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I switched to a new Macbook in 2020, in 2019 I downloaded important PDFs on my old macbook. I now really need those PDFs and cannot find my old laptop. Desperately seeking a way to retrieve them even though it may be a helpless situation?
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 15.0
grannie19 Said:
“Retrieving old files: I switched to a new Macbook in 2020, in 2019 I downloaded important PDFs on my old macbook. I now really need those PDFs and cannot find my old laptop. Desperately seeking a way to retrieve them even though it may be a helpless situation?”
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Troubleshooting Lost Files:
Finding a Deleted File:
If this was already uploaded to iCloud, then it would remain there, even if you deleted it from the iPhone.
Check the following:
Three Tactics to Try:
If never loaded to iCloud, then its gone if never backed up. So, look elsewhere...
A. Start here: If you're Missing Photos or Videos in the Photos app - Apple Support
B. Use a Time Machine Backup:
Did you backup your Mac, recently? If so, then restore your Mac from that. You'd backup you Mac prior to doing so, and then restore your data from the backup you just created, through use of Migration Assistant.
C. Where Else to Check:
If the PDFs you seek are on your old MacBook and you cannot locate it, then you are at the mercy of whether you backed up those PDFs on a Time Machine drive, another external drive or USB stick, or a cloud service (e.g. iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.).
If you added bookmarks in Safari where you originally downloaded those sought PDFs, then after a proper migration, Safari on your new Mac may have that link information in its Bookmarks.
Without any success in the preceding paragraphs, you are simply done.
How can I access my old PDFs without my old MacBook?
