Deleted photos from an SD card may still be recoverable if they have not been overwritten. This guide covers practical methods to recover deleted photos from an SD card, including checking backups and using data recovery software to scan and restore lost photos.
Can I Recover Lost Photos From SD Card
Yes. When you delete photos stored on it or format your SD card, you just delete the pointers to the photos’ physical location on the card from the FAT (File Allocation Table) index. The system marks this place available for new data. The deleted photos will be reserved there until they are overwritten by the new files. That’s why it is suggested that you need to stop using your SD card once you find your data is lost. This behavior will prevent the deleted data from being overwritten.
In many cases, deleted or lost photos can be recovered from an SD card. It can be simple to recover if you have backed them up. If you don’t, using SD card recovery software is a good choice. Almost all data recovery software can restore photos in most photo loss cases, such as right-click deletion, SD card quick format, virus attack, etc.
However, there are some situations where the file restore tool cannot restore photos, for example, if you deleted the photos using the professional file shredder tool. In this case, you can contact the data recovery agency, which will help you a lot.
Specifically, how to recover deleted photos from SD card depends on how your photos were lost and whether you have backed up them. First, you can do a recovery from your backups. What’s more, SD card photo recovery software can do the job for you. Finally, if there is really no way to recover the photos yourself, you can seek help from a data recovery service.
How to Recover Deleted Photos From SD Card
Method 1: Check the Recently Deleted Folder
If you deleted your photos through a phone, camera, or photo management app, check whether that device or app has a Recently Deleted or Trash folder. If yes, restore them from that folder.
This method only works when the deleted photos were moved to a recoverable trash or recycle folder rather than permanently removed.
If the photos are not there, continue with the next method.
Method 2: Restore Deleted Photos from a Backup
If you previously backed up the photos, restoring the backup is safer than scanning the SD card.
For Windows users, check whether File History or another backup contains a copy of the photos. If yes, restore files from File History.
If your photos were automatically backed up to Google Photos, open Google Photos and check the Trash and your photo library. Google states that photos still in Trash can be restored, while permanently deleted items cannot be restored.
If no usable backup exists, try data recovery software.
Method 3: Recover Deleted Photos Using Data Recovery Software
You need reliable SD card photo recovery software to recover deleted photos from SD card if you don’t have a backup.
MiniTool Power Data Recovery can help you recover all kinds of data lost due to accidental deletion, incorrect disk formatting, virus attack, and so on. This tool supports photo recovery with many file formats, such as PNG, JPG, GIF, and so on. It is also suitable for SD cards of various device, so it is possible to recover deleted photos from camera SD card, mobile phone memory card, camcorder memory card, etc.
Now you can download and install it to recover 1 GB of deleted photos for free.
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Step 1: Find the SD card and start scanning
Launch the software to enter its main interface. Under Logical Drives, you can find your SD card where your photos are deleted and click Scan. This process will take some time. For the best scanning results, you should wait for it to be completed.
Step 2: Select the photos you want to save
After finishing scanning, all deleted or lost files on your SD card will be displayed. It may take a lot of time and effort to search for pictures one folder at a time according to the file tree structure under Path. To save time, you can find them according to the file type. Here are two features that can help you find photos quickly.
First, switch to the Type bar, double-click on All File Types to expand it, and then select Picture. The photo types will show up in the central pane.
Secondly, there is a feature called Filter in the upper-left corner. It can classify files by file type, modification date, file size, and file category. You need to classify files by file type. Click on By File Type and choose Picture. In the right pane, double-click on Picture to expand it.
In addition to these two functions, there is another function – Search. It is in the upper-right corner. You can input the keyword of the photo name and press Enter. The result will be found quickly.
Now select the photos you want to save to continue.
Step 3: Save your target photos
After you make sure these photos are the right ones, you can go to the last step – make sure all needed photos are ticked and click on the Save button.
Method 4: Contact Professional Data Recovery Services
There are some circumstances where professional data recovery services are the best fix, such as severe physical damage, serious file system error, or multiple repeated recovery failures.
Professional data recovery services provide advanced technology and equipment to recover data when software cannot. If you want to choose a service, you can prioritize those with a good reputation, clear communication, and a no-data, no-cost policy to ensure the best chance of recovery.
Possible Reasons for the SD Card Photo Loss
There are many reasons for photo loss, including human and system errors. You need to understand these reasons to better prevent photo loss.
- Photos are deleted accidentally. You delete photos from the SD card without consciousness before you back them up to the computer’s hard drive. If the photos are not overwritten, the chances of recovering deleted photos are high.
- SD card is formatted. You may choose to format the SD card if you want to change the type of the file system, erase the data, or repair the corrupt file system. That action will lead to data loss. However, if the SD card isn’t used to store new data, you are very likely to recover these lost photos from the formatted card.
- SD card is corrupted. The partition on the SD card gets damaged and cannot be accessible normally. If you want to access it in File Explorer, this error message “Location is not available. H:\ is not accessible. The file or directory is corrupted and readable.” will occur. So, the photos also cannot be readable.
- SD card is not compatible with the device. If there is a compatibility issue between your SD card and digital device, your photos may also disappear. Some digital cameras are strict with the speed of SD cards. They only use the qualified cards.
- Virus or malware attacks the SD card. If you often connect your digital device to your computer and there is no antivirus software on your PC, the virus and malware may be brought here. Therefore, the device is susceptible to viruses that can corrupt the data or lead to severe data loss issues.
- The files and folders are hidden. The photos may still exist on the SD card. However, they can be hidden because of some settings and malware. In this case, you need to adjust some system settings to show the hidden files.
- Physical damage. If your SD card is lost or physically damaged, the data in it can never be recovered. For data safety, please keep the SD card properly and carefully.
How to Back up Photos to Avoid Photo Loss
Your photos can be lost for any of the reasons listed above, so it is very important to back up your pictures regularly, which is to keep copies of your important photos in multiple locations to ensure they are never truly lost. These backups ensure that you can access your files when your SD card is damaged or corrupted or you delete data accidentally. Here are some tips you can use to back up photos to keep them safe.
- First, connect the SD card to your PC using a card reader, then copy and paste the photos and photo folders to your computer. That’s how to get pictures off SD card to put them on your PC. If your photos are lost on your SD card, you can find them on your computer.
- Secondly, sync the photos to a cloud storage service, such as Google Drive or Dropbox. It is a very safe way to store data, which can avoid accidental deletion and physical damage.
- Lastly, use this free backup and sync software, MiniTool ShadowMaker to create a copy of the photos on the SD card to a computer or external hard drive. You can download and install it to enjoy a 30-day free trial.
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Read Also: How to Sync Files With MiniTool ShadowMaker
Wrapping Things Up
After reading this article, you should have a clear understanding of how to recover deleted photos from SD card. If you encounter this situation, you can refer to the above methods and use MiniTool Power Data Recovery to solve the problem.
In order to better protect your data security, this article also briefly introduces several backup suggestions. Hope that will be helpful to you.
When you have any questions that prevent you from using this MiniTool recovery software, please feel free to contact us via [email protected].
SD Card Photo Recovery FAQ
About The Author
Position: Columnist
Shirley holds a bachelor’s degree in English and has been an editor at the MiniTool Team for many years. She specializes in IT-related content, with a focus on data recovery, file backup, disk management, and other technical topics. She is committed to delivering clear, accurate, and practical solutions to help users resolve common computer issues.
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