Losing precious and memorable photos on Mac devices can be frustrating, but there are always chances that you can get your deleted pictures back. Instances might occur when the deleted photos might not be completely lost from your device. If you’ve encountered the sudden deletion of pictures on your Mac, try to find the exact cause for your photo loss issue. Whether your image is been deleted permanently or temporarily, you can use some commonly used tools and techniques to restore it.
Wondering how do I recover permanently deleted photos on Mac, Don’t worry; this complete guide will help you to recover permanently deleted photos easily. Just go with the Mac photo recovery methods discussed in this article to get your deleted photos back.
Tips for Easy Photo Recovery on Mac
When you find any photo is deleted on your Mac, it’s important to avoid overwriting or saving new files on it. This completely wipes off the storage and makes the recovery process quite difficult. Actually, the space occupied by the deleted photo is marked as “available,” allowing new data to overwrite it. There’s a good chance to recover deleted photos until that space is overwritten.
Here are some tips that you can keep in mind before applying any Mac photo recovery tools and techniques to restore deleted pictures:
- Act Quickly: It is important to implement the recovery process as soon as you encounter the photo loss issue on your device. The sooner you act, the better the chances to restore deleted files will be. Also, avoid using your Mac to prevent new data from overwriting the space occupied by deleted photos.
- Check the Recently Deleted Folder: Before you apply any method, it is important to check the “Recently Deleted” folder of the Photos app. Usually, the deleted pictures remain in this folder of the Photos app for up to 30 days before being permanently removed from your device.
- Create Backups Before Deletion: You can use Apple’s built-in Time Machine backup solution or cloud storage options, like iCloud, to save your pictures and other type of files for the future.
- Use Professional Mac Recovery Software: If you fail to create backup of your photos before actual deletion, you can use professional Mac photo recovery software like Stellar Photo Recovery for Mac to recover your files. You just need to install the software and apply the recovery steps for smooth photo recovery.
Quick Methods to Recover Permanently Deleted Photos on Mac
If you have lost photos from a Mac hard drive, don’t freak out. In this part of the blog, we will learn several Mac photo recovery methods (both manual and via third-party software) to get those deleted pictures back. Just apply these methods one-by-one to recover deleted photos within a few clicks:
Method 01: Recover Deleted Photos Using the Photos App
You can use Mac’s built-in Photos app to manage pictures and photos on it. As mentioned above, the accidentally deleted pictures remain saved in the “Recently Deleted” folder of your photos app; you can use it to get deleted photos back. Now, go through the following Mac photo recovery steps to recover deleted photos from the Photos app:
- Launch the Photos app, and double-click on “Recently Deleted” from the left navigation pane.
- Now, select the pictures that you want back and click the “Recover” button appearing at the top-right.
Once you are done with the above steps, your recovered photos will be saved to the original album in the Photos app.
Method 02: Restore Deleted Pictures from Mac Trash
If your deleted photos are not present in the Recently Deleted folder, then they might be available in the Trash folder of your Mac. In such cases, you can directly empty the Trash folder to restore deleted pictures easily. All you have to do is:
- Launch the Trash folder on your Mac to display all the deleted files there.
- Locate and select the photos or pictures that you want back and drag them to the desktop or right-click on them and select the “Put Back” option from the drop-down menu.
- After that, the selected files will return to their original location.
Method 03: Recover Deleted Photos with Time Machine
Time Machine is Apple’s built-in backup solution that you can use to create backups of your important files and folders, including memorable pictures. If you’ve been using Time Machine for your backups, go through the following steps to recover deleted photos:
- First, you need to connect the Time Machine backup drive to your Mac.
- Now, click the “Time Machine” icon located at the Status menu bar at the top-right corner. Alternatively, you can use the “Finder” option to launch the “Time Machine” application.
- Scroll down the Timeline window to find the date and time when you have created a backup of your deleted photos.
- Select the backup version that you need to restore and double-click the photo or picture that you want back.
- At last, click the Restore button to recover your selected photos back to your Mac.
Method 04: Use Professional Mac Photo Recovery Software
Instances may occur when you fail to recover permanently deleted photos on your Mac using the aforementioned Mac photo recovery methods. In such cases, you can use professional Mac photo recovery software, such as Stellar Photo Recovery for Mac to restore your deleted pictures. The software not only supports the recovery of your deleted photos but also recovers deleted audio and video files from different storage devices.
You can use the Stellar Photo Recovery for Mac to recover deleted photos, audio, and video files from all internal and external storage devices, including Memory cards, HDDs, SSDs, etc. The software also supports the recovery of your deleted photos in multiple formats, including JPEG, TIFF, BMP, GIP, and many more.
Apply the below-given steps to recover deleted photos on Mac using the Stellar Photo Recovery for Mac:
- Download, install and launch the Stellar Photo Recovery software on your device. Select the storage location from where you need to recover your lost photos and click the Scan
- Wait till the software completes the scanning process, after which a list of scanned files and folders will appear on your screen.
- Select the pictures that you want to recover and click the Recover button to save them back on your device.
Prevention for the Future Deletion of Photos on Mac
To avoid the sudden deletion of pictures on your Mac, it is important to have a proper backup of your precious files. It is good practice to regularly back up your Mac using Time Machine or any other backup options, like cloud storage.
Moreover, if you have to install the third-party Mac photo recovery software on your device, install it on a separate drive or storage device. Installing it on the same drive from where your photos were deleted might overwrite the storage location occupied by deleted photos and reduce the chances of photo recovery.
Final Thoughts
Nothing is more painful than losing important photos on your Mac, but it’s important to stay calm and take immediate action. You can apply the aforementioned methods and photo recovery tool to recover even permanently deleted photos from your Mac. Software like Stellar Photo Recovery for Mac allows you to restore your lost pictures in three simple clicks. Remember, to minimize data overwriting and keep adequate preventive measures in mind to avoid such data loss issues on your device.