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How to restore deleted apps to original locations without 'Put back' option in Trash?

I accidentally deleted some files from my MacBook Pro using the app 'Appcleaner'. There is no 'Put back' option when I right-click on these files from the trash (since files were deleted by Appcleaner, which is a third party app). Therefore, I manually dragged all the deleted files out of Trash Can and into my Applications folder, but some weren't restored properly. I would like to know how I could restore the apps I've deleted along with their package contents in their former places. If worst comes to worst, I can’t recover my files the way that they were initially, can I restore them via my iCloud? I have everything on my MacBook Pro backed up on iCloud, but now I’m thinking that what I had before might have gotten overwritten by my now ‘damaged files’ since iCloud updated constantly.

Best Answered by

Ciki Liu

Answered on Monday, April 29, 2024

 

Generally speaking, applications are not synced and backed up by iCloud. You can confirm it by checking your iCloud backup to see if you can find the previous apps. If there's no trace of your apps, you can reinstall or re-download the apps on your Mac. However, it would be impossible to recover the package contents.

When installing an app, in addition to the executive package, there are multiple supporting files along with it. These components are stored in the Library forlder or other folders on your Mac. It's highly likely when you use AppCleaner to uninstall apps on Mac, the supporting files are removed as well.

For an incomplete executive package, you can't hit on the Put Back button to restore it. Similarly, you are likely to fail to recover these deleted apps by dragging them out of the Trash since several components are missing. To recover deleted apps on Mac, you can try the following solutions:

Option 1. Reinstall the installer.

macOS will ask you whether to keep the installer or not when you finish installing an app. If by any chance, you chose to keep the installers, you stand a chance to restore deleted apps on Mac by reinstalling them.

Option 2. Re-download the app from the source.

Whether these apps were downloaded from the App Store or the browser, it's an easy job to re-download them.

Restore deleted apps on Mac from App Store:

  1. Launch App Store from Mac Launchpad.
  2. Click on your profile at the bottom-left corner. Scroll down to see all purchased apps.
  3. Locate deleted apps that you want to restore. Tap on the blue iCloud icon under them to re-download these apps.

Restore deleted apps on Mac from the browser:

  1. Open the browser and click on History on the top menu bar. Search for the full history.
  2. Filter the websites that you downloaded apps from and re-download programs from the sources.