Summary: Files/folders diappeared from external hard drves or USB drives? This article will show you how to recover lost/missing/disappeared Documents Folder on macOS Mojave/Catalina with professional Mac data recovery software - iBoysoft Data Recovery Software for Mac.
As it is claimed in Apple's official website, using a Mac has always inspired great work and macOS brings advanced and powerful features for everyone. However, troubles like missing Documents folder on Mac are quite often discussed over the internet.
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Anything that was lost inside your Mac can be found again with the help of the data recovery for mac. You may try downloadable data recovery for mac over the internet. This program will scan the hard disk to recognize some data that has been deleted. Lost your phone? Don't worry, with IMEI Tracker apps and other find my phone apps that use imei number tracking feature you can easily recover your device.
Usually, you will be able to access your Documents folder in the sidebar of Finder. But for some reasons, the Documents folder gets missing or disappeared for those who're runing macOS Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra or earlier. Especially, this 'Mac Documents folder missing' topic becomes hot every year after the release of new macOS.
Since updated my MacBook Pro to macOS 11 Big Sur, the Documents folder has gone missing from my Finder and Desktop. It just disappeared. How can I get the missing or disappeared Documents folder back where they were? Most importantly, I don't want to lose any files in the Documents folder.
That is, many people looking for solutions to recover lost files after macOS update.
Has my Documents folder gone missing forever? Not really. In this article, we will show you how to get lost/missing/disappeared files and Documents folder back on Mac in 4 ways.
Well, it's really hard to specify why your Documents folder disappeared on Mac. However, you can simply follow the methods as below and get your files back.
macOS allows you to put Desktop and Documents folders in iCloud Drive. Documents that you store in iCloud Drive stay up to date across all of your devices, and you can access them from your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or PC, and on iCloud.com.
Therefore, if you have stored Desktop and Documents folder with iCloud Drive, the Desktop and Documents folders will be moved to the iCloud section of your Finder sidebar. In this case, you can turn off iCloud drive to recover the missing Documents folder.
To get your Document folder showing up and recover files in it, you can go back to turn your iCloud back on.
If you only have a few files, drag them to the now empty Desktop and Documents folders in your Home folder is also okay. It will warn you that the files will no longer be available on iCloud Drive--again, that's ok.
You might have been used to looking for Documents, iCloud Drive, and other storage devices through Finder in macOS. It's called the Finder because it helps you find and organize your files. However, the Documents folder may not appear as you expected sometimes.
In this case, if you didn't turn on Desktop and Documents in iCloud Drive, it is likely that missing/disappeared Documents folder is hidden by Finder Preference. You can go to Finder Preference and make it checked.
Stacks is another new feature in macOS Mojave and later. It will automatically organize your files on the Desktop so that your desktop is free of clutter.
Whereas, it could be a troublemaker for those who have updated to macOS Mojave/Catalina, in that files seem to be 'lost' for you but actually were grouped by macOS. You can go and check which folder your missing files were grouped into and recover them.
If unfortunately, the Documents folder disappeared or lost for unknown reasons and you failed to recover it with solutions above, there's a final chance to recover files from the missing Documents folder with the assistance of data recovery software.
iBoysoft Data Recovery Software for Mac is professional and trustworthy data recovery software for macOS Catalina/Mojave/High Sierra/Sierra and OS X. It's able to recover deleted files even emptied from macOS Mojave Trash, recover lost data after macOS update, recover lost files from external hard drives, USB drives, SD cards, CF cards, etc.
How to recover files from lost/missing/disappeared Documents folder?
Since macOS High Sierra, Apple has added a security mechanism named 'System Integrity Protection' (SIP), which prevents any third-party applications from reading startup disk. In order to recover files from lost/missing/disappeared Documents folder on macOS High Sierra and later, you need to temporarily disable SIP before running iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac.
Step 1: Disable System Integrity Protection (SIP)
Step 2: Recover lost/missing/disappeared Documents folder with iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac
Step 3: Enable System Integrity Protection
There are many reasons for your lost Documents folder, such as faulty configuration, disk corruption, virus attack, etc. If you are lucky enough to find the lost data through manually setting something on your Mac computer, then it would not be a hassle for you.
But what if you are unable to locate where are the files in the disappeared Documents folder? Backing things up is always a risk-free choice. Remember to save important data additionally to another flash drive and lessen the possibility to lose data when Documents folder is missing or disappeared in your Mac.
• How to recover deleted or unsaved Word documents on Windows 10
On this page, you will uncover practical solutions to undelete and restore Mac files after factory reset and an extra guide on how to reset MacBook Pro without losing any data.
Applies to: MacBook Pro, MacBook, MacBook Air, iMac, iMacPro, etc.
'Recently, I reinstalled my whole macOS on my crashed MacBook, and then I found some files such as photos and documents are gone after reinstalling macOS.
Is there a way that I can apply to recover files after reinstalling macOS?'
According to most Mac users, reinstalling macOS, Mac OS X, or factory resetting Mac always follows a system crash, computer slowdown, or even when Mac users need to erase their old Mac computer for sale.
Usually, you may lose some of your files on your Mac after the macOS or Mac OS X reinstallation. When you are facing data loss problem, you may wonder whether you can recover files lost due to reinstalling macOS or Mac OS X. The answer is YES!
macOS reinstallation or factory resetting Mac only executes a quick erase of the volume. As a result, it will erase the file directory but does not write any data to the drive, so the original data will not be overwritten.
This fact makes it possible to recover files after reinstalling Mac operating system as long as you take quick action.
Note that you should stop using your computer once your data get lost in case of data overwriting. Follow and learn how to bring your lost Mac files back after reinstalling macOS/Mac OS X on your own.
Accordingly, the viable ways to recover Mac files duet o factory resetting or macOS re-installation depend on whether you have created a backup. And we collected 3 practical ways here for you to try:
The former the file recovery method is presented, the bigger chance you will have in restoring lost Mac data. Based on your situation, pick up the right solution with the tutorial to restore your lost files immediately.
Applies to: Find and retrieve all the files lost after reinstalling macOS or Mac OS X without backup.
When you lost data after factory resetting Mac, reinstalling the latest macOS or earlier Mac OS X, you can eliminate your worries of by using a reliable Mac data recovery software.
Among the numerous Mac data recovery tools, we recommend you try EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard. When it comes to restoring files after reinstalling macOS or Mac OS X, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is 100% sure to get your data back.
It can help you scan the Mac hard drive or external storage device to find and retrieve all the files lost after reinstalling macOS or Mac OS X with ease, even you never back up your files. The effectiveness of this method has been proven by its users. Don't hesitate to give it a try.
Steps to Recover Files After Reinstalling macOS/Mac OS X
Step 1. Select the disk location (it can be an internal HDD/SSD or a removable storage device) where you lost data and files. Click the 'Scan' button.
Step 2. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will immediately scan your selected disk volume and display the scanning results on the left pane.
Step 3. In the scan results, select the file(s) and click the 'Recover Now' button to have them back.
Being powerful, secure, and easy-to-use, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is recommended as the best Mac data recovery solution.
You can also apply it to restore more files from the following cases:
Applies to: Retrieve lost files due to factory reset Mac from Time Machine backup on an external disk.
The other practical method that you may apply to bring lost Mac files back after factory resetting is to perform Time Machine backup. If you've created a Time Machine on an external hard drive, congratulations.
You'll perform a full recovery of your lost files on Mac with a 100% success rate. Let's see how to bring your lost Mac files back after reinstalling macOS or Mac OS X.
Restore Factory Resetting Deleted Files from Time Machine Backup
Step 1.Make sure your Time Machine backup external disk is connected to Mac and turned on.
Step 2. Open up Launchpad on Mac, click 'Others'. Find and click the Time Machine icon to enter Time Machine.
Step 3. Use the Up and Down arrows to scroll the timeline, browse the backups which contain your lost files.
Step 4. Find the lost Mac files that you want to recover, and click 'Restore'.
It will automatically recover those lost data from Time Machine on macOS Big Sur/Catalina/Mojave.
After this, you can restart your Mac computer, then you can view and reuse these files where were lost due to reinstalling macOS/Mac OS X again.
Applies to: Sync and restore Mac data from iCloud backup, free.
If you have synced or uploaded important Mac data into iCloud before committing factory reset or macOS reinstallation, you are such a lucky bird. You can easily restore your lost files from iCloud backup.
Steps to Recover Files due to Factory Reset on Mac
Step 1. Visit iCloud.com via your Mac browser, and sign with your Apple ID.
Step 2. Go to Setting and scroll down to the bottom. Click on 'Restore Files' under Advanced.
Tips: To restore contacts, bookmarks, calendars, and reminders from iCloud, click the corresponding option under Advanced.
Step 3. Check the backup files or click 'Select All' if you really need to restore everything. Click the Restore button to recover them.
When you are done with the above tutorial steps, most of your files lost due to factory reset or macOS reinstallation will show up on your computer again.
Although when you performed a factory reset on Mac, you can restore the lost files when the recommended fixes above. However, it's indeed complex and time-consuming.
Follow the tips in the below, we will guide you through the brief process below to factory reset Mac or reinstall macOS without losing any data.
It's vital to back up all your data in advance. You can use Time Machine to copy your files to an external disk, or using reliable Mac file backup software for help.
Or you can even manually copy files to an external hard drive one by one.
To save your time and energy, we would like to recommend you try Time Machine or EaseUS Todo Backup.
- Using Time Machine
- Using EaseUS Todo Backup
Before you start reinstalling macOS or Mac OS X, here are some preparations for you to do in advance:
When you are done with the preparations, you may now start factory resetting or reinstall your Mac OS X or macOS with the next tip.
Now, you can follow steps here to start reset your Mac:
Step 1: Reboot Mac in Recovery Mode
Restart Mac and simultaneously hold 'Command and R' keys together to bring up the macOS Utilities window.
Step 2: Erase Mac hard drive
Open Disk Utility and click 'Continue' > Select your startup disk (Macintosh HD) and click 'Erase' > Choose 'Mac OS Extended (Journaled)' and click 'Erase'.
Step 3: Reinstall macOS on your Mac computer
Repeat Step 1 to bring up macOS Utilities > Click 'Reinstall macOS' > Confirm to reinstall macOS and follow the onscreen instructions to complete the process.
When you finish the process, congratulations. You have successfully reinstalled your macOS and the Mac now works like a brand new computer.
As for the data that you backed up in advance, you can apply Time Machine or EaseUS Todo Backup to bring them back on your Mac with your back up immediately.
This page covers 3 practical solutions to help you effectively restore files after factory reset Mac or reinstalling macOS/Mac OS X.
If you didn't create a backup before resetting Mac, take EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac as emergency rescue. It will fully scan and bring your lost files immediately.
If you are looking for a complete tutorial to reset MacBook Pro, check and follow the guide in the last part on this page. For more data recovery tips, please refer to Mac File Recovery on our site for help.