I accidentally deleted my entire photo library from my Mac. Can I get them back?
I was trying to free up space on my MacBook and I accidentally deleted my entire Photos library—about 15,000 photos including baby pictures and vacation photos from the last 10 years. I emptied the trash already because I didn't realize what I did until the next day. Is there any way to recover these? I'm literally crying right now.
1 Answer(s)
Don't panic—there's a good chance you can get most or all of them back. Here's what to do RIGHT NOW:
1. Stop using your Mac immediately. Every second you use it, the deleted data gets overwritten by new data. The less you use it, the better your chances.
2. Check if you have iCloud Photos enabled. Go to iCloud.com on any browser, sign in, and check your Photos. If iCloud backup was on, all your photos are there. This is the most common recovery scenario.
3. Check Time Machine. If you have an external drive with Time Machine backups, you can restore the entire Photos library from a previous date.
4. Use recovery software. If the above don't work, use Disk Drill (free version lets you recover up to 500MB) or PhotoRec (free, open source). Install on a DIFFERENT drive and scan your Mac's internal drive.
5. Professional recovery. If these are irreplaceable (baby photos, etc.), send your drive to DriveSavers. It's expensive ($500-2000) but they have a 95% success rate.
Stop using your Mac NOW. Each minute decreases your chances.