Accidentally deleted a source file from Premiere.

[Maria12_]

I was trying to desconnect a file from a Timeline and accidentally deleted it from the hard disk. I don't know where the file is now because I can't even find it at the trash. Please help! 

[Averdahl]

If you delete a file within Premiere Pro you just delete/remove it from the project. The file/clip shuold still be located on your computers hard drive.

Files will be deleted from within Premiere Pro only if you use the Make Offline command and manually check the option to delete the file from the hard drive. So, how did you delete the file in Premiere Pro?

[Maria12_]

I manually checked the option to delete it from the hard drive. I don't understand why is it not at least on the trash.

[Averdahl]

O.k, the the file is gone since they are never moved to the trash. Use either a backup of the file or stop using the hard drive and use a recover application to, if possible, recover the deleted file.

[Maria12_]

Ok, thanks!

[John T Smith]

I **never** delete a file from inside Premiere Pro, so I may only **guess** that doing so is like using the Windows file manager and selecting delete, while holding the shift key, which bypasses the trash folder and completely deletes the file

[SAFEHARBOR11]

If the file is really truly deleted, it may be recoverable if you have NOT written any more files to the drive since, which could overwrite the file and make it unrecoverable. On the PC, I have had great results using the free RECUVA software, don't know about Mac. But stop writing to drive, this includes autosaves in Premiere, shut it all done until you can run a recovery program

[Peru Bob]

Do you have any backups?

[Warren Heaton]

I have had great results with Data Rescue on macOS (https://www.prosofteng.com/data-recovery-software/).

[caroborrero]

Did this worked?

I got the same problem!

[katyaa38071258]

Hi! I know this was posted two years ago, but I'm hoping that if someone comes across this page due to the same problem, they will find this answer. 

I recently accidentally deleted a ton of needed footage on premiere. I was trying to "offline media" to disconnected my proxies and reconnect the new footage. I accidentally clicked to delete the footage instead of just "offlining" it. I deleted all of the audio files from my computer and hard-drive, and my backup was a couple of states away so completely inaccessible. 

Solution: Nothing is ever truly deleted off of a hard drive, even if you empty the trash. I downloaded a data recovery program (similar to one that I would use if I accidentally formatted a MAG, card, or hard-drive that I didn't mean to format.) I then ran the hard-drive through that. Usually, there will be a "trash" folder that comes up, and then another folder similar to the trash folder. In the second folder is the stuff that has been "permanently deleted" off the hard drive. I found all of my audio files in there, recovered them, and was good to go. The whole process took about 30 minutes. There was even stuff in that folder that I had deleted a year or two ago which made me realize that you'd be surprised what you're able to recover. The sooner you recover the stuff, the easier and more reliable it is, but as long as you haven't re-written anything over that deleted data, it should still be there. 

Hope this helps!

[振弘32246525o9ic]

Hi Katyaa, 

Would you mind letting me know which software did you use? I am so panic that I accidentally delete all my precious footages through Premiere Pro. 

[Carlos_Az]

In case it helps someone: I deleted some files directly on Premiere Pro with Ctrl+Del, so the files get deleted both in Premiere Pro and the computer and they don't even go to the recycle bin. I tried a bunch of recovery software but the only one that helped me was (removed). I had to pay because none of the free software I tried worked at all, but I could recover two videos very easily and the third one, which was corrupted, was repaired by the technical team. So no losses for me. If you can't find files that you accidentally deleted, check this software out (or one similar). Hopefully, it will help you as well!

[振弘32246525o9ic]

Hi Carlos, 

Would you mind letting me know which software did you use?

I am so panic that I accidentally delete all my precious footages through Premiere Pro. 

Thank you very much

[Carlos_Az]

Hi! Sure, but I see that Adobe removed the name. Hopefully, this works and you can recognize the word: the software is R3c0v3rit by Wondershare. Just as a warning, don't touch anything on your computer: don't delete anything, don't move files/folders from their original location, don't rename files/folders, etc. That may overwrite things and prevent you from recovering the lost files. Good luck!

[振弘32246525o9ic]

Thank you very much! I definitely give it a go and see if it works. 

Really appreciate your reply!