Strange problem with library folder and missing file

[Dinolfos1]

This is kind of a weird scenario and I took my macbook pro to 2 different help desks today with no luck. I'll just explain what happened.

Today I was just typing in a pages document and I heard the noise of something going into the trash. I thought huh that's weird, so I looked in the trash and it was the invisible library folder usually displayed on the home page of your finder (if you have it so you can view invisible folders obviously). I have no idea how it went there. So I tried and tried to move it back, but no matter what I did I just got an error message that I cannot edit or move that folder because it is important. I tried dragging it onto the desktop and a hundred other places. Finally I went back to the home page on finder and my macbook had replaced the folder with a NEW library folder, and opening package contents revealed they are in fact different. I tried to drag the old library folder back onto the home finder page, but instead it hopped out of trash and INSIDE the new library folder. No idea why it would move there but nowhere else, but ok, at least it's out of the trash, right?

I restarted the computer thinking that might fix the issue, and in fact it screwed everything up worse. My computer went back to default settings for the most part. I lost all my bookmarks and add ons in firefox. But what upset me most was that the document I had been working on, something I have been working on for several weeks, is gone. It's the only missing document. I searched every way I could think of and it's just not on my computer anywhere. Literally no other files seem to be missing. I don't even care about the other stuff but the thought of losing weeks of work on this is frustrating beyond all words. I even saved it and properly closed pages before I restarted the computer.

I took it to Geek Squad who didn't even understand what I was trying to explain, so then I took the macbook to where I bought it. They understood the problem, but had no idea how library could have gone to trash in the first place, and the guy didn't think there was a way to recover lost files on mac os. I asked if it was possible to take the original library folder, which is now INSIDE the new library folder as I explained, and just put it back where it was. He said it might be possible but he had no idea how it would affect my computer.

Does anyone have any clue how this could have happened, where this single missing file could have gone, and is there any way to recover it/what should I do next? Thank you so much!

 

[MacInWin]

Welcome to the forum.

You have a backup, right?

If not, about the only way I can think to get sort-of back to where you were are to open the ~/Library/Library folder and drag all of the contents to ~/Library, if it will allow you to do it. It may not let you do that given you are booted from that drive and logged into that account. It MAY be possible if you have another Admin account that you can use to accomplish it.

But with a backup, you can restore ~/Library to what it was before it disappeared.

As for the document you were working on, did you save it in Pages before you restarted? Was it going to iCloud or to a local folder? Or did you just reboot with Pages still open?

BTW, the way to restore from the trash is to right click on the file in the trashcan, then select "Put Back." I don't think you can drag anything from the trash to anyplace other than where it came from using "Put Back."

 

[Dinolfos1]

Thank you for your response!

I do have a backup but not from within the last week or so. I can deal with changing all my settings back, it's the work that I did on the document that is frustrating, though I know I should be backing up more consistently and that's my fault. I did also attempt to "put back" the library folder which made its way to the trash without luck. I was surprised when I finally randomly got it to drag into the other folder. If it is possible to drag the contents of the ~/Library/Library folder to ~/Library, is there a possibility I could cause unforeseen problems by doing so? That seemed to be what the help person at the second place was worried about.

I did in fact save the document to my hard drive and properly closed pages before restarting the computer, so it seems very strange it vanished. One of the people I spoke with yesterday suggested that because the file was open when the library folder moved and was then replaced, it was "locked" and the computer simply erased the whole thing when I restarted.

Is it worth taking my machine somewhere that can try a data recovery? I don't want to spend more money unless there is a reasonable chance the file may still be recoverable if it was somehow deleted.

 

[MacInWin]

Well, before spending major bucks on data recovery (we're talking up to or beyond $1,000 in some cases), let's try to find that missing file. If you saved it, it should be saved somewhere. However, the location for the save is stored in a .plist file that is stored in, you guessed it, ~/Library. So when ~/Library moved to Trash in the middle of your work, when you saved, the default location for the save was different than you expected. Try opening Finder, then look at All My Files and sort by date modified (EDIT: Date Last Opened will work, too). Your document, assuming it's still showing you as the owner, should be close to the top of the list. You can look for the date/time of all the adventure, too.

I would NOT try moving ~/Library/Library while the system is booted from that drive or you are logged in as you. Once we locate your document, you can create a new user account, with Admin privileges, and then log into that one to make the move for your original account and then log out of that admin account and back to yours to see how things go.

But first, let's find that document. Let us know if All My Files shows it at all.

 

[Dinolfos1]

Unfortunately, All My Files is not revealing the document. I can see a few other things I saved yesterday when I arrange by date modified, but the missing file is not among them.

 

[MacInWin]

OK, the next step would be to get either Find Any File or EasyFind and use them to search the ENTIRE drive for the missing file.

EasyFind - http://www.devon-technologies.com
Find Any File - http://apps.tempel.org/FindAnyFile/

If you know the exact name of the file, you can enter that, or you can enter just a part of it to see if somehow it got changed in the process.

 

[Dinolfos1]

I downloaded Find Any File and in 5 seconds I had the document back.

I really cannot thank you enough. Yesterday I ran the computer all over town to Geek Squad, the Apple store, and some local places as well, and no one had any idea what to do (although several of them wanted $$$ from me to send the computer away and have someone else look at it).

So seriously, thank you. You saved me!

 

[MacInWin]

Glad that worked. I suspect what happened is that Pages reverted to the default location for saving the file, which was NOT where you thought it would be. Now, get the Library sorted out and backup, backup, backup.

 

[chscag]

I believe I read somewhere that Pages does automatic saves, however, I have no idea where the saved document will show up. I "assume" it will show up in the Documents folder but since I have never tested that assumption, I really don't know.

 

[ferrarr]

It may have been saved to iCloud, if this has been enabled. Of course, you may have an iCloud Drive folder on your Mac.

 

[MacInWin]

Bob, that was my thought as well. I believe Pages now defaults to iCloud, so when his .plist went away into the trash, the new one would have pointed to the iCloud, and absent that, maybe to an iCloud Drive folder. But instead of sending the OP to look there, it seemed easier to just let Find Any File or EasyFind do it for him.