Backing up Trash content
CCC will not back up the contents of Finder's Trash by default, but CCC offers an option to back up the Finder's Trash in the Task Filter window. Click the Task Filter button at the bottom of CCC's window to reveal the task filter.
The Trash is not a simple folder, it's a complex mechanism that aggregates Trash folders from multiple volumes and user home folders on the startup disk; it behaves quite unlike other folders. When you back up the contents of the Trash, those items are copied to the Trash folder on the destination, and may reside in "the Trash" as viewed in the Finder. If you subsequently empty the Trash, that will delete the Trash on the backup disk if it is mounted when you empty the Trash. If you choose the option to back up the Finder Trash, we recommend that you unmount and detach your backup disk before emptying the Trash if you wish to retain the Trash on the backup disk.
Restoring Trash content
If you eject your backup disk and detach it from your Mac, and then you empty the Trash, you can simply reattach the backup disk to your Mac and the Trash will again appear to be filled. You can simply drag items out of the Trash to recover those items.
The Trash is a little bit more complicated than that
For external data-only volumes, the Trash behaves in the fairly straightforward manner previously described. For your startup disk, though, it's not quite that simple. There is more than one Trash folder on the startup disk, e.g. there is a Trash folder in each user's home folder. When you move an item (that you are the owner of) on your startup disk to the Trash, that item is placed in your home folder's Trash, not in the volume's trash folder. It still appears in "the Trash", but its location is important with regard to the backup. Suppose you do the following (with CCC configured to copy the Finder Trash):
- Move an item from your Desktop to the Trash
- Run a backup
- Detach your backup disk
- Empty the Trash
- Reattach your backup disk
Result: That item is not in the Trash! The file is actually in a Trash folder on the backup disk, but the Finder doesn't show you items in the home folder trash folders on external volumes. Finder will also not reveal the hidden Trash folder when you reveal hidden items (e.g. press Command+Shift+Period). To force the Finder to reveal the content of the hidden Trash folder on the backup volume, run a command like the following in the Terminal application (replacing the CCC backup volume name and the name of your home folder, as applicable):
open "/Volumes/CCC Backup/Users/yourname/.Trash"