Data recovery software for your Mac OS device. Recover lost or deleted data from your SD Card, microSD Card or other digital media device with SanDisk RescuePRO® - the best data recovery utility for recovering lost images, movies and more from any type of Digital Media. Recover an SD Card. If you deleted photos from a SD card mistakenly, or formatted a card inadvertently, or some pictures on the SD card missed for any reasons, you may need to find a SD Card Recovery software to recover the lost files from the SD card. CardRecovery software from WinRecovery Software is the leading SD Card Recovery software to recover deleted files from SD card, or files lost.
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SD card or memory card features small size but large capacity. It is widely used to extend capacity of portable digital devices like Android phones, cameras, camcorders, etc. However, SD card can be corrupted or damaged, and it may be access denied. Sometimes, SD card is not showing up. The data on it may be in danger. To recover deleted files from SD card or recover photos from SD card, a top free data recovery software can easily do this.
Some symptoms that indicate SD card corruption and data loss include the following.
- “SD card is damaged. Try formatting it”.
- “Read/write error on SD card”.
- “SD card is not accessible. The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable”.
- Some or all photos, videos, files on your SD card are missing. Or the SD card suddenly shows blank.
- You may see an error message saying that “memory card error” or “corrupt SD card”.
To help you rescue the data on your SD card and fix corrupted SD card, below we gather 8 quick tips.
Tip 1. How Can I Recover My SD Card Data for Free?
MiniTool Software company has been developing excellent, professional data recovery solutions, partition management, data backup and restore tools to millions of users from 180+ countries and areas for more than 10 years. Trusted by industry experts all over the world, MiniTool software products have got featured by plenty of authoritative technology sites such as TechRadar, PCWorld, CNET, FileHorse, Softpedia, LifeHacker, etc.
Their flagship product MiniTool Power Data Recovery can help you easily recover deleted files from SD card or recover photos from SD card.
Before you use the data recovery program to recover data from the corrupted SD card, you should first prepare an SD card reader. Insert your SD card to the SD card reader and plug in the SD card reader to your computer. Check if the SD card is recognized by your computer, if not, try to fix SD card not showing up issue first.
Please be aware that if your SD card is physically damaged and is not recognized by computer, then neither data recovery application nor SD card repair tool can help you.
Tip 2. What is the Best Recovery Software for SD Card?
- MiniTool Power Data Recovery (for Windows)
- Stellar Mac Data Recovery (for Mac)
Tip 3. How to Recover Data from Corrupted SD Card without Formatting?
Here we take using MiniTool Power Data Recovery to conduct the corrupted SD card data recovery as an example.
This free SD card recovery software supports recovering files, photos, videos, etc. from various types of SD/memory cards, e.g. SanDisk, Samsung, Kingston, Sony, Transcend SD card, etc. Corrupted/formatted SD card is supported.
Note: Please stop using the SD card if you find some files are mistakenly deleted or lost. If the SD card is overwritten, then even professional data recovery software can’t help you recover deleted/lost data.
Step 1. Download and install the 100% clean and free MiniTool Power Data Recovery on your Windows computer. Connect the SD card to your computer by using an SD card reader. Launch MiniTool Power Data Recovery.
Step 2. On the main UI of the application, you can click Removable Disk Drive in the left column, and click the target SD card in the right window. Click Scan button.
Step 3. After the scan process is completed, you can find need files, check them and click Save button to select a new destination to store the recovered files.
Tip 4. How Can I Recover Photos from a Corrupted SD Card?
If you’d like to recover deleted/lost photos from a corrupted SD card, you can only scan and recover photos with the data recovery software.
Windows users can open MiniTool Power Data Recovery and click Settings button next to Scan. Then select photo formats like JPEG, PNG, etc. to scan and recover.
Mac users can run Stellar Mac Data Recovery and only tick Photos on the main UI for later scanning. By doing this, the recovery result will only display photos.
Tip 5. How Do I Fix a Corrupted SD Card with Windows Error Checking
If the SD card has some logical corruption like file system error, you can try to use Windows drive error checking tool to repair the SD card.
- Still, use an SD card reader to connect the corrupted SD card to your Windows computer.
- Click This PC on the desktop. Locate and right-click the target SD card and select Properties to open the disk properties window.
- Click Tools And click Check button under Error checking section. Windows built-in free disk checking tool will automatically check and fix file system errors of the SD card.
Tip 6. How to Repair Damaged SD Card Using CMD?
Windows has another built-in free command-line tool, CHKDSK. CHKDSK can fix file system errors and mark bad sectors on the corrupted SD card. You can use it to fix a corrupt SD card.
- Use an SD card reader to connect your SD card to Windows computer. Find its drive letter in This PC.
- Next press Windows + R, type cmd, and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to run Windows Command Prompt as administrator.
- Then type chkdsk *: /f /r in Command Prompt window, and press Enter. Replace “*” with the exact drive letter of the SD card.
Tip 7. How Do I Fix a Corrupted SD Card on My Phone?
As for SD card data recovery for Android, usually, you can remove the SD card from your Android phone, and try the solutions above to recover data from Android SD card and repair the corrupted SD card.
For SD card recovery for iPhone, since its SD card cannot be removed, you can utilize a professional iPhone data recovery software to recover data on iPhone.
Tip 8. Why Do SD Cards Get Corrupted?
The causes for SD card corruption may be file system problems, virus/malware infection, improper operation or removal, etc.
To protect the SD card and data on it, you should handle the SD card gently, keep it away from virus, and back up important data to another device regularly.
Conclusion
This post analyzes how to do the SD card data recovery with the best free SD card recovery software, as well as how to fix a corrupted card with Windows built-in free SD card repair tools. Hope it helps.
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SD card is the most common storage medium chosen by the users of mobile phone, digital camera, and more other electronic devices. However, most people learn the importance of backing up SD card in a hard way. As a result, many people want to recover deleted photos and videos from SD card after mistaken deletion, formatting or other accidents. Luckily, as long as the lost data has not been overwritten by new ones, there are several free SD card recovery software that could play important roles.
Why You Need FREE SD Card Recovery Software
Though it is possible to retrieve lost files from an SD card, most people are unable to do it manually. SD card recovery tools developed by technical teams or companies are more efficient for the very task. Data recovery laboratories are surely capable to detect and fix the issue, but the cost is usually not affordable for individuals. Hence, it is a wise and reasonable choice to seek for free SD card recovery software.
Related: Frequently asked questions you may want to know about data recovery.
The top SD card recovery apps in this article are free or partially free for home use. It is not necessarily that the options with premium and paid features should be ignored. Actually, sometimes only those advanced programs can find your lost files. Moreover, all of the recovery tools will allow you to preview the found data so that you know what can be recovered.
We have prepared 5 Best Free SD Card Recovery Software for your ease. Check them and choose the best that suits you:
Top 1. Gihosoft RePicvid Standard
Gihosoft RePicvid is a rising name in the data recovery industry which has won the trust and satisfaction of millions of users. It comes with various editions and the Standard version provides the maximum possibility of SD card data recovery. You can use it to scan your SanDisk, Kingston or any other SD memory card for lost photos, videos, audio, Office documents, etc. hassle-free.
RePicvid Standard is available for free download on Windows and Mac computers and supports SD cards running on FAT32 and exFAT as well as devices on NTFS and other file systems. This SD card recovery software is featured with a straightforward and intuitive interface, so you will get back lost files in several steps.
- Step 1. Connect the SD card to computer via a card reader or the slot on PC.
- Step 2. Run RePicvid Standard and select the file type for recovery.
- Step 3. Scan the SD card partition for lost data.
- Step 4. Preview the found data and click the Recover button to save them.
Pros
- It allows retrieving the lost data from USB drive, SD card, hard drive and so on.
- The Advanced Settings enable fast and efficient scanning.
- 100% free for SD card photo recovery.
- It is risk-free, powerful and reliable.
Top 2. DiskDrill
Sometimes, we delete the data from the drive and also clean the Recycle Bin. If this thing happened to you, then this software is very helpful in this case. DiskDrill is very easy to operate. Select the drive from which you want to recover the data with a deep scan or quick scan. Go for deep scan option if you want to recover more file. Although a quick scan takes less time for scanning, it may be unable to find the lost data you want to recover.
Pros
- Both deep scan and quick scan are available.
- The deep scanning takes comparatively less time.
- Offers free data recovery within 500MB.
Cons
- Quick scanning won’t find too much valid data.
- It is not easy to locate the wanted data from all the entries.
Top 3. Recuva
Recuva is another popular SD card data recovery software. It is easy to use and manage. Launch the Recuva, and select the advanced mode. Select the options. A dialogue box will appear, choose the Action Tab. Select Scan and then press OK. Do wait until the Recuva scan completes. Save your file in particular folder after the scanning process.
Pros
- Recuva has both Free version and Professional version.
- Quite efficient in JPEG photo recovery.
Cons
- The interface is not friendly for newbies.
- Recuva only works on the Windows, not on Mac.
Top 4. iCare Data Recovery
If you are in search of a free SD Card Recovery Software that only works on the Windows operating system, then you must try iCare Data Recovery. It provides various editions for users, and users can at least recover 1GB files free.
Launch the iCare and select the recovery mode from “Deleted File Recovery” and “Advanced File Recovery”. Choose the storage media to start the scanning process. Wait for the scanning process to complete. Preview the lost data, choose the files that you want to save. Save the files in your desired folder.
Pros
- iCare offers up to 1GB of free data recovery from SD card and other storage media.
- It works well for all types of data except jpeg.
- It is very easy to use.
Cons
- iCare only operates on Windows, not on Mac.
- The scanning really takes a long time.
Top 5. PhotoRec Data Recovery
PhotoRec is one of best SD card recovery freeware that recover all types of files. It is 100% free for SD card data recovery, but operating this software itself is a difficult task. It will take users a lot of time to get the hang on it. If you’re a tech savvy, then PhotoRec is absolutely a good choice. Otherwise, it is the last free SD card recovery software that we would recommend.
Pros
- It is free and recovers all types of files
- It supports all storage media such as hard drive, USB flash and SD card.
- PhotoRec versions are supportive on Mac, Windows, and Linux Operating System.
Cons
- PhotoRec uses the command line interface that is very difficult to operate especially for the new users.
- It is somehow technical so a wrong command entry can lead to data corruption or data loss.
Free Sd Card Rescue Software For Mac Windows 10
Conclusion
In this article, we have gone through all the 5 best SD card recovery freeware. It is impossible to name the best SD card recovery software that suits everyone, but we have tried ranking them in a reasonable order, so you can pick one by one to see if your lost SD card files can be found or not. Nevertheless, RePicvid is strongly suggested for restoring deleted photos and videos from Nikon camera for free. Kindly share your experience, suggestion or problem with us in the comment.