[Hidden-tech] Recover lost documents on Mac OS (no icloud)

Robert Heller heller at deepsoft.com
Sun Jul 28 23:46:19 UTC 2019


At Sun, 28 Jul 2019 15:20:27 -0400 (EDT) Claire Huttlinger <chuttlinger at comcast.net> wrote:

> 
> 
> Robert, can you tell me specifically what the command for finding a file is? I tried find -name and they say that the -n is not recognized. I tried a few others, but I have not found the command to bring up any file, even ones I know are there. Usually there is $ somehere.
> Claire

OK, Linux's find is more "forgiving" than BSD find.

Try this:

find . -name "*whatever*"

you *need* to include the path (. == current directory).  Linux find defaults 
to . when the path is ommitted.

> 
> 
> > On July 28, 2019 at 3:11 PM Claire Huttlinger <chuttlinger at comcast.net> wrote:
> > 
> >     So, Robert:
> >     I have a tiny bit of experience with Terminal. I went in to look for temporary folders ($TMPDIR) and found that my list does not look exactly like the one in the example: a folder called qw was missing. I have no idea what that means, but there may be a root folder missing or a permissions problem. I will try the find name thing you suggest.Thanks
> > 
> >         > > On July 28, 2019 at 3:02 PM Robert Heller < heller at deepsoft.com mailto:heller at deepsoft.com > wrote:
> > > 
> > > 
> > >         At Sun, 28 Jul 2019 13:44:06 -0400 shel at principledprofit.com mailto:shel at principledprofit.com wrote:
> > > 
> > >             > > > 
> > > >             Try searching for a couple of keywords in one of the documents. If it shows
> > > >             up, you will see the folder hierarchy. It is possible you accidentally
> > > >             renamed the documents folder and it's all still there.
> > > > 
> > > >             And if a finder search doesn't help, try searching from within an
> > > >             application such as word. The Mac's find function got a lot funkier several
> > > >             years ago. Though it is still way better than a PC.
> > > > 
> > > >         > >         Two other possibilities:
> > > 
> > >         Could you have *somehow* renamed the folder to have a period as its first
> > >         character? Files and directories whose names start with a period (under
> > >         UNIX/Posix O/Ss) are considered "hidden" and don't show up under "normal"
> > >         conditions. (MacOSX *is* UNIX, under the hood.)
> > > 
> > >         Secondly, Since MacOSX *is* UNIX, under the hood, you also have this
> > >         option:
> > > 
> > >         Open a Terminal (yes, I know were are entering the totally scary (?) world of
> > >         the command like) and enter (with the keyboard!):
> > > 
> > >         find -name "*one of your missing document names*"
> > > 
> > >         (The '"' and '*' are needed -- I am guessing your documents have "funny"
> > >         characters, like spaces in them and you probably have no clue about the
> > >         document's "suffix".) Don't forget to press ENTER and the end of the command.
> > > 
> > >         You can also try:
> > > 
> > >         ls -A
> > > 
> > >         (The find command recursively traverses your directory tree, the ls command
> > >         with the -A open will show hidden files and directories.)
> > > 
> > >         Also, my MacMini has the locate command (I don't know if that is a standard
> > >         feature of MacOSX or if I installed it as an after market thing, maybe with
> > >         MacPorts). So that is another way of finding files.
> > > 
> > > 
> > >             > > > On Sun, Jul 28, 2019, 12:15 PM Claire Huttlinger via Hidden-discuss <
> > > >             hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net mailto:hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net > wrote:
> > > > 
> > > >                 > > > > Greetings:
> > > > > 
> > > > >             > > > 
> > > >                 > > > > Does anyone know how to recover a document folder form a Mac OS hard
> > > > >                 drive? I have mysteriously lost one, and I have not emptied my trash or
> > > > >                 anything. The folder and and all the documents it contained have
> > > > >                 disappeared from every history, the trash, the finder, everywhere. Any
> > > > >                 thoughts?
> > > > > 
> > > > >             > > > 
> > > >                 > > > > Claire
> > > > >                 _______________________________________________
> > > > >                 Hidden-discuss mailing list - home page: http://www.hidden-tech.net
> > > > >                 Hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net mailto:Hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net
> > > > > 
> > > > >             > > > 
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> > > > 
> > > >         > >         --
> > >         Robert Heller -- 978-544-6933
> > >         Deepwoods Software -- Custom Software Services
> > >         http://www.deepsoft.com/ -- Linux Administration Services
> > >         heller at deepsoft.com mailto:heller at deepsoft.com -- Webhosting Services
> > > 
> > >     > 
>  
> 
>                                                                                                    

-- 
Robert Heller             -- 978-544-6933
Deepwoods Software        -- Custom Software Services
http://www.deepsoft.com/  -- Linux Administration Services
heller at deepsoft.com       -- Webhosting Services
                                                                   


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