Where do Mac files go after being deleted?

Once you delete a file on a Mac, it will be initially moved to the Trash. The Trash Can on your Mac is a temporary holding area where you can restore these mistakenly deleted data. It will keep your deleted files for about 30 days in case you change your mind. When you empty the Trash, all files in it will be marked as deleted. In that case, they are not immediately erased from your hard drive. They are not permanently removed until they are overwritten by new files. This is the key reason why data recovery tools still have a chance to recover files from a Mac, even after they are deleted from the Trash.

Does MacBook have recently been deleted?

Yes, Apple designed a Recently Deleted folder for Macs and iOS devices to recover deleted files. However, unlike other systems, a MacBook only has a Recently Deleted folder in specific apps like Photos, Messages, and Notes. When you delete a picture, message, or note, you can navigate to the Recently Deleted folder to restore it with ease. These deleted data will stay in the Recently Deleted folder for 30 days. For other types of deleted files, try recovering them from the Trash Can.

Why is there no delete key on my Mac?

You may feel confused that there is no dedicated Delete key on your Mac keyboard, especially when you are accustomed to Windows keyboards. When you press Delete on a Mac, it moves the cursor back one character like a backspace. Unlike Microsoft, Apple encourages you to use key combinations to effectively perform related deletions. You can press Command + Delete to move a file to the Trash and use Fn + Delete to erase characters to the right of the cursor.

Can I recover Mac deleted files using Disk Utility?

No, Disk Utility is not designed for data recovery. It is mainly used to manage and repair disk volumes on a Mac. If you have a suitable Time Machine backup, you can recover lost data from it. Otherwise, you need specialized data recovery software to retrieve deleted or lost files from your Mac.

How to Create, Delete, and Recover Mac Recovery Partition

May 09, 2025Andrew Miller

Recover Mac Data

Mac Recovery Partition, we also call it macOS Recovery, is part of the built-in recovery system of your Mac running in OS X 10.7 Lion and newer. It can help you to restore from Time Machine, reinstall macOS, get help online, repair or erase a hard disk, and more.

"How do I reinstall Mac from Recovery Partition?"

"How do I create a Recovery Partition for High Sierra?"

"Mac partition recovery mode is not working."

The more questions you can find from Apple Discussion.

Here, we gather the full guide to use Recovery Partition on Mac, including boot and fix it.

Part 1. What is a Mac Recovery Partition
Part 2. How to Check if You Have a Recovery Partition on Your Mac
Part 3. How to Boot Mac in Recovery Partition
Part 4. How to Create Recovery Partition on Mac
Part 5. How to Delete Recovery Partition on Mac
Part 6. How to Recover Data from a Lost Recovery Partition on a Mac
Part 7. How to Fix Recovery Partition on Mac Not Working

Part 1. What is a Mac Recovery Partition

A macOS Recovery Partition is a hidden section of your Mac’s hard drive that includes essential recovery tools for diagnosing and repairing your system. It lets you:

1) Restore From Time Machine Backup

If you have made a backup of your system, then you could restore your Mac from Time Machine in this way. One thing you may notice is that the restore is the whole data restore to replace all existing data on your Mac. To some extent, Time Machine restore is to Mac what iCloud/iTunes restore is to iPhone/iPad/iPod.

2) Reinstall macOS (or Reinstall OS X)

This option will help you to download and reinstall the Mac operating system. The reinstallation version of macOS depends on the key combination you used during startup. Before you do it, do not forget backup Mac to protect your important data.

3) Disk Utility

Disk Utility function enables you to repair and erase a hard disk. These additional utilities are available from the Utilities menu in the menu bar: Moreover, such additional utilities are also accessible from the Utilities menu, as Firmware Password Utility, Startup Security Utility, Network Utility, and Terminal. If you regret the boot of the Recovery Partition, just quit it. Choose "Restart" or "Shut Down" from the Apple menu.

4) Get Help Online

This option allows you to browse Apple’s support site for help (useful if macOS won't boot). It will direct you to visit Apple's support website by opening your browser. However, browser plug-ins and extensions are disabled.

Part 2. How to Check if You Have a Recovery Partition on Your Mac

To find out if your Mac has a recovery partition, there are two methods:

Method 1: Use Startup Options (Intel & Apple Silicon)

Step 1.

Restart your Mac.

Step 2.

If you are using an Intel Mac computer, hold Command + R keys immediately after restarting. If you are using an Apple Silicon Mac computer, press and hold the pwer button until Loading startup options appears.

Step 3.

Now you can see macOS Utilities and your recovery partition is present.

Method 2: Use Terminal (macOS)

Step 1.

Go to Finder > Applications > Utilities, and here you can click Terminal.

Step 2.

Type the command diskutil list and press Return.

Step 3.

Look for a volume named Recovery (e.g., "Apple_Boot Recovery HD 780.0 MB") under your internal drive. If it’s listed, your recovery partition exists.

Part 3. How to Boot Mac in Recovery Partition

As mentioned above, Recovery Partition on Mac is created for helping you to restore data, erase hard disk and reinstall macOS. No matter what you want to do, you should reboot Recovery Partition on Mac firstly.

Step 1.

Turn off Mac and turn on it. On turning it on, press and hold down both the Command key and R key, which will direct your computer to start up from the Recovery Partition.

Step 2.

Release both keys once you see the Apple logo appear in the middle of the screen, and your Mac will enter into Recovery Mode or spinning globe.

Note: Newer and some older Mac computers will automatically try to start up from macOS Recovery over the Internet, when unable to start up from the built-in recovery system. Then you will see a spinning globe, instead of Apple logo.

Step 3.

After the startup is complete, you should see the utilities window.

Then it gives you 4 options, Restore From Time Machine Backup, Reinstall macOS, Get Help Online, and Disk Utility.

After entering into Recovery Partition, let's see how it works now.

Part 4. How to Create Recovery Partition on Mac

Generally speaking, you do not need to download Recovery Partition, because it is the built-in since OS X 10.7 Lion, when Apple stopped selling boxed copies of its operating systems. However, for one reason or another, you may need to create a one on Mac for backup with USB flash drive.

Here are the steps.

Step 1.

Download a copy of the "Install OS X" or "Install Mac OS X" from the Mac App Store under the "Purchases" tab. You should match the macOS version with your Mac, for example, the "Install macOS Mojave". Meanwhile, insert USB flash drive into your Mac.

Step 2.

Open Disk Utility (in the "Utilities" folder inside the "Applications" directory.), select the "Volume" in the sidebar, and the Volume is in the top part, not underneath.

Step 3.

Click "Erase", and make sure it says "Untitled" without changing it. Click "Erase".

Step 4.

Open Terminal, cut and paste the correct create install media text into Terminal.

For example, for creating macOS High Sierra, just use the following codec:

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app --nointeraction

Step 5.

You will need to type your admin account password when prompted, enter "y" and press Return.

Then it will wipe out your flash drive firstly, and then turn it into a bootable installer.

Wait a second, and you will complete the whole process.

Part 5. How to Delete Recovery Partition on Mac

If you have created a backup of the latest macOS installer, and want to free up about 600 MB of disk space on your Mac, then deleting Recovery Partition will be an idea.

Step 1.

Open Terminal app and enter the following command:

defaults write com.apple.DiskUtility DUDebugMenuEnabled 1

Step 2.

Open the Disk Utility app. Select "Debug" in the menu bar at the top > "Show every Partition".

Step 3.

At the top, select "Recovery HD" > Click the Mount icon to make it active, and you will see it no longer grayed.

Step 4.

Secondary-click on the mouse and then selecting "Erase" to delete partition recovery.

Step 5.

Select the "Partition" tab > Click to select the small Recovery HD partition > Click the minus symbol, beneath, to remove it.

Then a conformation dialogue will pop up, and you just need to read it and confirm the action to delete it.

Step 6.

After deleting partition recovery on Mac, you can check if it has been removed.

Go to Terminal app and enter the following command:

diskutil list

Then you will see it has been deleted from your Mac.

For exiting Debug menu, you just need to type the following command into Terminal app:

defaults write com.apple.DiskUtility DUDebugMenuEnabled 0

Then just closing Terminal and Disk Utility is the last step.

Part 6. How to Recover Data from a Lost Recovery Partition on a Mac

The recovery partition might seem like a hidden, technical part of your Mac - but for many users, it can be the key to retrieving some of their most treasured memories and important files. So when you realize that your data has disappeared, it's natural to feel overwhelmed.

But don’t worry—recovery is still possible.

To safely retrieve your files, like an accidentally deleted recovery partition on Mac, you need a reliable and professional-grade tool that won’t put your device at further risk. Aiseesoft Data Recovery is one of the most trusted solutions for this purpose.

For avoiding the forcible data overwritten for all, we recommend Aiseesoft Mac Data Recovery.

It is the data recovery software for Mac users, to recover deleted or lost photos, videos, audio, documents, and other data, whether your Mac is crashed, emptied trash, unexpectedly operations, or partition deleted, virus attack, even other accidents. Moreover, it lets you recover overwritten, unsaved, permanntly deleted files on Mac easily.

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Mac Data Recovery

Preview and recover data from Mac selectively.
Restore photos, videos, audio, emails, documents, and more to Mac.
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Work for Mac 10.7 and above (macOS Sequoia is supported).

Note: For Mac running Mac OS X El Capitan or later, you need to disable System Integrity Protection firstly for using some software, like Mac Data Recovery on your Mac to acquire some permission to scan it.

Step 1.

Run Mac Data Recovery

Free download Mac Data Recovery on your computer, install and run it immediately.

Click "Mac Data Recovery".

Step 2.

Scan Mac

After launching, you need to checkmark the data types and disk drive for scanning in the main interface.

As for data type, you are able to scan images, audio, video, email, documents and other data.

As for the drive, you need to tick your Mac drive.

Moreover, this software also lets you scan the external drive on your Mac, like camera card, flash drive card, and more.

Click "Scan" to start a quick scan on your Mac.

Step 3.

Restore data from Mac

After the scan is complete, you will find all your data types listed in the result. From the left pane, you can see the data types, click it to view the data details in the right window and click "Recover" to extract the lost or deleted data to your Mac.

Part 7. How to Fix Recovery Partition on Mac Not Working

Recovery Partition is very important for Mac users. However, once you find Command + R not working, and you can boot into startup, you should know how to fix it.

Here are the some basic solutions.

Solution 1. Internet Recovery

If you can connect your Mac online, you can try Internet Recovery to fix the issue.

Get the details to use Internet Recovery Mac.

Solution 2. Restore from Time Machine

As mentioned above, Time Machine can help you restore Mac exactly.

Step 1.

Reboot your Mac and press "Option" when you hear the startup music.

Step 2.

Connect your external hard drive with Time Machine backup to Mac and it will come out.

Step 3.

Choose the Recovery Drive to launch Mac.

Solution 3. Bootable USB disk drive copy

If you have created the Recovery Partition, then here you are gaining another one opportunity to fix this problem by using the USB flash drive copy.

Step 1.

Reboot your Mac and press "Option" when you hear the startup music.

Step 2.

Connect your USB flash drive with the backup to Mac and it will come out.

Step 3.

Choose USB flash drive to launch Mac.

Solution 4. Reinstall macOS

This is the last solution we can suggest. However, reinstalling macOS will erase all content and data on Mac currently. So you should think twice.

Conclusion

This page mainly talks about what the Recovery Partition is on Mac, and how to create, delete, and recover it. If you don’t know how to find it, you can use the terminal to check its existence. You can also learn how to boot a Mac in recovery partition and fix problems you might encounter when macOS restores the recovery partition on a Mac that is not working in this comprehensive guide. If you still have more questions about Mac’s recovery partition, you can leave a comment below.

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