If you got a new Mac and decided to start over from scratch instead of using a Time Machine backup, you may have come across a moment when you realize that there are a few files or applications sitting in your old Mac (or in an old Mac Time Machine backup) that you need. You can get those files onto your new Mac without having to restore the entire backup. Here's how.
You can also easily selectively restore files from just the folders you want. Just open your Time Machine drive in Finder, browse to your Mac's folder, and select the “Latest” link to open the last backup folder. Or, grab an older version if you're really sure that's what you want. Now browse through the folders and find what you want to restore.
Jun 15, 2020 Regarding the topic 'Time Machine backup failed' and 'how to repair Time Machine backup', we gathered all feasible solutions to help you resolve the various issues with Time Machine on your Mac. If you have further Time Machine problems, click for more Time Machine guidelines from the following collection.
Mar 03, 2020 Another use case that often comes up is a need to selectively transfer files from an old Time Machine backup to a new Mac. Let’s be clear, it is possible to restore the entire Mac backup to another Mac, but it is impossible to use another computer’s backup to cherry-pick the files.
First thing's first: Back up your Mac... both of them
If you still have your old Mac, go ahead and do a fresh backup with Time Machine before recovering files on your new Mac. It might seem redundant, but the file you need may not have been backed up before you switched over. A fresh backup never hurt anyone.
You should also run a quick backup on your new Mac for safety sake. There's no need to worry about making changes. If something goes wrong, you can always recover from a backup.
If you don't have your old Mac, just use the latest backup on file on with Time Machine on your external hard drive.
How to recover specific files from your old Mac on your new Mac
Here's the easy part. Just connect the external hard drive that you were storing your old Mac's Time Machine backups on. If you were using the same external hard drive for you old and new Mac, you've already completed the first step!
Double-click on the Time Machine external hard drive you connected that was used to back up your old Mac.
Double-click on the Backups.backupdb folder.
Double-click on your old Mac folder.
Double-click on Latest. It should be the last file on the list.
Double-click on Macintosh HD.
Select the folder that stores the files you want to recover, like Applications, Library, System, or Users.
Drag the file to your desktop to make a copy of it.
Enter your User account password if prompted.
The new file will now be on your new Mac and you can use it as if it had always been there.
How to recover files from another Mac when you're using a NAS
If you're on a network attached storage (NAS) hard drive to save and store backups, you may have noticed that you're having a difficult time accessing files from your old Mac on the hard drive. I don't personally use a NAS, and so have not been able to test this method, but StackExchange user bofolsen noted that you can access restricted NAS file on your new computer after you create a new User with the same login credentials as the one you used with your old Mac.
Create a new user account on your Mac. This new user account should have the same name and password as your old Mac.
Log in to the new user account.
Open your Time Machine folder using Finder.
Double-click on the Backups.backupdb folder.
Double-click on your old Mac folder.
Double-click on Latest. It should be the last file on the list.
Double-click on Macintosh HD.
Select the folder that stores the files you want to recover, like Applications, Library, System, or Users.
Drag the file to your desktop to make a copy of it.
Enter your user account password. Remember, this should be the same user account information that you used with your old Mac.
I haven't personally verified these steps since I don't use a NAS for my backup solution but if you try it, let me know how it works.
Any questions?
Do you have any questions about how to recover specific files from your old Mac on your new one using Time Machine? Put them in the comments and we'll help you out.
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Summary
Time Machine will not be helpful if you don't have an external hard drive to use it to create a backup of all of your files on Mac. However, at this time, you are able to recover deleted files on Mac from Mac Trash or using a professional Mac data recovery tool. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is available here to restore your Mac data without Time Machine backup.
This page offers two practical methods to help you effectively restore deleted or lost Mac files without using Time Machine and even offer a bonus tip to help you back up Mac data efficiently.
Method 1. Recover Deleted Files on Mac from Trash [Not Emptied]
Method 2. Restore Deleted Mac Files Using Mac Data Recovery Software - EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac
How to Recover Deleted Files on Mac without Time Machine
'I have accidentally deleted some photos from my Mac on macOS Catalina. I don't have a backup using Time Machine, yet I would still like to try to recover the lost files. How can I do that now without Time Machine?'
Time Machine, the built-in backup application on Mac, enables you to automatically back up all of your files, including apps, music, photos, email, documents, and system files to an external storage device. You can optionally set up a backup plan on Mac by hourly, daily, and even weekly backups. With a backup, you can easily restore Mac files lost due to unexpected system problems, hardware failure, virus attack, and other reasons.
However, most of us don't have a large enough storage device to save the entire Mac backup or fail to maintain regular backup with Time Machine. Don't worry and try the following two practical methods to recover deleted files on Mac without Time Machine and a bonus tip to back up your Mac data.
Note that each method applies to restore lost files from different data loss cases, read through this page and pick up the right method to bring your lost Mac files back now.
Method 1. Recover Deleted Files on Mac from Trash [Not Emptied]
Applies to: Undelete Mac files that were removed to the Trash by mistake; Restore deleted files from Mac Trash without Time Machine.
Step 1. Double-click to open the Trash bin on Mac desktop.
You will see all the deleted files listed in the Trash bin.
Step 2. Locate and right-click the files that you want to recover and select 'Put Back'.
The selected files will be recovered to the original location on your Mac. Don't worry if you have emptied the Mac Trash bin. You can refer to Method 2 and apply a reliable Mac file recovery software to restore all the deleted files from Mac without Time Machine.
Method 2. Restore Mac Deleted Files (without Time Machine) Using Data Recovery Software
Applies to: Recover Mac deleted files after emptying the Trash, restore permanently deleted files, lost files due to deletion, formatting, and other reasons.
EaseUS Data Recovery Master for Mac is known for its high data recovery rate in restoring lost, or inaccessible data on your MacBook, iMac, hard drive, USB, camera, memory card, SD card, and other storage devices in worse scenarios.
With it, you recover data on Mac without Time Machine in three steps: specify the location > scan > preview and retrieve. If your lost files are less than 2GB, it would be better for you to use the free version of EaseUS Mac Data Recovery.
Go through the steps listed below to bring your Mac files back immediately:
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 Recover Now button to have them back.
Bonus Tip: Back Up Mac Data without Time Machine
Applies to: Create a backup of Mac data without using Time Machine.
Besides finding reliable methods to recover deleted Mac files, another practical way that you can apply to protect your Mac data is to create a backup. Instead of Time Machine, we'd like to offer you a trustworthy & efficient Mac data backup tool to help you fully back up Mac data with ease.
#1. Download & Install Reliable Mac Backup Tool - EaseUS Todo Backup for Mac
EaseUS Todo Backup for Mac is a piece of efficient Mac backup software that supports Mac users to back up their data on Mac computer in four modes - Mac Data Backup, Backup Archive, Disk Clone, and File Sync.
#2. Back Up Mac Data without Time Machine
Step 1. Launch EaseUS Mac backup software, click the first Backup tab > Click + button at the left corner of the left pane to create a backup project - name the backup project and click OK.
Step 2. Set up the backup destination where you want to store Mac files as backups, automatically backup frequency, etc. and click OK. Here, if you want to save the back image to an external hard drive, please connect it to Mac in step 1.
Step 3. Click File+ to selectively choose files and folders to backup and click the blue start button to backup your data now.
With the backup, you can always immediately bring lost files back on Mac.
Selectively Restore From Time Machine Backup
Conclusion & Recover Mac Deleted Files FAQs
Mac Time Machine Restore Mail
On this page, we collected two practical methods to help you recover deleted Mac files from Mac Trash or using professional Mac file recovery software without Time Machine. If you need a complete Mac data backup tool, EaseUS Todo Backup for Mac is qualified to help you out. With this comprehensive Mac data backup software, you can always immediately restore deleted or lost files on Mac in minutes.
Selectively Restore Apps Mac Time Machine Download
Besides Mac deleted file recovery without Time Machine, some people also asked some related questions online. Here we collected top 4 concerning questions and left a brief answer below each question. If you are having the same doubts as listed below, check out the answers there immediately:
1. How can I recover permanently deleted files from Mac without software?
When you permanently deleted files on Mac but don't want to use any software to restore the files, you have two ways to undelete those files:
One is to recover permanently deleted files from Time Machine or a local backup on your Mac device. The other practical way is to restore deleted files from Cloud account if you have uploaded or saved valuable files there in advance.
2. Is it possible to recover deleted files on Mac?
Yes. When you deleted files on Mac, you can first try Mac Trash recovery. If nothing was found, reliable Mac file recovery software such as EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is qualified to help. Or you can even restore deleted files from Time Machine backup.
3. How do I recover an unsaved pages document without Time Machine?
By accident, you closed an unsaved Pages document which contains a lot of important notes. Or, carelessly, you lost or deleted a Pages document that you desperately need. To recover your unsaved pages documents on your Mac, you can go to Finder and have a try. While to recover a lost/deleted Pages document, you can do it successfully with the help of EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, the powerful and popular data recovery tool, or Time Machine.
For a step-by-step guide, you may refer to Recover Unsaved Pages Documents on Mac for help.
4. How to restore Mac to previous date wthout Time Machine?
If you have a Time Machine backup which contains the snapshot backup of your Mac startup disk, Mac restoration is possible with the Time Machine to a previous date.
Mac Time Machine Selective Restore
However, if you don't have any backup available, you cannot restore a working copy of your macOS. Therefore, if you need to create a backup image of macOS, using Time Machine to backup your Mac. If you lost a Time Machine backup, refer to Recover Deleted Time Machine Backup for help.
The good news is that when you lost data on Mac without a Time Machine bakcup, you still can recover the lost files and data using professional data recovery software - EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac.