Memory card or SD card can sometimes get corrupt and this might cause some data loss. This post mainly focuses on how to recover data like photos and videos from corrupted SD card or memory card. The method introduced below for memory card recovery can be applied to various types of SD or memory cards, incl. Android phone SD cards, SanDisk SD cards, Western Digital memory cards, memory cards in cameras/DSLRs, etc.
Table of Contents
Can SD Card Be Recovered?
Yes, SD card data can be recovered. If the memory card can still be recognized by your computer, then generally you can use professional data recovery software to recover lost data from the corrupt memory card. You should stop using the memory card immediately to avoid data overwriting.
However, if the SD card is not showing up on computer or is physically damaged, then there is little chance to restore lost data on it. You can try some measures to fix phone SD or go to an an experienced data recovery service like Recovered who can give you the best chance at recovering your lost data.
What Is the Best SD Card Recovery Software?
To recover lost photos and videos from corrupt memory card, you can utilize a free memory data recovery software to do the job with ease.
There are multiple choices that can help you with corrupted SD card data recovery. Bet most of you would like a free, clean, fast and easy-to-use data recovery tool.
MiniTool Power Data Recovery is recommended here. Its free edition allows you to recover data (up to 1GB) from storage devices totally for free. It features simple and intuitive interface, fast scan speed and accurate recovery result.
You can use MiniTool Power Data Recovery free edition to recover deleted/lost photos, videos, and any other files from memory card, SD card, USB drive, external HDD or SSD, Windows computer local drive, etc. Corrupt or formatted drive recovery is also supported by this best free memory card recovery software.
How Can I Recover My Data from SD/Memory Card for Free?
Most data recovery applications use special technologies and algorithms to automatically scan the device and restore deleted/lost files from it. You can get back lost photos and videos from your corrupt memory card or SD card only with a few clicks.
Download and install the 100% clean and free tool – MiniTool Power Data Recovery – on your Windows computer. If you use a Mac computer, then you should install the professional Mac data recovery software.
Check the 3 simple steps below for how to recover lost photos/videos from corrupt memory card or SD card.
Step 1. Connect the memory card to computer
You should utilize an SD card reader to connect the memory card to your computer. Then launch MiniTool Power Data Recovery to enter into its main interface.
Step 2. Scan the memory card data
Next you can click Removable Disk Drive in the left pane, and the connected memory card should be displayed in the right window. Click it and click Scan button. This smart free SD card recovery software will start scanning all data incl. deleted/lost data on the card automatically. You can click Settings icon to only choose some types of files to scan.
Step 3. Find needed files and save them
Wait until this software finishes the data scan. After that, you can check the scan result to find your lost photos, videos and other needed files, check them, and click Save button. Choose a destination path or another storage device to store the recovered files.
You can preview the file to verify if it is the exact file you want. You can also use the advanced filter features to quickly find target files. You can click Show Lost Files to only display lost photos and videos. If you remember a part of the file name, you can click Find and enter the name of the file to find specific file. You can also click Filter to sift the scan result by file extension, file size, etc.
3 Tips to Fix a Corrupt Memory Card
For logical corruption in memory card, you may try some measures to see if you can fix it.
Tip 1. Run a malware/virus scan. In case your memory card is infected by malware or virus, you can run the antivirus program on your computer to check and kill malware/virus.
Tip 2. Run CHKDSK to scan for logical errors and bad sectors on the memory card. You can connect the memory card to your computer. Press Windows + R, type cmd, and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open Command Prompt utility in Windows. Type chkdsk /f /r along with the drive letter of the memory card, e.g. chkdsk h: /f/ r, in Command Prompt window, and press Enter to automatically fix disk errors and mark bad sectors on the memory card.
Tip 2. Mistaken operation or ejection of SD card may also cause damage to the SD card and cause data loss. You should be more careful when using the memory card since it is easily scratched. If it really can’t work well, you can try the method above to recover data on it and format the SD card to see if it can work again.
Bottom Line
This post introduces how to recover lost/deleted photos and videos from memory card by using the professional free SD card data recovery software. If your SD/memory card can still be recognized by computer, you can try this method to easily restore lost data on it.
