How to Recover Deleted PDF File on Mac?

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When you delete a PDF document on Mac, the PDF document will be moved to the Trash. Of course, you can put the PDF document back to the original place if you have not deleted it from the Trash. However, if you have emptied the Trash or can not find the deleted PDF document in the Trash, you should find another method to help you get it back.

If you are a person who regularly backs up your Mac with Time Machine or other backup software, you can restore the deleted PDF document from previous backup. And you also can quickly recover deleted PDF file on Mac with data recovery software - this is a fast and effective PDF file recovery solution.

Put Back Deleted PDF File from Trash on Mac

In most cases, the deleted files will be put into Trash on Mac and the deleted files will be kept for 30 days by default. If you deleted a wrong PDF file on Mac, you can first check Trash:

Step 1. Find Trash from Dock and click it to open.

Step 2. Check and locate the deleted PDF file you want to recover.

Step 3. Right click the file and choose Put Back.

Step 4. The file will be restored back to the original location. Just check it.

However, you should be as quick as possible after deleting the file. Otherwise, the Trash would be emptied manually or automatically after 30 days. Also, if the PDF file was deleted by pressing the keys Option (⌥) + Command (⌘) + Delete (⌫), the file will not completely removed without putting into Trash.

Restore PDF File from Time Machine Backup

There is another way to restore deleted PDF file on Mac - using the Time Machine Backup. It means you should have the deleted PDF file backed up before with this utility. If you configured to back up Mac with Time Machine, it will automatically back up the system, settings, apps and files. So you would be able to restore the deleted PDF file if you have Time Machine backups available.

Step 1. Connect the external hard drive with your Time Machine backups.

Step 2. Click the Time Machine icon from the top taskbar and choose Browse Time Machine Backups.

Step 3. Based on the timeline to choose a version of backup that may contain the PDF file you deleted.

Step 4. Get into the folder where the PDF file located. Select the PDF file and click the Restore button at the bottom of the screen. The PDF file will then be restored to the original location.

Once it's done, you can exit Time Machine and go back to Finder. Go to the original location to check the restored PDF file.

Please note that if you didn't back up your data before, then this method will not work. You can still check if you have the file synced to iCloud or other drives. Otherwise, the last chance to get back the deleted PDF file is using a third-party data recovery software.

Recover Deleted PDF File on Mac Using Software

Mac data recovery software is able to quickly and completely recover deleted files on Mac. Of course, you can use a Mac data recovery application to help you recover deleted PDF document even the trash bin has been erased.

Here, Donemax Data Recovery for Mac is one of the most powerful Mac data recovery applications which is able to recover all types of lost files from Mac hard drive or external storage device.

Now, follow the steps below to quickly recover deleted PDF document on Mac:

Step 1. Download and install Donemax Data Recovery for Mac.

Click the download button below to download Donemax Data Recovery for Mac. Then install it on your Mac. It is fully compatible with all OS X and macOS versions. It supports to recover all types of lost files including Microsoft Office files, Pages, Numbers, PDFs, emails, images, videos, audio files, archives, etc.

Step 2. Select the hard drive where you delete the PDF file.

Run Donemax Data Recovery for Mac on your Mac, just select the hard drive where you delete the PDF file. If you delete the PDF file on your Mac, just select the Mac HD or Apple SSD to start data recovery.

Step 3. Scan the hard drive to find the deleted PDF file.

Now, just click on Scan button. Donemax Data Recovery for Mac will deeply scan the hard drive and find all deleted files including the deleted PDF document.

Step 4. Preview and recover the PDF file.

Once the scan is completed, you can preview all recoverable files. Then find the PDF document you want to recover and select it. Click on Recover button to save it to your Mac.

With advanced data recovery technology, Donemax Data Recovery for Mac is able to find every recoverable file on your hard drive. To quickly find the deleted PDF document, just click File Type to find the PDF file (File Type > Documents > PDF > deleted PDF file). Donemax Data Recovery for Mac also can help you find lost photos, videos, Word, Excel, Page, and other types of lost files. Download Donemax Data Recovery for Mac:

How to Shred PDF Files Permanently on Mac?

In some cases, you may want to permanently delete a PDF file which contains sensitive information. As you've seen, the deleted PDF document can be easily recovered by data recovery software. You may think there is no way to permanently delete a PDF file.

Actually, this is not true. Data erasure software can help you securely and permanently delete a PDF file beyond the scope of data recovery. The professional data erasure software Donemax Data Eraser for Mac is able to help you deleted files or folders permanently from Mac.

First, if you want to deleted some PDF files or any other files on Mac permanently and don't want the files be recovered, you can use the mode Erase Files/Folders to do the job. Just choose the PDF files you want to permanently destroy and select a data erasure algorithm to continue. It can shred the selected files and make sure they are gone forever.

Second, if you have deleted the PDF files and the software can also help you wipe them. Using the Erase Free Space mode of the software can help you overwritten all the deleted or lost files. In this way, it can help you permanently wipe the deleted PDF files or any other files.

💡 Note: The shredded files and wiped data will not be recoverable. Ensure to check twice before erasing them. When wiping all data from a drive, ensure to back up important files to another drive first.

Conclusion:

When deleting PDF files or any other files, it's better to put them into the Trash first on Mac. In you find some files were deleted unintentionally, you can easily get them back from the Trash. Of course, it's better to check twice before you delete any file.

Also, it's the best way to protect your data on Mac using Time Machine. Create scheduled and regular backups can help you get back any version of files if needed. If possible, you can also sync important data to iCloud or external drive for another safe layer.

Should you lose data without backups, there is another way to get back the missing files on Mac - recovering lost files with professional data recovery software, like Donemax Data Recovery for Mac.

However, there is another important thing. When you want to delete some PDF or other files permanently, the common way will not help as they can be recovered by software. So when you need to wipe data permanently, you can use data erasure software to make sure they are gone for good and no longer recoverable.