SpotlessUndo a cleanup and restore files
Spotless moves removed items to the Trash and keeps a list of them under Recently Deleted, so you can put them back where they were. That covers almost everything. A few items cannot be restored, and Spotless tells you which before you confirm.
Restore from Recently Deleted
- Open Recently Deleted from the sidebar, or from the Home page chip about the Trash.
- Find the cleanup by its date. Each one lists the items it moved. Delete for good on a cleanup removes it for good, so leave it alone if you may need the files.
- Press Restore beside one item, or Restore all on the cleanup.
Each item returns to the exact folder it came from. If something already sits at that place, Spotless says so and does not overwrite it.
Restore from the Trash
You can also open the Trash in Finder, select the item and choose Put Back. This works until you empty the Trash. Once you empty it, the files are gone, and Recently Deleted can no longer restore them.
What cannot be restored
- Items you removed after turning on
Delete rebuildable junk for goodin Settings, General. It is off by default. It applies to caches and logs only. Your own files always go to the Trash. - System-level leftovers that need an administrator password. Spotless labels them as permanent in the bar before you confirm.
- Anything you removed from the Trash yourself.
Scheduled cleaning
If you turn on scheduled cleaning in Settings, Alerts, it moves only items marked Safe to the Trash and sends you a notification. Those removals appear under Recently Deleted like any other, so the same restore steps apply.
Before you clean
Two tools help you check first. The review step shows the exact list and sizes of what will move, and you can export that list as text without deleting anything. Locked items cannot be ticked until you lift their lock, and every lift asks you to confirm.
Disk space after a restore
Restoring an item brings back its size. The free space on Home updates after the next scan. If a restore fails because something already exists at that place, or the item is protected, Spotless says so and leaves the item in Recently Deleted.
Related
- Review what Spotless will remove before it removes it: Spotless lists every item in a review sheet before anything moves, says whether it goes to the Trash or is deleted for good, and ticks nothing for you.
- Locked areas: what Spotless refuses to delete: Spotless locks the Photos library, iCloud and cloud folders, AI app chats and active projects, explains each lock, and says what you can unlock.
- Locked items and the Safety Lock: What a Locked tag means in Spotless, how to release one item or a whole page, how the Safety Lock switch works, and what stays protected whatever you choose.
- How a Spotless clean works: Scan, look, choose, review, Trash.