Member Avatar for Jacobpaulio

I needed to download something on my mac but I couldn't remember my password. So I restarted it hoping that I'd be able to download the document. I downloaded it but now everything is gone. I want it back. There was a document that counts for 50% of my grade. HELP!!

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by tompatrick

Dani AI

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Immediate priority: stop using the Mac so the internal drive is not written to. Overwriting the disk after accidental deletion or account changes is the single biggest cause of unrecoverable data. 's warning about forced power-offs is useful — avoid more hard shutdowns or installs.

Quick, non-destructive checks that often recover "missing" files: confirm the machine did not simply boot into Guest or a different user account (as suggested) at the login screen; look in Finder at Computer (Macintosh HD) > Users for the original home folder; check Trash and any iCloud Drive / Desktop & Documents sync. Time Machine backups are the fastest safe restore if one exists.

If the Users folder or files are present but inaccessible, it may be a permissions or account mismatch rather than deletion. From Recovery or an external boot, run Disk Utility First Aid to check the filesystem. For inspection, the simple directory listing can help:

ls -la /Users

If the home folder is owned by the wrong user, adjust Sharing & Permissions from Get Info (or repair on a cloned image).

Before running commercial recovery tools (as recommended), make a full image of the internal drive to an external disk and run any recovery software against that image only. Imaging preserves the original and avoids further damage. Target Disk Mode or booting from Recovery/external media are the safe ways to create an image. If FileVault encryption had been enabled, the disk will require the account password to unlock before any imaging or file access.

For a one-off, high-value file (50% of a grade), contact the instructor immediately about an extension and pursue a forensic-first workflow: image the disk, try safe restores (Time Machine, iCloud, file-permissions fix), then consider professional recovery labs if imaging/recovery attempts fail. Apple Support can do diagnostics but cannot guarantee recovery.

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Member Avatar for Ancient Dragon

I hear MACs are good at that :) A friend of mine has one and it's always crashing.

Member Avatar for fheppell

Just to be clear, how did you restart. There are two ways of restarting: pressing the button or yanking the cable out the back. NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER DO THE LATTER!!!!.

Also how many attempts did you make? Finally if it is worth half your grade, take it into an apple shop and they should be able to restore it, providing it is not corrupted. (If your mac is out of warranty they will charge £75, in the UK at least). Failing that you'll need to get it recovered which can be very expensive and may not work. Hope this helps!

Member Avatar for caperjack

sounds like you did't boot back into the same user maybe ,like people sometimes do with windows coputers

Member Avatar for tompatrick

Before you took it to Apple, why don't you run a data recovery software which can scan for your important files once present on the hard drive. I give you below options to run free demo.

http://www.stellarinfo.com/mac-data-recovery.htm
http://cleverfiles.com

If you have any problem or want to ask about the software then let me know. I have tried these on my Mac OS X.

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