I deleted some of my Netspace files by accident. How do I get them back?

Bucknell's system automatically backs up your recent files in case you delete them by accident. To view the previous files on a Windows computer, first navigate to your Netspace drive (U: and/or X:). You should see the usual "Private" and "Public" folders that you should be used to. Your backed up files, however, are hidden. You need to enable viewing hidden files and folders.

Restoring Files from Windows

NOTE: If off campus, please connect to the VPN first before starting the instructions below.

  1. On a Windows computer, in the search bar type \\netspace\facultystaff
  2. From the View menu, select Show Hidden Files
  3. Once you enable it, you should see a folder called "~snapshot" (pictured below).
  4. Locate and open the folder with the date on which you had your files intact in Netspace. 
    • The folders are named in the format YYYY.MM.DD.HHHH. These correspond to the Year, Month, Day and Time (Military time) when the snapshot of your drive was taken.
  5. Select the first letter of your username folder
  6. Navigate and click on your username
  7. Open the private and public folders. You can copy-paste these back to your Private or Public folder by accessing your U: drive in Netspace

Restoring files from a Mac

NOTE: If off campus, please connect to the VPN first before starting the instructions below.

If you have a Mac and the previous instructions are not working, try following these steps:

  1. Click on Finder
  2. Select Go
  3. Click on Connect to folder
  4. Connect to smb://netspace.bucknell.edu/facultystaff (Click on the + before connecting to add it as a favorite)
  5. If required, Enter your username and password to access the folder
  6. Then show hidden files by using the keyboard shortcut "Command-shift-period"
  7. Locate and open the folder with the date on which you had your files intact in Netspace. 
    • The folders are named in the format YYYY.MM.DD.HHHH. These correspond to the Year, Month, Day and Time (Military time) when the snapshot of your drive was taken.
  8. Select the first letter of your username folder
  9. Navigate and click on your username
  10. You should now see your public and private folders
  11. Open the private and public folders. You can copy-paste these back to your Private or Public folder at smb://netspace.bucknell.edu/<username>.$
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