How do you recover deleted Voice Memos on a Mac?
By Kayabyte · Last updated 2 November 2026
To recover a deleted Voice Memo on a Mac, open the Recently Deleted folder in Voice Memos and choose Recover, which works for recordings deleted in about the last 30 days. If the recording is older, the audio file may still be in a Time Machine backup. NoteRescue lists the recordings your backups hold that Voice Memos no longer has, copies the audio files with their title and date, and opens them in Voice Memos.
Step 1: Recently Deleted
- Open Voice Memos and show the sidebar (View, Show Sidebar).
- Choose Recently Deleted, select the recording and click Recover.
Recordings leave that folder after a set time (about 30 days by default; check Voice Memos, Settings). It is also the first place to look if a recording seems to have vanished from the main list.
Step 2: check iCloud and other devices
If Voice Memos is on in iCloud, the recording may still be on your iPhone. Open Voice Memos there and check Recently Deleted too. A recording that was only on a device that was reset is gone from iCloud.
Step 3: get the audio file from Time Machine
On the Mac the recordings are m4a files in ~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.apple.VoiceMemos.shared/Recordings, named by date, next to a database (CloudRecordings.db) that holds the titles.
- In Finder choose Go, Go to Folder and open that Recordings folder.
- Choose Browse Time Machine Backups and go back to a date when the recording existed.
- Select the .m4a file and restore it to your Desktop, not over the folder.
- Double-click the file to play it. Dragging it onto Voice Memos may not add it: in our test Voice Memos silently ignored a copy that kept Apple’s quarantine and digest markers.
You can find the right file only by its date name, because the title is in the database. Do not edit the live database.
A faster way: NoteRescue
NoteRescue reads the Voice Memos data in Time Machine snapshots and compares it with your recordings today, so you see recordings by title and date, with Recently Deleted ones counted correctly.
Steps with NoteRescue
- Open NoteRescue, allow Full Disk Access and press Scan.
- Open the Voice Memos row, filter to Missing and select the recordings.
- Choose a folder and recover. NoteRescue copies the audio there, named with the title and date, plus an index file.
- Click Open in Voice Memos. Voice Memos adds each recording to its list.
Voice Memos is USD 14.99, or USD 39.99 for all apps. One recording is free as a proof. Download NoteRescue
What cannot come back
- Recordings whose audio was only in iCloud are not in a backup: only their title and date can be listed.
- Edits, enhancements and transcripts are not recovered.
- Recordings made and deleted between two backups are in no backup.
- Voice Memos inside iPhone backups: see the iPhone backup guide; we have not tested that on real recordings yet.
Questions
Where are Voice Memos stored on a Mac? In the Recordings folder named above, as m4a files.
Does Time Machine back up Voice Memos? Yes, as part of your user Library, if the audio was stored on the Mac.
Why did Voice Memos ignore my restored file? Files that carry Apple’s quarantine or digest markers can be ignored. NoteRescue removes those from its copies.
Related guides
- How do you recover Voice Memos from an iPhone backup?
- What does Time Machine keep for Contacts, Safari, Calendar, Reminders and Voice Memos?
Apple, Mac, iPhone, iCloud, Time Machine, Safari and macOS are trademarks of Apple Inc. NoteRescue is made by Kayabyte and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Apple Inc.
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