Can you recover a file on Photoshop?

When you delete a Photoshop file but the project isn’t finished yet, what you need urgently is to recover the deleted Photoshop file. However, it’s not easy to do that. Although Photoshop keeps offering considerate features for users to protect their works, you have to take time to learn how to recover Photoshop files, for those features may not be obvious enough to be discovered. But you are lucky enough to be here, for you can learn 4 excellent ways to recover deleted or unsaved Photoshop files.

Part 1: The Easiest Way to Recover Photoshop Files

It’s not necessarily required to learn how to recover unsaved Photoshop files within Photoshop, for Apeaksoft Data Recovery can quickly scan your PC/Mac to retrieve the deleted PSD files, and then you can easily recover them. It will highlight the lost files on your computer, so you can restore the Photoshops files with a few clicks. You can also plug your USB or SD card into your computer, and this program can recover lost files with ease.

Step 1. Download Apeaksoft Data Recovery for free and launch it. Choose the disk where your PSD files were saved and choose the Start Scan button.

Step 2. The program will scan the chosen disk. After a while, you can search for the project name in the Search box, or navigate to the folder where your PSD was saved. Then, you can choose to recover the Photoshop file by clicking the Recover button.

Part 2: Recover Deleted Photoshop Files From Recycle Bin/Trash

If you have deleted the PSD files accidentally or deliberately and want to recover them, there is a basic and simple way to get them back. You can restore the deleted Photoshop files in the Recycle Bin/Trash of your computer.

Windows:

Step 1. Find the Recycle Bin program on your desktop.

Step 2. Scroll down the files and choose the PSD files you want to recover.

Step 3. Double-click or right-click the file and choose Restore. The file will be sent to its original location.

Mac:

Step 1. Find the Trash program at the dock on your desktop.

Step 2. Look through the files to find your desired PSD files.

Step 3. Right-click it and choose Put Back to recover Photoshop files on Mac.

Part 3: Recover Deleted/Unsaved Photoshop Files with AutoSave

If you have ever turned on the AutoSave feature in Photoshop, you can also recover Photoshop files with that. The AutoSave feature works the same when you recover an Excel file in Office, for it automatically saves your project regularly, and it also backs up your project file in a specific folder.

How to Check if AutoSave Is On

Step 1. Open Photoshop and click the Edit button on the top left side. Click the Preference button, then the General button.

Step 2. Click the File Handling button on the left menu bar. If you see the Automatically Save Recovery button is toggled, it means you can recover the deleted Photoshop files with this feature.

Recover Deleted PSD Files with AutoSave

Once you’ve ensured that AutoSave is on, you can go to a specific folder to recover Photoshop files. The folder is set to save app data from Photoshop. Where do Photoshop AutoSave files go? Please check the path:

On Windows:

C:\Users\%UserName%\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop\AutoRecover

On Mac:

~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Photoshop/AutoRecover

Maybe you have ever set where the Adobe data is to save, but you can finally recover the deleted Photoshop files in AppData on Windows or Adobe on Mac.

Part 4: Restore Deleted Photoshop Files from File History/Time Machine

If your computer crashed or powered off, the Photoshop project you were doing would be corrupted. In that case, maybe you can recover the Photoshop files from Previous Versions of your PC. It can recover your PC to a previous state when your Photoshop was not corrupted. Then, you can restore the unsaved Photoshop files right in the folder where it was. When your Windows does not load correctly, this method also works to recover corrupted files.

Windows:

Step 1. Search for restore files in the search box on Windows, and then choose Restore your files with File History.

Step 2. You also need an external drive or a network to recover deleted Photoshop files with File History. Plug your USB into your PC, and then search for if there’s a lost PSD or PSB file in File History. Then, choose it right-click on it, and then click the Restore to button to recover the deleted Photoshop file.

Mac:

Step 1. Tap Command + Spacebar together and enter Time Machine.

Step 2. Browse the file and choose your desired PSD files. Click Restore to restore Photoshop files on Mac.

Part 5: Recover Unsaved Photoshop Files from Recent Files

There’s also another chance to recover the unsaved Photoshop files, and that is the Recent files. When you can’t find your unsaved PSD file, you can go to Recent for luck.

Click the File button in the top left corner of Photoshop, and then the Open Recent button. Then, you can check if there are recent PSD files. If you haven’t left aside Photoshop for too long, there’s a high chance to recover Photoshop files in this way.

Part 6: Recover Photoshop Files from the Temp Folder

If there is a sudden computer crash, the AutoSave can't work normally. At this time, you can restore unsaved Photoshop files from the Temp folder.

On Windows

you can just enter C:/Users/UserName/AppData/Local/Temp/ on the Run Windows. Then, add the specific extension of your PSD file. You will see the Photoshop Temp files here.

On Mac

Run Terminal on your Mac following the path: Finder > Application > Terminal. Then, enter open $TMPDIR and go to Temporaryitems. Locate your desired PSD file and open it with Photoshop.

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