How to recover deleted photos from an SD card

Step by step

1. Remove the card and lock it

   Turn the camera off and take the card out. Full-size SD cards have a lock switch on the side; sliding it to Lock helps prevent accidental writes, although some readers ignore it.

2. Connect it with a card reader

   A USB card reader is more reliable than connecting the camera by cable, because many cameras present themselves as a media device rather than a disk. A phone with an internal memory instead of a card needs a different approach.

3. Choose Cancel on any format prompt

   If Windows says the card needs to be formatted, close the dialog. Formatting writes new file system structures and can reduce what can be recovered. See the RAW drive guide if the card shows as RAW.

4. Scan the card

   In Deleted file recovery, select the card and run the Balanced scan. If it finds nothing because the card was formatted in the camera, run the Deep signature scan, which looks for JPEG, HEIC and MP4 structures.

5. Preview and save to the PC

   Filter by Images or Videos, preview the thumbnails and save the selection to a folder on your PC's own disk. Never save recovered photos back onto the same card.

Deleted in the camera, formatted in the camera: what changes

Deleting photos in the camera works like deleting on a PC: the directory entries are marked deleted and the space is marked free. Names and dates often survive, so the Balanced scan can bring them back as they were.

Formatting in the camera usually performs a quick format: it writes a new, empty file system but leaves most of the old photo data in place. Names are lost, but the Deep signature scan can still find whole JPEG files. Some cameras offer a low-level or full format that overwrites the card; after that, recovery is not possible.

Videos and RAW photos need extra care

Videos are large and are often stored in several pieces on the card. A signature search assumes a file is stored in one piece, so a recovered video may be incomplete. Camera RAW formats such as CR2 or NEF can come back through the file system records, but they are not recognised by the signature search, so they are harder to find after a format.

When it won't work

• Photos taken after the deletion may have overwritten the old ones.
• A full or low-level format in the camera overwrites the card.
• A card that is not detected at all, or gets hot and disconnects, may be physically damaged and needs a lab.
• Cards with fake capacity lose data written beyond their real size; that data was never stored correctly.

How FileFix Ultimate helps

• Reads FAT32 and exFAT directory entries, including after a quick format, to recover names and folders such as DCIM.
• Finds JPEG, PNG, HEIC and MP4/MOV files by signature and can reassemble some JPEGs that were stored in two pieces.
• Decodes each recovered image to check that it is valid, so broken photos are marked instead of looking recovered.
• Includes a read-only fake capacity check for cards that keep corrupting photos.

Frequently asked questions