the video index information from the file system and marks the disk space occupied by the video's actual content as free for new data. At this stage, the actual binary data of the videos remains fully intact on the storage device. However, because there is no index information, macOS cannot recognize and display them in the Finder. | If you have a backup, you can use Time Machine or iCloud to restore them. Otherwise, using data recovery software for Mac or contacting a data recovery service are your only options. The two methods use technical means to reconstruct file index information and recover permanently deleted videos on Mac. |
Note: If the deleted videos were previously saved on an SSD, it is vital to perform the recovery as soon as possible. Here are the reasons.
Although the TRIM command and Garbage Collection mechanisms clear the physical space used by deleted videos, there is a delay before they are triggered; as a result, the data remains on your SSD for a short time.
Most of the time, lost videos haven't actually been accidentally deleted. Rather, they may have been saved to a different location or simply hidden. The following methods may help you locate them.
Once you have confirmed that a video has been accidentally deleted, there are numerous methods available on a Mac to recover it. Some of these methods need to use macOS built-in tools, while others attempt to retrieve copies of the video or apply specialized software. Let's take a look at the most widely used ways.
Most Mac users accidentally delete videos by selecting them and pressing the Delete key on the keyboard, or by right-clicking the videos and selecting "Delete." The two deletion methods do not permanently delete them. Instead, they just move videos to the Trash. If you deleted the videos via Finder and have not yet emptied the Trash, it is very easy to undo this mistake. Otherwise, please proceed to Method 3 or take this guide on how to recover emptied Trash on Mac without software as a reference.
Tip: To recover multiple deleted videos at the same time, hold down the "Command" key while clicking on them individually. If they are arranged consecutively, you can also hold down your mouse or trackpad button to use a selection box to select them.
Compared to the previous method, it is a simpler, faster way to recover deleted videos from a MacBook, iMac, and more. However, it is only applicable when you have not performed any other actions, such as copying, pasting, or creating new files, after deleting them. If so, open Finder > click "Edit" in the top menu bar > select "Undo Move of [Your Video Name]", as shown in the screenshot. Alternatively, if you prefer using keyboard shortcuts, simply press "Command + Z."
The "Recently Deleted" album in the Photos app functions much more like a Recycle Bin, serving as a temporary holding place for deleted videos. However, it removes deleted items there permanently after 30 days. If your videos were originally stored here and that 30-day deadline has not yet elapsed, the following steps will help you quickly find deleted videos on Mac.
Tip: Sometimes, rather than losing a video by accidental deletion, you may hide it with a mistaken click. Therefore, you can also open the "Hidden" album in the sidebar to check whether your video is there.
To ensure the Mac computer's performance is consistently at its best, some users empty the Trash immediately after deleting unwanted files, or use the "Command + Option + Delete" shortcut and Terminal commands to remove them directly. If you have lost videos as a result of the above-mentioned practices, the best option for restoring them is to use data recovery software for Mac.
Here, we recommend iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac. It operates with impressive speed, supports virtually every data loss scenario, and boasts a success rate exceeding 98%. Compared to other solutions, it not only allows you to recover some videos for totally free with the "trial version", but also outperforms the competition in various other aspects.
Even without using third-party data recovery software, it is still possible to recover permanently deleted videos on a Mac, provided that you previously had created a Time Machine backup of the video files. If you had indeed done it before, you can find them by following the steps below:
Simply put, iCloud acts as an online version of Time Machine. If you have previously backed up these videos via iCloud, you can rely entirely on it to recover them after an accidental deletion.
Generally, video files have a more complicated data structure than other file types. It contains extensive audio and video streams as well as metadata (such as indices, timestamps, encoding headers, etc.), and tends to be significantly larger in size. It is precisely these characteristics that make them increasingly vulnerable to corruption, especially after transmission. Have you ever experienced a pang of anxiety when attempting to watch your favorite videos, only to meet issues such as a "corrupted file" error preventing playback, visual glitches, or audio-video synchronization delays? Don't worry. The methods mentioned below may help you resolve these errors.
Some recording devices use non-standard codecs, such as H.265 or ProRes. However, Mac's built-in media player does not support these codecs, causing it to erroneously flag the files as "corrupted." Therefore, you can first try changing to a professional player. We recommend that you use VLC here.
Missing or erroneous file headers, keyframes, or independent encoding blocks are common causes of video corruption. If the videos are slightly damaged, they can be repaired by transcoding. That is re-encoding the existing video data. Conveniently, the media player recommended in the previous method can perform this task quickly.
As we mentioned in Chapter 2, iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac can not only help you recover deleted videos on your Mac but also repair damaged ones. When the methods mentioned above fail to resolve the issue, it is worth trying iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac to solve the problem. To do so, simply launch iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac, click "Video Repair" in the sidebar, add your video files, and then click "Repair."
Absolutely yes! Provided that your SD card has not sustained any physical damage, such as being broken in half or having damaged pins, then iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac can bypass file system errors to identify and recover your videos. If it fails to recover the videos with the normal process, you can utilize the software's built-in backup feature to create an image of the SD card. After that, try to extract the videos from the SD card image file.
Yes, you can. First, you ought to check whether those videos are included in your Time Machine backups. If they are, restore them from the Time Machine backup. If they are not, then use software like iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac or engage a professional data recovery service (the last resort) to perform video recovery. As long as you have not continued saving new files to that storage medium, these methods can typically help you retrieve them.
We refer to this method as "permanent deletion." It bypasses the Trash and removes the video files directly from the file system. It is important to note that this deletion does not mean the video has physically vanished. Its actual content remains on your hard drive. This is why we can use tools such as iBeesoft Data Recovery to recover permanently deleted videos on a Mac.
No. The primary purpose of such programs is to protect personal privacy, preventing any data from being recovered and restored. Therefore, they employ specific algorithms, such as DoD 5220.22-M or Gutmann, to first permanently delete the video files and then repeatedly overwrite the corresponding disk sectors with random data. Thereby, completely replace the videos' original binary content with random data, permanently deleting the videos.
Yes, it is. There are numerous third-party software tools, such as iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac, Disk Drill, and TestDisk, that can help you recover videos for free. The trial versions of the first two tools impose limits on the size of videos that can be recovered. The latter has no such restrictions but lacks a user interface. It operates via a command-line interface.
Just as the scenarios leading to video loss are diverse, the methods available for Mac users to recover and repair videos are equally varied. As you have seen, we are confident that the methods outlined in this article will prove useful to you in a wide range of situations. Even in the worst-case scenarios, you can typically still rely on professional data recovery software, such as iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac, to retrieve most, sometimes even all, of your videos.
Finally, prevention is always better than making up for the fault. Although it may require a small investment of time, backing up the videos that are critical to you is absolutely worth the effort. Furthermore, we believe it is a wise decision to keep an application like iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac readily available on your Mac rather than waiting until a crisis strikes to download and install it. It is far better to be prepared in advance.
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