# Urgent- accidental deletion of media files daisy disk
**URL:** https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/urgent-accidental-deletion-of-media-files-daisy-disk/55331
**Category:** Help
**Created:** [February 4, 2025, 3:20am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/urgent-accidental-deletion-of-media-files-daisy-disk/55331 "2025-02-04T03:20:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@kiradewey](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/kiradewey)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2025, 3:20am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/urgent-accidental-deletion-of-media-files-daisy-disk/55331/1 "2025-02-04T03:20:45Z")
I really need help! I am a medical student and anki is my life line. I spent so much time putting images into every card I make, but I just accidentally deleted all of these media files using daisy disk, and now my images are GONE. ( I had no idea what I was deleting at the time) I am literally on the floor hyperventilating. Please please please someone tell me there is something I can do
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### Author:  [@Danika\_Dakika](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/Danika_Dakika)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2025, 4:04am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/urgent-accidental-deletion-of-media-files-daisy-disk/55331/2 "2025-02-04T04:04:04Z")
It looks like you sync with AnkiWeb and another device – were those in sync before the deletion? If so, all of your images are safe in those places, as long as you don’t spread the deletion any further.
Your next step should be to log out of sync on your computer – Preferences \> Syncing – then click Sync to log in again. This should prompt a rescan of your media and your computer should redownload the media from AnkiWeb. If it looks like it is deleting the media from AnkiWeb instead – cancel the sync, and we can try something else.
It may take _several_ syncs to get all of it (you have almost 5GB of media in your account), so keep an eye on your Media Sync Log and keep syncing until it is complete.
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### Author:  [@kiradewey](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/kiradewey)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2025, 4:37am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/urgent-accidental-deletion-of-media-files-daisy-disk/55331/3 "2025-02-04T04:37:13Z")
Ok, I will try that- I went into panic mode and downloaded a disk driller thing. The phone I sync with was likely in sync but several hours behind, so I would still lose some cards I made this evening, but that would be better than losing everything like what is happening right now. I think I messed up the phone sync because I tried to upload to anki web again hoping I could download to my computer. I tried that and it didnt work, but I can try what you just posted here.
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### Author:  [@kiradewey](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/kiradewey)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2025, 4:38am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/urgent-accidental-deletion-of-media-files-daisy-disk/55331/4 "2025-02-04T04:38:37Z")
I think it is deleting the media from anki web because when I pressed sync the deletion numbers started to climb
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### Author:  [@kiradewey](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/kiradewey)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2025, 4:39am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/urgent-accidental-deletion-of-media-files-daisy-disk/55331/5 "2025-02-04T04:39:50Z")
I also just checked on my iPad- the deletion spread there too :,(
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### Author:  [@kiradewey](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/kiradewey)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2025, 4:46am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/urgent-accidental-deletion-of-media-files-daisy-disk/55331/6 "2025-02-04T04:46:01Z")
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### Author:  [@Danika\_Dakika](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/Danika_Dakika)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2025, 7:04am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/urgent-accidental-deletion-of-media-files-daisy-disk/55331/7 "2025-02-04T07:04:13Z")
> [@kiradewey](#):
>
> I also just checked on my iPad- the deletion spread there too
You definitely need to turn off syncing on your other devices. If Anki is open, log out of sync. If Anki is closed, disconnect from the internet, open Anki, and then log out of sync.
> [@kiradewey](#):
>
> I think I messed up the phone sync because I tried to upload to anki web again hoping I could download to my computer.
Media sync is separate from the database sync, so forcing a one-way sync won’t fix it, and you don’t need to try. It’s possible you won’t lose anything from your database in this process – but if you force a one-way sync, you will.
> [@kiradewey](#):
>
> I think it is deleting the media from anki web because when I pressed sync the deletion numbers started to climb
Okay. Hopefully you cancelled that sync. I just checked your account and restored the media files that were deleted from there today – 93 files, so it didn’t get through many.
Now that I’ve done that, when your computer rescans media on the next sync, I’m expecting it to download the 93 files, and the other _10GB_ of media you have in your account (this could take several syncs).
Log out of sync on your computer again, restart Anki (for good measure), and click sync to log in again. If you see the sync deleting instead of downloading, cancel it again, and we’ll have @dae take a look at what is happening on the server side.
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### Author:  [@kiradewey](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/kiradewey)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2025, 3:07pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/urgent-accidental-deletion-of-media-files-daisy-disk/55331/8 "2025-02-04T15:07:54Z")
Hello again,
It is now failing any attempted syncs. I have tried syncing on my laptop and my phone, both say that the sync has failed, and that if it continues to contact support (lol). I am really nervous !
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### Author:  [@kiradewey](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/kiradewey)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2025, 3:19pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/urgent-accidental-deletion-of-media-files-daisy-disk/55331/9 "2025-02-04T15:19:08Z")
also, before I saw some of these replies, around 1:20 am pressed “recover media”? or something similar on my iPhone. A lot of the images seemed to be restored to my cards there! Then I created a backup at that time because I thought I had fixed the problem. My plan was to use that backup on all my devices. that is not working
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### Author:  [@kiradewey](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/kiradewey)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2025, 3:53pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/urgent-accidental-deletion-of-media-files-daisy-disk/55331/10 "2025-02-04T15:53:03Z")
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### Author:  [@Danika\_Dakika](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/Danika_Dakika)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2025, 5:09pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/urgent-accidental-deletion-of-media-files-daisy-disk/55331/11 "2025-02-04T17:09:41Z")
This might be related to a problem on AnkiWeb’s side that Damien just discovered. I already flagged this issue for him, so if it’s that, he’ll be able to help.
> [@Did some wrong syncing, now 2175 files missing](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/did-some-wrong-syncing-now-2175-files-missing/54849/23):
>
> For the benefit of others, this was a bug on AnkiWeb’s end, and required me to make a change to Kazue’s account to fix it. If anyone else hits this before I have a chance to address the underlying cause, please reach out and I’ll fix your account for you.
I can tell you that right now your AnkiWeb account _still has all of the media_, so you will be able to recover from this.
> [@kiradewey](#):
>
> My plan was to use that backup on all my devices. that is not working
Between your phone, your AnkiWeb account, and your computer – which ones are in sync and the most current?
If you made an APKG or COLPKG backup on your phone, including scheduling and media – yes that is one way to restore things on your computer. You mentioned that was a few hours behind sync, so I didn’t suggest it.
When you say that’s not working – what do you mean?
You could also use that export to restore all of the media on your computer, without impacting your database –
- Copy that export file from you phone to your computer
- Import it into a new (temporary) profile on your computer.
- Go to the [folder for that new profile](https://docs.ankiweb.net/files.html#file-locations), open its `collection.media` and copy all of the files there.
- Go to the folder for your main profile, and paste those files into your `collection.media`.
- You can delete the temporary profile when you are done [and it will be several GBs in size, so you will probably want to].
When you launch Anki again on your computer, run Check Media, and you should see that the files are now there. That should get you up-and-running until Damien has a chance to take a look at your AnkiWeb account.
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### Author:  [@kiradewey](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/kiradewey)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2025, 5:33pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/urgent-accidental-deletion-of-media-files-daisy-disk/55331/12 "2025-02-04T17:33:43Z")
So, I made a download that seems to have everything. I made a new user profile and downloaded it there, but the syncing is still an issue. I look forward to having someone look over my account. When I say “not working”, I earn I get the error message I attached in the image. I was browsing the cards and it looks like a lot of the images that were missing yesterday are there. I tried several things:
- uploading 1;20 am iPhone backup to ANKI web, then downloading that to my computer (same error)
- Downloaded what was showing up on my laptop ANKI to the desktop, created a new user profile, then downloaded that version. I pressed sync, and got the same error message.
- Note that I have signed out of syncing everywhere but my laptop, which i dont have access to right now (Left it at home to go to school, was scared to take it with me)
Hopefully fixing the site wide syncing issue will help this…?
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### Author:  [@Danika\_Dakika](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/Danika_Dakika)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2025, 5:41pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/urgent-accidental-deletion-of-media-files-daisy-disk/55331/13 "2025-02-04T17:41:27Z")
You’re using “uploading” and “downloading” when sometimes I think you mean “importing” and “exporting” – but I think I get the gist of it.
[Manually export/importing your collection](https://docs.ankimobile.net/collection-transfer.html) between your devices will have to suffice for keeping them updated for now, until Damien has a chance to check your account.
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### Author:  [@kiradewey](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/kiradewey)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2025, 5:45pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/urgent-accidental-deletion-of-media-files-daisy-disk/55331/14 "2025-02-04T17:45:34Z")
Sorry, I am not a very computer savvy person. I really appreciate your help
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### Author:  [@kiradewey](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/kiradewey)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2025, 10:32pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/urgent-accidental-deletion-of-media-files-daisy-disk/55331/15 "2025-02-04T22:32:08Z")
> [@Danika\_Dakika](#):
>
> When you launch Anki again on your computer, run Check Media, and you should see that the files are now there
Hello, just checking back on this. As a reminder, I made the User 2 account I made attempting to do the following:
> [@Danika\_Dakika](#):
>
> Import it into a new (temporary) profile on your computer.
unfortunately, when checking media, it says there are still a lot of missing files, which is unfortunate. I switched back to user 1, where it says on 57 files are missing ( I can work with that). It gave me the option of uploading to anki web, or downloading from anki web. I chose to upload, and got the same “Please sync again, if this message keeps appearing…” thing. Am I doing something wrong? thank you again for your patience and help.
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### Author:  [@Danika\_Dakika](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/Danika_Dakika)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2025, 11:07pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/urgent-accidental-deletion-of-media-files-daisy-disk/55331/16 "2025-02-04T23:07:41Z")
You don’t need to use “User 2” as your new profile. That’s just an easy way way to get direct access to the media files. This workaround allows you (1) to have everything you need to keep studying, and (2) to have some peace of mind that your media files are safe.
I didn’t propose it as a direct solution to the syncing error – the developer is still going to need to take a look at what’s going on with that. I don’t think it will be fruitful to continue trying to sync until we hear from him. For now, you can keep your devices “in sync” using the Collection Transfer instructions I linked to.
> [@kiradewey](#):
>
> 57 files are missing ( I can work with that)
Then it seems like those files were either already missing before, or they were never synced to AnkiMobile. There’s nothing deleted from your AnkiWeb account, so once access to that is restored,
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### Author:  [@kiradewey](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/kiradewey)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2025, 11:31pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/urgent-accidental-deletion-of-media-files-daisy-disk/55331/17 "2025-02-04T23:31:28Z")
Thank you- yes, I intended to delete the other user but was confused as to why the new upload account I made seemed to be worse off than before 🤣. Regardless, thank you. I am so glad that at least my data is back. So, you’re saying it is safe to study ? Should I refrain from making new cards? I will stop bothering you for now but will check in later regarding the syncing issue. THANK YOU
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### Author:  [@Danika\_Dakika](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/Danika_Dakika)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2025, 12:19am UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/urgent-accidental-deletion-of-media-files-daisy-disk/55331/18 "2025-02-05T00:19:27Z")
Yes, it is safe to study! Probably best to hold off on adding anything new with media, but I think you’re okay adding new notes/cards too.
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### Author:  [@kiradewey](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/kiradewey)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2025, 4:48pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/urgent-accidental-deletion-of-media-files-daisy-disk/55331/19 "2025-02-05T16:48:05Z")
Hello/ good morning, just checking in again on this. I tried syncing again last night and this morning, and received the “Please sync again. If this message keeps appearing, please post on the support site.” message. It will get to around the number Checked: 288xxx before stopping each time. I am not sure how to proceed, but have a feeling there is an issue with the files on my computer somehow.
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### Author:  [@kiradewey](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/kiradewey)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2025, 5:11pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/urgent-accidental-deletion-of-media-files-daisy-disk/55331/20 "2025-02-05T17:11:41Z")
I just restarted my Mac on safe boot mode as instructed by an apple support person. Now, it will not even open Anki. I have the problem details code copied but I feel like that is a lot of information to post on a public forum
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