Deleted PDF File Recovery on Windows and Mac

What Are PDF Files?

PDF is Portable Document Format and was developed by Adobe to present documents in a consistent manner transversely in any software or operating system. A pdf file can fully preserve the original image, font, color, size, etc., of the page and thus prevents the chances of plagiarism. By breaking the boundaries, PDF has been standardized as a globally accepted document format. In recent advancements, Adobe allowed users to add digital signatures, making many organizations adopt PDF format to save confidential and critical information.

Table of Contents:

1. Common Reasons Why You Lose PDF Files
2. How to Find Deleted PDF Files on Windows or Mac?
3. How to Recover Deleted PDF Files on Windows?
4. How to Recover Deleted PDF Files on Mac?
5. Conclusion

Lost Your PDF Files? Here are a few Common Reasons Why You and Other users Lose PDF Files?

• A sudden power surge or unexpected system shutdown while you are editing the PDF File in Adobe Acrobat.
• You might have accidentally deleted the PDF File after modifying and saving it on the PC or any other device.
• In other cases, there might be a virus infection or corruption in the drive where the file is stored.
• In a special case scenario, you might have forgotten to save the PDF File after editing.
• Using unreliable applications for any conversion or recovery process, operating system crash, etc.
• Accidentally formatting the drive in which PDF files are stored results in the loss of the .pdf files.
• While transferring PDF documents from the system to external storage devices or vice versa, interruptions like suddenly ejecting the storage device lead to PDF file loss.

Disclaimer: The moment you encounter data loss on any device. It is highly recommended you stop using it right away. The reason is new data might get saved over and overwrite the deleted PDF files. thereby making the process of recovering deleted PDF files a fruitless and almost always impossible task.

As long as your deleted or lost pdf files have not gotten overwritten. You still have a good chance of recovering them.

How To Find the Deleted PDF Files?

The answer is - If you have saved the files on your local drive. Then you can find the deleted files in the Recycle Bin of your Windows or Mac system. Unless and until you have not used any complex file deletion tactics such as using the Shift + Delete keys, deleting files from the recycle bin, or deleting files from your system permanently.

Deleted PDF File Recovery on Windows and Mac

This section talks about ways proven to help you recover deleted or lost PDF files from any Computer or Laptop running on any version of Windows or Mac.

How To Restore Deleted PDF Files on Windows?

Method 1: Recover PDF Files From Recycle Bin

If you have manually deleted PDF files, we highly recommend you first try to find those files in the Bin folder of your system.

• Open the Recycle Bin folder and search for the deleted PDF files.
• A list of all the available pdf files will get displayed on your screen.
• Select the PDF file(s) and right-click, from the drop-down menu, and click on the Restore button to restore them to the original location.

If the Recycle Bin method was unhelpful in recovering the deleted PDF files, you could try other solutions like restoring previous versions, the File History option, and if you are a Windows 10 and Windows 11 user, you can also try the Microsoft Windows File Recovery Tool and many more ways explained in this exhaustive article on recovering deleted files.

If none of those solutions were of any use. Then you can try the following solution that is proven to recover permanently deleted pdf files from any computer or laptop running on any version of Windows.

The best and probably the safest method of recovering PDF files is using a specialized PDF recovery tool such as Remo - a reliable PDF File recovery tool.

Method 2: Recover Deleted PDF Files From Windows using Remo File Recovery Tool

Remo File Recovery is the ultimate deleted PDF file recovery tool. That is capable of recovering various types of PDF files such as: PDF, PDF/A, PDF/E, PDF/X, PDF/VT, PDF/UA, as well as PAdES, CAdES, XAdES, from all internal and external storage devices.

Here Are the Top 5 Reasons Why Is Remo File Recovery Tool To Recover Deleted PDF Files

1. Remo is a specialized tool built to recover PDF files from 1000+ storage devices.

2. The tool is a sure-shot way to recover files lost for any reason. Provided those files are not overwritten.

3. The Remo File Recovery tool is compatible with all Windows, including Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8.1 & 8, Windows 7 and Windows XP, and Windows Vista.

4. Built with a powerful augmented Preview option that lets you have a quick look at the recovered PDF files even before saving them.

5. The tool is absolutely free to try, buy only when you are completely satisfied with the data recovery process.

Download Remo and start recovering your PDF files now.

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Steps To Retrieve Deleted PDF Files Using Remo File Recovery Software

Note: Don’t Install the Remo File Recovery Software on the same drive where the deleted PDF files used to exist.

• Launch the Remo File Recovery software and select the storage drive, partition, or folder where the PDF files used to exist earlier before getting deleted, and click on Scan.



• When the Quick Scan process is complete, the software will automatically enter the Deep Scan mode, where the sector-level scan will be performed, and a list of recoverable data will be displayed in the Dynamic Recovery View. You can save the files you want even if the scan is still running.



• Wait for the software to recover the PDF files. After the scanning process, you can view the recovered files using the Preview feature to preview the recovered PDF files.



• Finally, you can click on Recover to complete the recovery process.

We are sure by now you were able to get deleted PDF files back.

If you are a Mac user who has lost or deleted important PDF files from your MacBook or iMac. Then, you can go through the next section.

How to Recover Deleted PDF Files on Mac?

This section talks about recovering deleted PDF files on Mac. You can try recovering PDF files from Trash, as well as other solutions such as the undo option, Time Machine backup, or iCloud backups, or using the Terminal command. Follow this article to find out all the possible ways using which you can recover deleted files on Mac.

Method 1: Recover Deleted PDF Files from Mac Trash

If you have accidentally or intentionally deleted some of your PDF files. The trash Bin is the first place where you might find those files.

How to Recover PDF Files from Trash?

1. Open the Mac Trash folder.
2. A list of all recently deleted files will get displayed on your screen.
3. Find the recently deleted .pdf files, right-click, and from the drop-down options menu, click on the Put Back option.

Method 2: Recover Deleted Mac PDF Files Using Remo Mac File Recovery Software

Remo Mac File Recovery Software is a best-in-class Mac file recovery tool to help Mac users recover more than 500 types of files from any iMac or MacBook with just a few simple clicks.

Additionally, the Remo Mac File Recovery tool is compatible with all versions of Mac, including Mac Ventura, Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina, and other older versions.

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Steps to Recover PDF Files on Mac Using Remo Mac File Recovery Software

Step 1: Download and Setup Remo Mac File Recovery Software on your Mac Machine.

Step 2: Launch the application, and from the main screen, select the Recover Files option.

Step 3: If you have deleted your .pdf files, I recommend you choose the Recover Deleted Files option, and in case you have lost your .pdf files, you can select the Recover Lost Files option.

Step 4: Select the drive or the Volume from where you want to recover the deleted or lost PDF files and click the Next button.

Step 5: Remo will start searching for the deleted PDF files from Mac.

Step 6: Upon completion of the drive scan, a list of all recovered files will get displayed on your screen. You can preview the recovered files by double-clicking on them.

Step 7: Find the recovered PDF files and then select them. Once done, you must click on the Save button, where you will be prompted to choose a location to save the recovered files.

That’s it. All of your deleted or lost PDFs have now been successfully recovered and restored in the desired location of your choice.

Bottom Line

No file, folder, drive, partition, or Operating system is immune to data loss. But you can recover the data effortlessly if you have a contingency plan ready. As it is not always safe and convenient to restore lost files through manual methods, it is recommended to use a proficient tool like Remo. As long as you are using Remo, regardless of the severity of the data loss situation, you will not face many obstacles while restoring the data.

Also, take precautionary measures to prevent data loss; always keep a backup of important files; protect your computer with a reliable antivirus software, and always use a reliable data recovery tools like Remo.