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SD Card Recovery Software

Use your Windows computer to recover deleted files from a memory card. Disk Drill data recovery software is a free SD card recovery solution that restores lost and deleted images, videos, audio files, and more. Deleted files can be recovered from virtually any storage device with this flexible tool.

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Also available for Mac OS X

SD Card Recovery Software for Different Data Loss Situations

Disk Drill can recover files from your SD cards in a wide range of data loss situations. Here are some data loss scenarios that the software can address.

Formatted SD Card

Formatting the wrong SD card can destroy your valuable data. The software solution scans your card and recovers the files that seemed lost after formatting.
Accidental Data Deletion

If you have accidentally deleted important files from your memory card, you can get them back quickly and easily with this data recovery software tool.
Virus Infection

Infection with a virus or malware can be the case of data loss. Disk Drill gets your important files back if they have been deleted by malicious software.
Corrupted SD Card

Missing files can be caused by a corrupted SD card. Scanning the card with Disk Drill will get those files back so you can save them to a different device.
Damaged SD Card

Lightly damaged cards may be able to be recovered with Disk Drill. A data recovery service will be needed to recover heavily damaged cards.
Filesystem Problems

If your card’s filesystem suddenly changes to RAW making it impossible to view your files, Disk Drill can scan the device and recover its data safely.

Use Free Memory Card Recovery Software
to Restore Lost Data

Have you deleted some important photos from your memory card? Disk Drill can recover files from an SD card and get your valuable data back where it belongs. Some of the features that make Disk Drill the best tool for SD card data recovery include:

A user-friendly and intuitive interface
Recovers data from all types of memory cards
Restores files from digital cameras and mobile devices
Quick and deep scans to find all of your missing data

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Disk Drill works with any type of file system you have – NTFS, FAT32, EXT, ExFAT, HFS+, etc. Recovering lost files has never been so versatile. SD card data recovery and CF card recovery is not all Disk Drill can do. You can restore erased files on system disks, external devices, USB drives, other computers, etc. Free Disk Drill is smart. It will scan your system and let you know what it can recover. Recover 500 MB of data for free.

Recover Deleted Data From any Memory Card

Disk Drill supports data recovery on all types of memory cards. From a microSD card to an SDHC card taken out of a professional-grade digital camera, this reliable software tool will get your lost data back in the space of a few clicks. Take a look at the range of devices that are compatible with Disk Drill.

SD Card

SanDisk®, Sony®, Lexar®
SDHC Card

PNY®, Genuine SanDisk®, Lexar®
microSD/miniSD Card

Delkin®, Verbatim®, Silicon Power®
MMC Card

Transcend®, Johnziny®, Canon®
xD Picture Card

Olympus®, xD-Picture®, Fujifilm®
CF Card

MyMemory®, EgoDisk®, Delkin®

Tip: To recover data from a damaged SD card that cannot be accessed by your computer, contact Cleverfiles Data Recovery Center.

Supported File Types for SD Card Recovery

Disk Drill can recover virtually any kind of file that might have been stored on your SD card or compact flash card. The software supports over 400 different file signatures when performing a deep scan and will find all of your images, videos, and any other type of data on your card.

Video

WEBM (HTML5 WebM Videos), M4V (iTunes video), MP4 (MPEG-4 video), M4P (iTunes Music Store audio), R3D (Redcode Raw video image)
Audio

MP3 (MPEG Audio Stream, Layer III), MID (MIDI), AA (Audible Audio Book), AIFF (Audio Interchange File), WMA (Windows Media audio files)
Images

DJVU, TGA, PGM, DNG, PNG, HEIC, WMF, APM, DPX, JNB, JPG, KEY, WEBP, PCX, MPO, AFPHOTO, ALBM, ANI, DXF, Epson: ERF, Fujitsu: RAF
Documents

SXC (OpenOffice Calc), PDF (Portable Document Format), PPTX (Microsoft PowerPoint), ODG (OpenDocument Graphics)
Archives

ZIP (Extended Zip File), RAR (WinRAR Compressed Archive), ISO (ISO-9660 CD Disc Image), 7Z (7-Zip Compressed)
Other Files

RAW (Raw disk images), DB (Paradox), DAT (Legacy binary images), MYO (MYOB Limited Windows File), VMDK (Virtual VMWare disks)

All supported file types

5 Easy Steps

How to Recover Files From an SD Card

Use the following steps to recover lost or deleted files from an SD card using Disk Drill.

1. Download and Install Disk Drill SD Data Recovery Software for Windows

Download and install the freeware version of Disk Drill for Windows on your computer. During installation, you will be prompted to provide administrator-level credentials to complete the process. You can recover up to 500 MB of data for free without upgrading to the Pro version of the tool. Connect the SD card to your computer with either a card reader or by attaching the device that contains it.

2. Choose the SD card and recovery method you need

Select the SD card from the disk list presented in Disk Drill’s interface. After making your selection, you can choose the type of recovery method you want to use. If you are looking for files that were recently deleted, you may want to try a quick scan. Harder to find files can often be recovered with a deep scan which can reconstruct files from fragments and file signatures.

How to recover deleted photos with photo recovery software

3. Start scanning for lost data

Click the Search for lost data button to initiate Disk Drill’s advanced scanning algorithms. Over 400 different file types are defined in the application’s recovery database and are recognized by the scanning procedures. They include virtually any kind of file you are likely to be using on a memory card or digital device. Scans can be paused and restarted at any time for a more convenient recovery.

Recovering deleted files from HFS

4. Select the files which you want to recover on your
flash drive

During the scan, you will see progress as the process executes. You can pause the scan to recover files or wait for it to complete. You have several methods by which you can search for the files that you want to recover. This can save a lot of time when compared to looking through the potentially long list of files that Disk Drill may have found.

USB flash drive recovery hints and tips

4.1. Use "filters" for faster search by selecting the right file type

Recovered files are displayed in folders and categorized by file type to simplify your search for recoverable data. You can choose to look only at Pictures, Video, Audio, Documents, Archives, and other files to narrow the search. If you are interested in the videos that have been recovered, why waste your time looking at everything that the app found?
4.2. Search for files

If you know the name of the file you are looking for, you can just look for it directly in the app’s search bar. You can use wildcards as in other search boxes, so as long as you know part of the name this can still save a lot of time sorting through recovery results. Just jump right to the file you need.
4.3. Check the Reconstruction section

Reconstructed files are those that have been found through a deep scan. The file fragment did not supply enough metadata to recreate the filename. They are found in the Reconstruction section and will have a generic filename with a valid file extension. You can preview the files and rename them after you perform the recovery.

5. Recover the deleted data from your SD card

Click the Recover button once you have identified the files you wish to restore. You will be prompted for a safe location at which to save the recovered files. Don’t save them to the SD card that suffered data loss or you may cause file corruption during the recovery process. When recovery is complete, you can move the files to the location of your choice.

Technical Specifications

Operating System Supported:

Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP
Windows Server 2019/2016/2012/2008
Files System Supported:

FAT/FAT32/exFAT, NTFS, HFS & HFS+, APFS, EXT3/EXT4 and any RAW disk
Hardware Requirements:

Disk Space: 30MB minimum space for Disk Drill Data Recovery installation
CPU: at least with x86
RAM: at least 128MB

Protect

Protect Your Data with Enhanced SD Card Recovery

One of the free data protection tools provided by Disk Drill is called Recovery Vault. This tool allows you to designate specific important folders and files for additional protection against accidental deletion. Recovery Vault backs up the file’s meta-data in the background and enables you to recover protected data quickly without performing a full data recovery procedure.

A Comparison of the Best
Memory Card Recovery Software

There are a lot of software applications available that claim to be able to recover data from memory cards. To help you find the best solution for your needs, we have put together this comparison of five of the most popular recovery tools for Windows that work and can restore your files. Take a look at the features offered by each solution and find the right one to resolve your data loss situation.

	Disk Drill	EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard	Recuva	Minitool Power Data Recovery	Recoverit SD Card Recovery
Rating (5 star)	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★	★★★★★
Supported SD card file systems	ExFAT, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, ext2, ext3, ext4, HFS+, APFS	ExFAT, FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, ext2, ext3, HFS+, ReFS	ExFAT, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, ext2, ext3, ext4	FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS	ExFAT, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, ReFS, JFS , ext2, ext3, ext4
Deep scan file signatures	400+	1000	50	100	1000
Corrupted SD card Recovery	✔	✔	✘	✔	✔
Formatted SD card recovery	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
RAW SD card recovery	✔	✔	✘	✔	✔
RAW photo recovery	✔	Partial support	Limited support	Limited support	Partial support
Video file recovery (HDV, AVCHD, H.264, MPEG4 etc)	✔	✔	Limited support	Limited support	✔
Data loss prevention	✔	✘	✘	✘	✘
Modern user-friendly Interface	✔	✔	✘	✘	✔
Mount recovery results as a virtual drive	✔	✘	✘	✘	✘
Save scanning sessions	✔	✔	✘	✔	✘
Built-in preview of photo \ video files	✔	Limited support	Limited support	Limited support	Limited support
Backup failling SD cards to a disk image	✔	✘	✔	✘	✘

Tips to Protect your SD Card

Here are some tips to protect the data on your SD card. They will help you minimize the need for recovery software and increase the likelihood of a successful restore process if it becomes necessary.

Stop using the card

Stop using the card as soon as you suspect data loss has occurred to prevent the deleted files from being overwritten by new data, making them unrecoverable.
Handle SD cards gently

SD cards can easily be physically damaged by roughly inserting and removing them from a device. This can lead to data loss and should be avoided.
Stay away from viruses

Every time you connect your SD card to a device you run the risk of infection with malware or a virus. Only use devices that have been verified virus-free.
Backup your data

Backing up your data provides you with a way to recover from data loss without software. It’s a valuable practice that you should be performing regularly.
Don’t ignore signs of failure

Signs of impending SD card failure can include slow loading or missing files. If you think your card may be about to fail, move your files to a new storage device.
Label your SD cards

Inadvertently formatting the wrong SD card can lead to substantial data loss. Labeling them may help you keep track of them and format the right card.

Customers and software guru say

Ken Morrow

I had a Sandisk Extreme SD card go glitchy in my Samsung phone with about 4k photos and videos with no backup. 5 years of memories. Three of your “competitors” estimated a retrieval of 2000 items. One company never sent me a good product key. The others made excuses for results. One managed to actually retrieve a few hundred. Your software retrieved all but 150 items in perfect or near perfect condition!!! Nearly 4000 photos and videos. You guys are awesome!!! Those photos are my life!! Thank you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Updated on Oct 16, 2020 by Disk Drill Team

How to Recover Deleted Files from an SD Card?

To recover deleted files from an SD card:

Download and install Disk Drill SD Card recovery software for Windows or Mac.
Connect the SD card to your PC or Mac.
Launch the application and choose the memory card from the list of disks.
Click Search for lost data to scan for lost SD files.
Preview and choose the files for recovery.
Click the Recover all button to restore your selected files from SD card.

What is the Best Free SD Card Recovery Software?

8 Best Free Memory Card Recovery Software in 2020:

Does Disk Drill support MicroSD card recovery?

Yes, it does. Here’s how to recover data from a MicroSD card with Disk Drill.

Connect the MicroSD card to the computer with Disk Drill.
Start the app and choose the MicroSD card from the list.
Scan the card for recoverable data.
Preview the files and select the ones you want to recover.
Recover the files to a new and safe storage location.

How to Recover Deleted Files from an SD Card for Free?

To recover deleted files from an SD card for free follow these steps:

Download and install Disk Drill SD Card recovery software for Windows.
Connect the SD card to your computer and start the app.
Click Search for lost data to find your SD card files.
Preview and select the files to be recovered from SD card.
Click Recover and restore up to 500 MB of SD card data for free.

Can we recover data from a corrupted SD card?

Yes, you can recover from a corrupted card using these steps and Disk Drill without formatting the device.

Connect the card to your computer.
Start Disk Drill and choose the SD card from the list.
Scan the SD card for recoverable data.
Preview the files that can be restored and choose those you want.
Perform the recovery and save your data to a new location.

How do I fix an unreadable SD card?

Here are some things you can do to try to fix an unreadable SD card.

Try the card in a different device or card reader.
Check the card for physical damage to the connectors.
Assign the card a drive name.
Clean the card to ensure it is free of dust that may affect connectivity.

How to Recover Deleted Files from an SD Card without Software?

To recover deleted photos from an SD card without software you can:

Check the Recently Deleted folder on the device which contains the memory card.
Try the card in a different device or card reader that may allow access to lost data.
Connect the device to a different USB port.
Restore files from a previously made backup of the data.

How to Recover Deleted Photos from an SD Card?

To recover deleted photos from an SD card follow these steps:

Download and install Disk Drill.
Attach the SD card to your computer.
Start the app and choose the SD card from the disk list.
Click Search for lost data to identify deleted photos.
Preview the list of recoverable photos.
Select the photos to be restore and click Recover all.

How Can I Recover Photos from a Formatted SD Card?

To recover photos from a formatted SD card use this procedure:

Attach the SD card to your computer.
Start Disk Drill and select the SD card from the disk list.
Click Search for lost data to scan the card for deleted photos.
Preview the found images and choose the ones you want to retrieve.
Click Recover to restore the pictures.

How can I recover deleted files from a SanDisk SD card?

Recover from a SanDisk SD card with the following procedure.

Connect the SanDisk card to your Windows computer.
Start Disk Drill and select the card from the disk list.
Click the Search for lost data button to scan the card.
Preview the recoverable files and make your selections.
Choose a location to save the recovered data.
Click Recover to perform the recovery.

Can an SD card be recovered?

Yes, deleted files on an SD card can be recovered with Disk Drill data recovery software. The application scans your memory card and finds lost and deleted files and recovers them to the storage media of your choice. Even if the card has been formatted, Disk Drill will check it sector by sector to recover all of the data that had been on the device.