Written by
Vain RoweSummary: This article coming from iBoysoft concentrates on how to recover the files and folders on the Downloads folder deleted by the Viber app. iBoysoft Data Recovery Software, by the way, is a wonderful utility to scan for your lost files and folders on your macOS computers.
The Viber application is chatting software in allowing you to send free calls and messages to anyone in any place, which fully supports both mobile and desktop and makes your messages and calls firmly secure by encryption. It is a wonderful communication toolkit although some users point out that the Viber updates deleted the Downloads folder on macOS computers:
Today I installed the Viber app downloaded from the Macofficial Viber website on my Mac running 10.15.3. In the app settings, I've changed where I want my Viber media files to be stored (settings shown in attachment) and I changed it to my downloads folder (like shown on the other setting underneath). When I finished working in the app I deactivated Viber in settings (2nd attachment) and turned off the app. The agony starts when I afterward tried to access the downloads folder which was empty. Also, the trash was empty.
You have no idea and worry about your files and folders stored in the Downloads folder. Luckily, you're in the right place. This article is a definite guide to fixing the Downloads folder deleted by the Viber app on Mac.
How to recover the deleted Downloads folder caused by Viber?
After downloading or updating the Viber app from its official website, you discover that the data in the Downloads folder has been destroyed because you changed Viber's default save location to it. That's truly troublesome and frustrating. You will gain multiple ways to recover the lost files in the Downloads folder. Let's get started then.
Method 1: Utilize iBoysoft Data Recovery Software
Whether the data is inaccessible or lost on your device, iBoysoft Data Recovery is a nice choice for you to have data restoration. It is widely approved by vast users for its excellence in thorough disk scanning skills and data recovery algorithms, which offers full support for macOS 13/12/11/10.15/10.14/10.13/10.12, and Mac OS X 10.11 on Intel-based Macs and M-series chip Macs (M3 Apple Silicon chip Mac included).
You should free download and install it on your device to scan for images, word documents, Excel files, Presentations, zip files, CSV files, PDFs, DMG files, epub files, webp files, and more.
Then follow the given steps to restore the lost files in your Downloads folder:
Step 1: Launch iBoysoft Data Recovery Software on your device.
Step 2: Select the volume/partition/disk which contains the Downloads folder.
Step 3: Click Search for Lost Data to begin the disk scanning process.
Step 4: Check the scanning results in advance by clicking Preview when the scanning process finishes.
Step 5: Select the wanted files and tap on the Recover button to start the data recovery task.
Save the recovery results well or they will be deleted accidentally one more time as you're running your computer.
Method 2: Restore files through Time Machine backup
Time Machine backs up every file and the latest modifications to it automatically if you have enabled it previously on your device, equally including the files stored in the Downloads folder.
Let's see how to restore the deleted Downloads folder on your Mac caused by the Viber update:
- Connect the Time Machine backup drive to the computer or skip this step if you make an internal hard drive as the backup destination.
- Launch Time Machine via Spotlight Search shortcuts by pressing the Command + Space keys together.
- Move the up and down arrow to find the files you want to restore. You can either search the specific file by its file name or file format in the search box.
- Click Restore to recover the deleted files and save them well on your device. Copy and paste them to an external hard drive for data safety is also workable.
Method 3: Restore the deleted Downloads folder by Snapshot
Snapshot can capture the state of the startup disk (APFS formatted) at a certain point and keep all the captured files on the drive. You can use the APFS snapshot to return your Mac to the state when the snapshot was taken and the files in the Downloads folder weren't deleted.
Rolling back to an APFS snapshot point needs the use of the Time Machine utility. Follow the steps below:
- Launch Time Machine on your Mac computer.
- Click the Time Machine icon at the upper right corner of your screen.
- Select Enter Time Machine.
- Search for the snapshot point that preserves the files you want.
- Choose the data and click Restore.
Tips: All these troubleshooting elaborated above are also appropriate for the scenarios in which the Viber messages or files get lost/missed/disappear on your Mac computers. Feel ease to try iBoysoft Data Recovery Software or the Mac built-in utilities to recover/restore the deleted, lost, inaccessible, corrupted Viber files in one go.
If you have recovered the files stored in the Downloads folder deleted by the Viber app successfully, share this article to help more people!
How to avoid Viber from deleting files on my Mac again?
Asides from recovering the deleted documents, there are some tips you should bear in mind to avoid further data loss led by the Viber update.
Firstly, do not download or update the Viber app from any unauthorized, untrusted, unofficial website or it reduces your device to system crash or data loss, which brings viruses, hidden malware, malicious software launch/installation helper, or more to your Mac in a secret way.
Secondly, do not give a third-party app access to the files or folders on your Mac unless when it is in use. Otherwise, it might steal your information and leak your data.
Thirdly, back up your Mac on a regular basis. It helps you a lot if your Mac keeps crashing while you have no access to data stored on it.
Why does the Viber update delete the Downloads folder on my Mac?
Based on the case that the Mac update deleted everything, it's possible that the Viber update deletes the Downloads folder on macOS computers. Generally speaking, there are kinds of reasons being able to cause the Viber update deleting files case and you can have a quick view:
- Unsuccessful or interrupted Viber upgrade
- Not enough space for Viber to update
- Untrusted Viber download from a shady unauthorized website
Taking the possible reasons into consideration is helpful to finish the Viber update without data loss in the future.
Conclusion
iBoysoft Data Recovery, Time Machine, and the snapshot taken by Time Machine let the deleted Downloads folder recovery brought by the Viber update be doable and practicable. If you meet the same case, try one of them to bring your lost files back ASAP!
