Originally Posted By: keys
Am I doing something wrong?

It is really very hard to say without a detailed description of the steps you followed.

The normal procedure would be:
  1. In Finder navigate to the folder where you would expect the missing file(s) to have been located
  2. Select the folder (see note below)
  3. Enter Time Machine (I assume that is what you meant by "Time")
  4. Using the Time index in the right margin select a point in time when you know or suspect the files would exist
  5. In Time Machine scroll through the files in the folder — you can drill down through sub-folders as well — until you locate the desired file(s)
  6. Select the file(s) in Time Machine then click on Restore
  7. If the file does NOT exist in the folder as of the time you attempt the Restore the file will be placed in the original folder without further ado
  8. If the file DOES exist in today's copy of folder, Time Machine will offer three alternatives
    1. Keep the ORIGINAL file (ie. the file that currently exists in the target folder)
    2. Keep BOTH the current copy and the restored copy of the file(s) in the same folder
    3. REPLACE the file currently in the target folder with the file restored from the Time Machiine backup
  9. In my experience there is little or no delay in the operation and the only way you know it happened is Time Machine quits.
  • NOTE: If you enter Time Machine without previously selecting a folder in Finder it will default to the Desktop Folder.

    The restored file will be in the original folder, and you should be able to locate it using Spotlight.

    • If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

    — Albert Einstein