Accidentally erasing a valuable file, or even worse, files, is a common mistake, arguably one of the most common human errors committed when dealing with all types of electronic devices. Furthermore, when it comes to SD cards, such a loss is especially regrettable. These cards are used in phones and cameras. Hence, they usually contain information you need daily as well as ordinary photos — invaluable artifacts of everyday life.
In addition, SD cards, although very convenient, are very fragile. They may indeed work up to 30 years in near-ideal conditions. However, they do not tolerate extreme temperatures, mechanical damage, or wet and dirty conditions. Hence, SD cards may stop working abruptly, leaving you without valuable data.
Nevertheless, don’t you worry! There are plenty of methods to recover deleted files from SD card. Let us look closer at how to approach this problem.
Specialized Multipurpose Utilities
The best way to minimize the damage after erasing data of great practical importance or considerable sentimental value is to get effective SD card recovery software. Here is a list of the best SD card recovery software, which deserves your attention. Many of these tools are free and versatile, capable of dealing with a great number of issues, which occur when trying to resurrect a “dead” SD card. As for the subscription-based ones, they usually offer more unique features, such as diverse filters, and the ability to preview files, or scan larger SD cards, than their open-source counterparts.
How to Work with Data Recovery Utilities
Even though all of the presented software tools come with their unique features, a good rule of thumb is to follow a general algorithm, such as the following:
- Install the chosen software tool.
- Open your newly installed tool and find the SD card you need.
- Scan it and search whether there are any files available for recovery. The larger your card is, the slower the scanning process will be.
- Preview (if possible) and select available files.
- Begin the process.
Of course, if you have chosen a program, which relies on a command-line user interface instead of a graphic user interface, dealing with it will be a little trickier. Nonetheless, it is still worth trying when crucial data is at stake.
How to Increase Your Chances to Recover Data
When it comes to data recovery for memory card, you can select from a great variety of different tools. Should you wish to restore them in Mac instead of Windows, you will also remain satisfied: you can easily find efficient tools, which will allow you to recover deleted files from SD card on Mac.
It is also worth noting that even the most powerful restoration tools do not come with a 100% guarantee of successful recovery. To multiply your chances to retrieve at least some portion of data, follow these steps:
- Do not format and/or rewrite your SD card.
- Do not forget about a byte-to-byte backup.
Why these rules are so important? You should not rewrite or format your faulty memory card. When you erase some files, their actual structural configuration will remain unchanged. They will remain on the card with the only difference being that the system will treat them as free space.
Because of that, you can still recover them with the help of special software. In most systems, you actually get rid of your files by overwriting them with new data. Hence, stop using your SD card until you recover all necessary files. By doing otherwise, you will significantly increase the risk of data loss.
As for the data cloning, it will provide you with a chance to make an error while recovering files: you may opt for different approaches being sure that you can always try anew.
