Recover photos from an SD card or memory card

A card that Windows or a camera asks you to format has usually lost its file system index, not the photos. Formatting at that prompt is the single most damaging thing you can do.

Photographs survive in numbered image files on the card. Even when the directory is gone, the image data can often be carved out directly - which is why card recovery has a high success rate when nobody writes to it first.

Stop doing these right now

Never accept the 'You need to format this card' prompt, and never take new photos 'to test it'.
Do not delete, rename or re-insert repeatedly. Every write to a failing card destroys more.
Take the card out of the camera now. Cameras write to the card constantly, even when idle.

What to do, step by step

If the card still mounts

Copy everything off it first, before any scan. If the copy stalls on one file, skip it - come back to that file later.
If photos are missing but the card reads normally, run Recuva or DMDE on the card, saving results to your computer, never back onto the card.

If it asks to be formatted or is not detected

Try a different card reader and a different USB port first. Cheap readers fail far more often than cards do.
If it appears as a drive with the wrong or zero capacity, the controller is failing. Stop and consider a professional lab - continued power cycles finish cards off.
If it shows no drive letter at all: PhotoRec reads the card raw and ignores the file system entirely, which is exactly what you need here.

Corrupted or unreadable photos

A photo that opens halfway is usually a truncated JPEG. Try a JPEG repair utility before giving up - the thumbnail may still be intact.
Video files from cameras are the hardest case: they are large, fragmented and often recorded in a proprietary container. Recovery rates are lower and a lab is often the realistic option.

What decides whether it works

Whether anything was written after the loss - new photos, a format, or a camera re-indexing the card.
Card health: a card that is physically failing degrades each time it is powered up, so attempts should be few and decisive.
Capacity used: a nearly full card has less free space where old data can survive unharmed.

Not sure where you fit?

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Common questions

Can I recover photos from a card that was formatted in the camera?

Often yes, especially a quick format. An in-camera full format or secure erase writes over everything and leaves very little.

Why does the recovered photo have a strange name?

Carving tools recover by file signature and cannot read the original filename. Sort by date and file size, and preview before you judge the result.

Is it worth using a recovery service?

For irreplaceable photos from a card that is not detected at all, yes. Labs can read the memory chip directly. For a card your computer still sees, software usually does the job for free.

Offline Recovery Kit

The right order of operations - and what to stop doing right now

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This kit does not promise a result. What it promises is that you will not make it worse.
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What stays free forever — The diagnostics tool and the guides on this site are completely free. The kit is an optional add-on, not a gate to reach the tools.

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Last updated: 2026-09-30