How to find deleted history on mac without time machine

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My computer was being unresponsive earlier today and out of frustration, I shut it down manually. Once it was back on, I realized that my entire Safari history had been erased. I've been researching how to fix this all night and doing so led me to discover that the metadata for my history is still on the computer, but I don't know what to do with it. I don't have Time Machine, so I can't restore it that way, and I'm generally pretty clueless about how computers work. Is there any hope for my history to be recovered?

My computer is a 13-inch MacBook Pro and I have OS X 10.8.5. Thank you for any help.

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Jan 23, 2015 9:49 PM

Safari erased my history, how can I restore it?

How to find deleted history on mac without time machine

Can browsing history be recovered once it is deleted?

I erased my browsing history from my Google Chrome on Mac. But now I wanna get it back. How can I recover deleted history from Google Chrome? Is it possible to recover it?

The Internet browsing or search history on your Mac browser is probably the one thing that you do not care a lot about and neither does anyone else. We do not think twice before deleting our Internet history from Safari or Google Chrome, do we? However, this is not the best thing to do.

How many times has it happened that you forgot a particular website that you visited, but there was no way to know what it was since you deleted your search history? More than a few times at least. There are times when you may want to see what someone was doing on a Mac by checking the Internet browser history, and many other things. The bottom line is if the Chrome or Safari history is deleted, can you recover deleted history on Google Chrome or Safari? Here we will give you an answer about how to recover deleted Internet history on Mac.

You can recover deleted Internet history on Mac, and there are no complicated steps involved in this! Let us go ahead and see some of the easiest and most effective ways on how to recover deleted Internet history on Mac. Before we move ahead, it is essential to know that Internet history is stored on your Mac hard drive. So recovering the Internet history is like recovering data on Mac including Mac photo recovery or Mac file recovery.

Method 1: How to Recover Deleted Internet History from Time Machine Backup

Time Machine is an inbuilt utility on Mac PCs that can be used to back up and recover deleted or lost files on Mac. What makes Time Machine such a convenient way to recover deleted history on Mac? It does not require any installation and can be used without configuring anything else on your Mac. To use Time Machine for getting back your deleted history on Mac, you just need to follow the steps as given ahead:

I: Ensure that Time Machine is ON

In case you have not switched on this feature yet, then you will need to go to the Time Machine menu, which can be found under Menu > Systems. If the switch is set to "Off", set it to "On" to enable Time Machine.

How to find deleted history on mac without time machine

II: Open Time Machine

Once Time Machine is enabled and set up on your PC, go to the Enter Time Machine option situated in the Time Machine drop-down menu. Once you select that, your Mac will connect to the backup location.

How to find deleted history on mac without time machine

III: Select the backup or snapshot that you are looking for

Once you have opened Time Machine, it will show you a list of all the snapshots and backups that it has taken. Within the windows that pop up, find the one that has Applications to get the snapshots taken from Safari or Google Chrome, and recover the deleted history from the "Recover" button given under it.

How to find deleted history on mac without time machine


If you are trying to recover deleted history on Mac, then Time Machine, though a handy option, may not be that effective in most cases. To recover deleted history on Mac with the most effective results, professional Mac data recovery software is what you need - and this is where Recoverit Mac Data Recovery comes in.

I: Recoverit Makes Browser History Recovery Easier

Browser history recovery on Mac is quite easy if you have Recoverit. It utilizes the all-around scan and deep scan algorithm to dig out your deleted or lost data on your storage device, piece them together, and show you. It just takes 3 steps - select > scan > recover, and your deleted Internet search or browsing history can be retrieved within a few minutes.


II: Video Tutorial on How to Recover Deleted Files on Mac

In this video, you can easily get to know how to recover deleted browser history from Google Chrome or Safari on Mac quickly and smoothly.


III: Steps on How to Recover Chrome or Safari History on Mac

Download and install Recoverit Data Recovery for Mac, and then follow the next steps to perform Internet history recovery on Mac. If you are working on Windows computer, please download Recoverit Data Recovery for Windows and follow the same steps.

Step 1 Select the Mac hard drive with browser data

Launch Recoverit Browser History Recovery first. To recover Chrome history or Safari history, you need to select the location where the browsing or search data were lost or deleted. Click the "Start" button to get started.

How to find deleted history on mac without time machine

Step 2 Scan the browser hard drive

Later, an all-around scan will be initiated on your Mac hard drive with Chrome or Safari Internet history. To restore the history data, please leave it scanning and wait for a while.

How to find deleted history on mac without time machine

Step 3 Recover deleted history on Mac

After the scanning, you can select your Internet history files and click "Recover" button to get them back. For the sake of safety, you should put them in another safe location.

How to find deleted history on mac without time machine

With Recoverit Mac Data Recovery, you can get the deleted or lost data files back in simple steps. Download and try it for free now.


Bonus 1: How to Find and Check History on Mac

Where is my browsing history? Can you show me my browsing history?

If you do not delete or clear your Chrome or Safari history and just want to access the history, you can follow the below steps to get the desired results.

I: How to Check History on Safari

  1. Open the Safari and click Safari on the menu bar.
  2. From the drop-down menu, click "Preferences" and go to the "Privacy" tab.
  3. Here, you can view all the cookies. Click "Manage Website Data".
  4. You can see all the websites and browsing history on your Safari.

How to find deleted history on mac without time machine

II: How to View History on Chrome

  1. Open Google Chrome and click "History" on the menu bar.
  2. Click "Show Full History" to view a list of Chrome browser history you recently visited or closed.
  3. You can also use the keyboard shortcuts - "Command + Y" to open the Chrome history.
  4. Search some keywords to help you find the wanted history more quickly.

How to find deleted history on mac without time machine

After the above steps, we believe that you probably manage to view browsing history on Mac Google Chrome or Safari. Find them deleted or lost? Go to download Recoverit Mac Data Recovery. It can recover deleted files, photos, videos, and many more types of data within a few minutes.

Note To restore Chrome or Safari easily, free download the Mac data recovery software and try it right away.


Bonus 2: Tips for Browser History Recovery on Mac

Using Time Machine or a Mac Data Recovery software like Recoverit Data Recovery for Mac surely comes across as an easy way to get back all your lost files. With these options, here are a few tips that you can follow to maximize your chances of recovering your deleted history:

  • Regularly back up all your important Mac data to an external location, including your Internet history.
  • When you recover your Internet history or any other file on Mac, do not recover it back to the same location where it was before deletion.
  • Avoid installing any unauthorized software or any third-party disk cleanup utilities.
  • Always properly switch off the Mac, as switching it off by taking off the power supply could cause data loss.
  • While using Recoverit Data Recovery to limit the memory area and file type to look for, if possible, to speed up results.

Thus, with these basic things taken care of, you will recover deleted history on Mac Google Chrome or Safari with ease and with the best positive results!

How do you find deleted history on a Mac?

On the Menu Bar, go to Time Machine > Enter Time Machine..
In Time Machine, use the Timeline or Up/Down arrow to navigate to the date that contains Safari history data..
Click Restore to recover deleted browser history..
Now, relaunch Safari, click History from the menu bar, and select Show All History..

How do I recover permanently deleted files from my Mac without Time Machine?

Follow these steps to recover files deleted from within an app on your Mac..
Go to iCloud.com and login with your Apple ID..
Under your Profile's drop-down menu, select Settings and then Advanced..
Click Restore Files..
Select individual files or Select All..
Click Restore to recover the files to their original locations..

Can you retrieve history after deleting on Mac?

To restore your deleted Safari history, you're going to need a Time Machine backup or another backup file from before the date that you deleted your browsing history. (note that this isn't always the case on public machines like those at a library or school).

How do I recover permanently deleted browsing history?

How To Recover Deleted History On Google Chrome (2022).
Method #1: Check Your Google Account Activity..
Method #2: Try Data Recovery Software..
Method #3: Use the “Restore Previous Versions” Option for Your Google Folder. ... .
Method #4: Use DNS Cache..
Method #5: Reinstall Google Chrome..
Method #6: Check Cookies..