Written by
Vain Rowe
Mac Update Deleted Everything: How to Recover Lost Files/Folders?
Summary: The scenario happens unexpectedly sometimes when you find there are no files and documents on your Mac after the macOS update. Be easy, this article from iBoysoft tells you how to recover deleted or lost files after a Mac update. Passingly, iBoysoft Data Recovery is the most effective solution to rescue your lost data.
Apple has released the new macOS -- macOS Ventura for quite a while. However, some Mac users point out that there are no files or documents left on their computers after the macOS update. Frankly speaking, this problem is not only happening to macOS Ventura update, but also to macOS Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina, etc.
Facing the Mac update deleted everything issue, you'd better try solutions to bring all your files and documents back for the data loss is immeasurable. Read on to know how to recover lost files after a Mac update deleted everything.
Table of Contents:
- 1. Will updating my Mac delete everything?
- 2. Mac Update Deleted Everything: How to Recover Lost Data?
- 3. FAQ about Mac update deleted everything
Will updating my Mac delete everything?
Some Mac users are curious about the answer to the question "Does updating Mac delete everything?" is yes or no. Generally, Mac will not delete everything when updating, whether it is a major or minor update. The macOS update means that your Mac welcomes new features and some bugs are fixed, but it has nothing to do with the files on your computer.
If your Mac update deleted everything on it, the reasons may go like these:
- Unsuccessful or interrupted macOS installation
- Not enough space for Mac to store missing files
- Irregular Mac operating system upgrade
- Untrusted macOS download from a shady or third-party website
- Simple data deletion of loss during the update process
No matter what reason is to blame, you need to recover everything on your Mac with effective solutions here.
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Mac Update Deleted Everything: How to Recover Lost Data?
This article will walk you through 7 comprehensive methods for recovering lost data after a Mac update deleted everything. You can get a quick overview here in advance:
- Check all folders on Mac through Go To Folder
- Utilize iBoysoft Data Recovery Software
- Recover lost files and documents via Time Machine backup
- Restore all files on your Mac with iCloud backup
- Log into a different administrator account to restore the missing files
- Recover lost data from APFS Snapshot
- Recover lost data by asking for a data recovery pro
Continue reading to try one or more solutions for restoring all of your files and documents. Do not be concerned if you become perplexed because this article will walk you through each one in detail.
Solution 1: Check all files on Mac through Go To Folder
Sometimes, the scenario that all Mac desktop icons disappeared or desktop files disappeared on Mac happens to you all of sudden. At this time, it is preferable to check all files and folders before recovering data. Go To Folder of Finder allows you to overview all files and folders on your computer with ease.
- Click the Apple Menu on the upper left corner of your desktop.
- Select the Go menu and choose Go To Folder from the dropdown menu.
- Start typing the folder's pathname (for example, /Library/Fonts/ or ~/Pictures/). Spell as best you can. Suggested pathnames ignore small typing errors.
- Double-click the file or folder you want to open.
If you don't find the file that you want, you can take steps to recover data then.
Solution 2: Utilize iBoysoft Data Recovery Software
iBoysoft Data Recovery Software is highly recommended because it is the easiest and most effective way to recover deleted files and documents. You can carry out the lost data recovery work within several steps.
iBoysoft Data Recovery Software is designed with outstanding disk scan and data recovery algorithms. It abe to recover your files with a higher success rate. You can take advantage of it to recover disappearing, missing, deleted, or lost files from inaccessible, unreadable, formatted, corrupted, and almost failing hard drives.
Best Mac Deleted File Recovery Software - iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac
- Recover deleted photos, documents, audio files, MST files, FLV files, emails, Sketch files, PPTs, etc.
- Recover deleted files from HDD, SSD, flash drives, SD cards, external hard drives, etc.
- Support APFS, HFS+, exFAT & FAT32 formatted drives.
- Intel-based Macs & Apple Silicon Macs are supported.
- macOS 13 -- macOS 10.11 are supported.
- Technical support is available by email
Read-only & risk-free
With an intuitive interface, you never need that you will get confused about how to use this software to recover your files and documents:
- Free download and install iBoysoft Data Recovery Software to your Mac computer.
- Launch this software and then select the volume where you lost files.
- Click Search for Lost Data on the lower right corner of the software to start the drive scanning process.
- When the scanning process ends, double-click the file or right-click it to select Preview and then check the mail file in advance.
- After the check, choose the files that you want to restore, and then click Recover to bring them back. Please store the recovered files on another drive in case they get lost again.
Solution 3: Recover lost files and documents via Time Machine backup
Time Machine always backs up every change you have made to your Mac if you have enabled it previously. When a Mac update deleted everything on your device, heading to recover missing pictures, documents, audio files, MST files, FLV files, emails, Sketch files, and PPTs from Time Machine is worth a shot.
- Launch Mac Time Machine through Spotlight Search shortcuts.
- A row of windows will appear on your desktop.
- Use the up and down arrow to scroll the timeline to browse the backups.
- When you find the files that you want, click Restore to send them to the original location.
If you have backed up all files and documents on your Mac with Time Machine to an external hard drive before the Mac update, you can also restore the data stored on it to your Mac.
Solution 4: Restore all files on your Mac with iCloud backup
If you have a habit of backing files and documents to iCloud, then iCloud restoration is a viable method to save your deleted or missing files. For iCloud restoration work, the network is the only thing you need. If you meet any trouble during the recovery process, launch macOS NetworkQuality to check the network situation first.
- Go to iCloud.com in your Mac browser like Safari or Google Chrome.
- Log into iCloud with your Apple ID account and password and then click Sign in.
- Switch to the Settings tab and scroll down to the bottom of the home window.
- Locate the Advanced tab and click Restore Files. If you want to restore contacts, bookmarks, calendars, and reminders from iCloud, just head to choose the responding options.
- Select the files that you plan to restore or click Select All to restore all files and folders. Click Restore to begin the restoration work.
Solution 5: Restore the missing files by logging into another administrator account
Rare it is but really happens occasionally that a macOS update deleted your user account profile while keeping your home folder. That's why your files are missing. In this case, all you need to do is add your old account profile back and login in one more time. Let me show you how to do so here:
- Click the Apple menu on your Mac and select Log Out ... from the dropdown menu.
- Login with your previous administrator account again to check if the files exist. Note that you should log in with all the accounts one by one.
If you are not permitted to log in with your old accounts, you can add them in Users & Groups first. Follow the steps below to add the old accounts:
- Click the Apple menu on your Mac desktop and select System Preferences.
- Locate the User & Groups tab, and click on the padlock icon to make further changes.
- Click the + icon to add the old accounts that you used.
- Fulfill all the required messages in the new window to add the old accounts.
- Login to your old accounts to look for missing files and documents.
Solution 6: Recover lost data from APFS Snapshot
Snapshot is a built-in feature of APFS on Mac since macOS High Sierra. The snapshot can capture the state of the startup disk (APFS formatted) at a certain point and keep all the captured files on the drive. You can use the APFS snapshot to return your Mac to the state when the snapshot was taken.
Mac Recovery Mode is essential if you want to downgrade your Mac to a previous state for fixing the issue that the Mac update deleted everything.
- Restart your Mac, and hold down the Command + R keys until you see the Apple logo appears.
- Select Restore From Time Machine Backup from the macOS Utilities and then tap Continue.
- Select the disk that contains the snapshot (the startup disk) and click Continue.
- Choose a local snapshot you want to restore and click Continue.
- Click Continue if asked whether to restore from the selected snapshot to not.
- Now, the restoration process begins. It will take some time and then, your Mac computer will restart automatically and the files and documents will come back then.
If you get into any trouble after the macOS Ventura update, you can also downgrade macOS Ventura to Monterey to fix it.
Solution 7: Ask a data recovery pro to restore your files
The last solution you can take into consideration is to contact Apple Support for professional fixes and advice. Anyway, this data loss happens due to unknown bugs instead of your misoperations. You can contact them in the form of online, give them a call, or send an email and wait for their replies.
Conclusion
A full backup of the data stored on your Mac is crucial before you update your Mac operating system to avoid any accidents during the process. Yet anxiety is useless when you encounter data loss.
This article offers you 7 ways to recover deleted files and all you need to do is choose an appropriate method. iBoysoft Data Recovery Software is recommended because it can restore most of the missing files.
If you think this article is useful, plz share it with more people on your social platform!
FAQ about Mac update deleted everything
A
Mac will not delete everything when updating, whether it is a major or minor update. The macOS update means that your Mac welcomes new features and some bugs are fixed, but it has nothing to do with the files on your computer. If you suffer from data loss during the update, it's the fault of an improper update. You can use iBoysoft Data Recovery Software to rescue your lost files and data.
A
Yes, iBoysoft Data Recovery Software is 100% safe to use. It is an Apple-trusted application and never steals your data. You can rest assured to use!
A
This case happens due to various reasons, you can have a quick overview here: unsuccessful or interrupted macOS installation, not enough space for Mac to store missing files, irregular Mac operating system upgrade, untrusted macOS download from a shady or third-party website, and simple data deletion of loss during the update process.
Jenny Zeng
Anna Yuan