# Mac os: replaced a folder with another, any way to go back? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 5, 2012, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-os-replaced-a-folder-with-another-any-way-to-go-back/627258 "2012-07-05T01:04:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BleizDu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@BleizDu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BleizDu)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2012, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-os-replaced-a-folder-with-another-any-way-to-go-back/627258/1 "2012-07-05T01:04:01Z")
I wanted to merge two folders with the same name, thinking it would do the same than with windows, but I discovered that with mac os it totally overwrited the content of the old folder. Any way to retrieve the lost files? I’m using SnowLeopard but sadly TimeMachine wasn’t activated, I’ve very recently updated my computer to SL and still learning how all the new things work ☹ ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2012, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-os-replaced-a-folder-with-another-any-way-to-go-back/627258/2 "2012-07-05T01:05:33Z")
Does undo work? ---
**Author:** ![BleizDu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@BleizDu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BleizDu)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2012, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-os-replaced-a-folder-with-another-any-way-to-go-back/627258/3 "2012-07-05T01:09:12Z")
Undo put back the other folder where it was, but the original folder doesn’t exist anymore. ---
**Author:** ![BleizDu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@BleizDu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BleizDu)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2012, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-os-replaced-a-folder-with-another-any-way-to-go-back/627258/4 "2012-07-05T01:46:50Z")
I ended up finding a back up of the files on my external disk, so thanks god I only lost a couple of files! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2012, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-os-replaced-a-folder-with-another-any-way-to-go-back/627258/5 "2012-07-05T04:58:15Z")
Have you looked in the trash? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2012, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-os-replaced-a-folder-with-another-any-way-to-go-back/627258/6 "2012-07-05T06:52:27Z")
Ok, I don’t want to kick you while you are down, but there are two things to learn from this: 1. Don’t assume anything, especially when learning a new operating system. 2. READ WARNINGS CAREFULLY! OS X explicitly warns you that you are about to replace one folder with another when you try to do what you did. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2012, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-os-replaced-a-folder-with-another-any-way-to-go-back/627258/7 "2012-07-05T06:58:39Z")
Oh, yeah- 3) Always use Time Machine! ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2012, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-os-replaced-a-folder-with-another-any-way-to-go-back/627258/8 "2012-07-05T07:57:05Z")
If you don’t want to install time machine for future mishaps, there are various undelete utilities you can download. ---
**Author:** ![BleizDu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@BleizDu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BleizDu)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2012, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-os-replaced-a-folder-with-another-any-way-to-go-back/627258/9 "2012-07-05T09:08:06Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Have you looked in the trash? Yes, but they weren’t there. > [@beowulff](#): > > Ok, I don’t want to kick you while you are down, but there are two things to learn from this: > > 1. Don’t assume anything, especially when learning a new operating system. Man you tell me, I had an ibook for a few years so I thought I knew most of the windows/mac differences. :smack: > [@](#): > > 1. READ WARNINGS CAREFULLY! OS X explicitly warns you that you are about to replace one folder with another when you try to do what you did. The warning wasn’t that different from what XP tells me when I replace a folder by another, so I wasn’t suspicious and went right ahead. :smack: That said, it does explain why I had the content of another folder disappearing a few months ago. Drove me crazy. I couldn’t explain how I had managed to somehow delete data that was important to me, but it never crossed my mind that replacing folders means something different in mac os. > [@beowulff](#): > > Oh, yeah- > 3) Always use Time Machine! Yeah I’ll do that, but my external HD is formatted in NTFS so I have to see if I need to pull stuff from it before formatting it again in a Time Machine friendly type. ---
**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2012, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mac-os-replaced-a-folder-with-another-any-way-to-go-back/627258/10 "2012-07-05T14:37:24Z")
For future reference, spend the $30 and upgrade to Lion. It will give you merge/replace options when you combine folders.