Restoring something from the Recycle Vault

To get something back, open the Recycle Vault, select the item and click Restore. It goes back to the folder it came from. If something with the same name is already there, nothing is overwritten — the restored copy lands alongside it with "(restored)" added to its name.

Step by step

1. Open the More menu → Recycle Vault….
2. Find the item. The list is newest first; type in Search to narrow it. Each row shows where the item came from, how it was removed and how many days are left.
3. Select it. Hold ⌘ or ⇧ to select several.
4. Choose how to bring it back:
   • Restore puts it back in its original folder.
   • The button beside Restore ("Restore the selected items to a folder you choose") asks for a folder; pick one and click Restore Here.
5. A short message confirms the result — for example "Restored 3 items."

Restored items leave the vault list, because they're back on your disk.

%% caption: What happens when you restore an item
flowchart TD
  A[Select an item and click Restore] --> B{Is it stored on your external drive?}
  B -->|Yes, and the drive is not connected| C[Nothing happens - connect the drive and try again]
  B -->|No, or the drive is connected| D{Is the name already taken in that folder?}
  D -->|No| E[Put back under its own name]
  D -->|Yes| F[Put back alongside, with restored added to the name]
  E --> G[Removed from the vault list]
  F --> G

Undoing the most recent removal

Undo last removal brings back everything from the most recent removal in one step — for example every file belonging to an app you just uninstalled, or the copies you just removed from one duplicate set. You don't need to select anything first.

When something is already there

Restoring never replaces a file. If the original folder already has an item with the same name, the restored one is renamed — "Report (restored).pdf", then "Report (restored 2).pdf" and so on — and both are kept. Compare them and remove the one you don't want.

Messages you might see

An item marked needs drive in the list is stored on your external drive. Its magnifying-glass button, which reveals the recoverable copy in Finder, is unavailable until the drive is connected.

Before you delete for good

If you're not sure whether you'll need something, restore it first and delete it in Finder later — once you use Delete permanently in the vault, there's nothing left to restore. Items are cleared automatically after about six months, and sooner if the vault runs out of its share of the drive. See The Recycle Vault.

See also: How Storage Studio keeps every change reversible · Finding and removing duplicates · Uninstalling an app completely · Restore Points