How to Recover Lost Files After Mac OS Monterey Update?

Table of contents

• What is macOS Monterey
• All you need to know about macOS Monterey
  • New Features in macOS Monterey
  • How to update to macOS Monterey
  • Common issues with updating to macOS Monterey
• How to Recover Lost Files After macOS Monterey Update
  • Method 1: Recover deleted files from Trash
  • Method 2: Recover lost files using Time Machine
  • Method 3: Recover photos from iCloud Backup
  • Method 4: Recover using a professional data recovery tool
• Conclusion

What is macOS Monterey?

The macOS Monterey (version 12) is the eighteenth and current major release of macOS, Apple's desktop operating system for Macintosh computers. While it’s not as extensive of an update as last year’s Big Sur, many new features make it a worthwhile upgrade.

All you need to know about macOS Monterey

Before we move into our main topic of how to recover missing files after the macOS Monterey update, let’s find out some basic details about the all-new macOS Monterey.

Latest features in macOS Monterey

• SharePlay and FaceTime: Upgrades to the FaceTime app include the ability to share your screen with the SharePlay feature and new microphone modes for better sound quality.

• Messages: New Messages application Upgrade that will make it easy for macOS users to use Messages while using another app.

• Safari: Newly designed Safari interface with new tab implementation and features. Tabs are a major user interface element in Safari, earlier it was unwieldy and hard to manage, but with the new Monterey update, users don’t have to experience such problems again.

• Quick Note Feature: This new feature will allow you to note down ideas no matter what you are doing on your Mac.

• Privacy: Enhanced privacy features to keep your personal information more secure.

• iCloud+: iCloud is also getting a number of privacy-focused features and the good news is that these iCloud+ features will come to all iCloud subscribers at no extra cost.

• Shortcuts: Shortcuts on iOS have become a popular tool for creating automation. Mac Shortcuts will be available in macOS Monterey to bring the same powerful features. Any shortcuts you create are available system-wide, so you can launch them virtually anywhere on your Mac. Sharing shortcuts will be easier, and all the shortcuts you have created can be synced across all your devices in the new Monterey update.

• Memoji: You can now customize your Memoji with over 40 outfit choices to reflect your style, mood, or the season, and choose up to three different colors. Show it off using Memoji stickers with expressive body language that includes the upper body.

How to update to macOS Monterey?

If you still haven’t updated to Monterey it’s usually an easy process to update. The update is free and you only need to be connected to the internet. The installation will take several minutes (approx. 30 minutes) and your Mac needs to restart. 

Note: Always take a backup of your Mac Computer before updating your macOS to the latest version.

Follow the below steps to start the update process to macOS Monterey:

• Go to System Preferences in the Apple menu
• Click on Software Update.
• Your Mac will check if any update is available or not. If it is available an install button will appear. 
• Click on the Install button, your Mac will start downloading the update. 
• After successfully downloading the update Install the update.

The latest version is macOS Monterey 12.5, which came out in July 2022. This is likely the last version of Monterey to be released, except for critical security updates. The next major release is called macOS Ventura which is yet to be released.

Common issues with updating to macOS Monterey Update

There are a few common issues you might face with updating to macOS Monterey Update. Below we have mentioned some issues.

Storage Issue: The very first thing that you should do to resolve the macOS update issues is to check whether or not you have enough space to accommodate the software update. To ensure that you have sufficient space to download and install the macOS Monterey update Click on the Apple menu and choose About This Mac. Now, Click on the Storage tab to confirm that you have more than enough space.

Power Cut issue: Make sure you have enough battery power to complete the OS upgrade once it is started. This means you should probably avoid running on battery power if you have a MacBook. But even if you are plugged in, there is always the chance of a random power hit or failure. 

Server Errors: When Apple’s servers face an outage, many things come to a halt including the macOS update. Hence, make sure Apple’s system status for Mac updates is live and running.

Go to Apple’s system status page and ensure that the circle to the left of the macOS update is green. If it is grey, wait until the outage is over.

Internet Connection issue: Make sure that your internet connection is good by checking the speed and performance of your internet before starting the update process. Software updates often fail or tend to come to an abrupt halt due to poor Internet connection. You need a high-speed internet connection to perform the update process.

Any problem or issue might occur during the updating process of the new macOS and it can fail your installation in the middle. If this happened during installation, the process will fail and you may end up losing your important files. This is the worst thing that can happen to any person while upgrading. 

Applications and software solutions can be reinstalled but lost data is hard to recreate. So, if you are someone who lost the files while upgrading to the new macOS Monterey, we have a solution for you. Below we have explained 4 different methods using which you can recover your lost or missing files after the macOS Monterey Update.

How to Recover Lost files After macOS Monterey Update?

Method 1: Recover Missing Files from macOS Trash

Follow the below steps to start recovering deleted files using Trash Bin:

• Open the Trash by clicking on its icon.
• Search for files or folders that you want to recover.
• Right-click on the item you want to retrieve and select Put Back to recover it to its original location.

Method 2: Recover lost files using Time machine

Time Machine is the easiest way to back up Mac which is developed by Apple. Once you have a timely backup of your data using Time Machine, it’s very easy to restore all of your data in case of data loss.

Follow the below steps to restore your lost files using Time Machine:

• Connect the external drive you’ve used for the Time Machine backup.
• Open the folder where the missing files existed previously.
• Open Time Machine > select Enter Time Machine.
• Use the arrows to move the timeline to find the data backup for the lost item.
• Hit the Restore button.
• Try opening the recovered file to double-check if the data recovery went well.

Note: If you don’t have the backup of your files on a Time Machine or if you don’t use a Time Machine at all then it’s high time to start using this tool to protect your data from uneven data loss.

Method 3: Recover photos from iCloud Backup

If you have proper backup in iCloud then follow the below steps to recover your lost photos on Mac after update using iCloud Backup:

1. Go to icloud.com and sign in with your account credentials.
2. Click on Settings.
3. Click on the Restore Files option located under the Advanced tab on the bottom-left of the window.
4. Locate the files you want to restore and check the boxes to the left of their names. You can also Select All to get everything available at once
5. Click on Restore Files

In case you don’t have a backup of your computer read the next paragraph to find out how you can recover your lost files using professional data recovery software with ease.

Method 4: Recover using Remo Recover Mac

Remo Recover Mac software is an ideal data recovery app that can easily perform the recovery of lost or deleted data on Macintosh machines. Remo Recover Mac is designed with a highly advanced drive scanning mechanism to produce fast, easy, secure, and complete data recovery results. It works on all versions of macOS including the latest Monterey and can recover more than 300 file formats.

To start the recovery process after the new macOS Monterey Update first download and install the Remo Recover Mac Software and follow the below steps:

• Launch the Remo Recover Mac software on your Mac, and select Recover Volumes/ Drives option to recover lost files after the Mac update to Monterey.

• Now, Click on the Volumes Recovery option, and then select the disk on which you have lost files after the macOS Monterey update and click Next.

• Select the Advance Scan option and wait till the data recovery process completes to preview the recovered files such as photos and videos after the macOS Monterey update for free.

• Finally, select the lost files which you want to restore, and click the Save button.

Conclusion

Mac updates are meant to enhance the overall performance and security of the operating system. Always update your Mac to the latest version. The article summarizes what is MacOS Monterey, the useful features of macOS Monterey, and how to recover Data after a Monterey update. If you have any further queries regarding the article, please make use of the comment section below. 

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