SD cards are widely used storage devices that provide external storage space for your camera, smartphone, and other portable devices. These SD cards are mainly known for their portability, large storage capacity, and convenience.
However, sometimes, you may encounter data loss issues on your SD card when all its stored content, including your precious photos, gets deleted. Whether your photos are deleted due to accidental deletion, formatting, corruption, or physical damage, losing precious photos from an SD card can be distressing.
Fortunately, there are several SD card recovery methods and tools available online that you can try to recover lost or deleted photos from an SD card. In this guide, we’ll explore the best SD card recovery methods that you can use for recovering photos from SD cards and the preventive steps to avoid data loss issues in the future.
What Causes Deletion of Photos on SD Cards?
Before applying any photo recovery method to recover deleted photos on SD cards, it is important to understand the exact cause of the loss. Common causes include:
- Accidental Deletion: One of the most common reasons for data loss on any device, including your SD cards, is accidental deletion. Such instances mainly occur when you mistakenly delete photos or entire folders while performing some task on your SD cards.
- Formatting the SD Card: Formatting the SD card, either intentionally or accidentally, erases all the data on the SD card.
- File System Corruption: Errors in the file system can make your SD card unreadable, causing the loss of all files stored on it.
- Physical Damage: Exposure to water, heat, or physical pressure can damage the card and cause data loss.
- Virus and Malware Attacks: Malicious software like viruses or malware can corrupt or delete files from the SD card.
- Improper Ejection: Removing the SD card from a device improperly can cause file corruption and loss.
Quick Methods to Recover Deleted Photos from SD Cards
Despite the above causes of photo loss from your SD cards, there are multiple SD card recovery methods available that you can try to restore your lost or deleted photos. In this part of the blog, we’ve outlined some common methods to help you out.
Method 01: Use Third-Party Photo Recovery Software
Let’s start with the easiest method first. There are many third-party photo recovery software available that you can try to recover lost or deleted photos. Tools like Stellar Photo Recovery are specially designed to recover photos deleted from any storage device, including your SD cards, USBs, hard drives, etc. You can use this software to recover deleted audio and video files in multiple file formats, not just photos.
This all-in-one photo recovery software is known for several amazing features, such as:
- It supports the recovery of files deleted due to accidental deletion, formatting, system errors, virus attacks, etc.
- It supports the recovery of photos from popular camera brands like Nikon, Canon, Sony, Kodak, etc.
- Allows you to preview the recoverable files before saving them on your device.
- Display the recoverable multimedia files in three different ways, i.e., File Type, Tree View, and Deleted List.
How to Recover Deleted Photos from SD Cards Using Stellar Photo Recovery software:
Step 1: Download and install the Stellar Photo Recovery software on your Windows PC/Mac. Also, connect the SD card to that device using a card reader.
Step 2: Launch the software, and from the homepage, select the storage drive or volume where your deleted photo(s) was stored earlier, and click Scan.
Step 3: After completion of the scanning process, preview the recoverable photos and choose the ones you need to recover. If you are not satisfied with the recoverable result, click the Deep Scan option to perform thorough scanning of your storage device.
Step 4: Once done, click the Recover button to save selected photos at the desired location on your device.
Method 02: Recover Deleted Photos from Backup
If you are good at creating regular backups of your photos to cloud backup services like Google Photos, Google Drive, etc. or an external hard drive, you can use these backups to restore deleted photos. For example:
- Google Photos: If you have synced your device containing an SD card to Google Photos or any other cloud backup service, it will automatically create a backup of your photos. You just have to open the Google Photos/Google Drive app on your device or open them in any web browser, locate and select the deleted photos in the Trash folder, and then restore them on your device.
- External Hard Drive or Computer: When you regularly back up your SD card photos to an external hard drive or your computer, simply copy the files back to the SD card or the desired location.
Method 03: Use File History Backups
Along with the above photo recovery method to recover deleted photos using cloud backup services or external drives, you can try built-in backup utilities to get your photos back. Windows OS provides a built-in File History backup utility that automatically creates a backup of all files stored on your device, including photos. It also creates a backup of data on external storage devices, like SD cards.
Go through the below steps to recover lost photos from SD cards using File History backup:
- Press the Windows + S keys and type File History in the search box.
- Click on Restore your files with the File History option to open it.
- Now, go through the folder location where your deleted photos were stored before deletion.
- Navigate to the backed-up photos and choose the ones you want to restore.
- Right-click on the green Restore button and select either the Restore or Restore to option to save selected photos to the original location or any desired location, respectively.
Tips to Avoid Data Loss on SD Cards
The above-mentioned photo recovery methods to recover deleted photos are quite easy and simple to implement, but it is important to avoid such data loss issues from your end. Here are some common tips that you can consider to prevent photo loss issues:
- Regular Backups: Ensure that you regularly back up your SD card data to a cloud service, external hard drive, or computer to protect against data loss.
- Use High-Quality SD Cards: Invest in reputable, high-quality SD cards to reduce the risk of corruption or failure.
- Safely Eject SD Cards: Always use the “Eject” or “Safely Remove Hardware” option before removing the SD card from a computer or device.
- Protect Your SD Card: Keep your SD cards in protective cases to avoid physical damage from water, heat, or impact.
Wrapping Up
Recovering lost or deleted photos from an SD card using the above-mentioned methods and photo recovery software is very easy. By using third-party photo recovery software like Stellar Photo Recovery, restoring from backups, or trying built-in backup utilities like File History, you can often retrieve your lost photos. However, it’s crucial to act quickly and avoid further use of the SD card to maximize your chances of a successful recovery. Always remember to back up your data regularly to prevent the need for recovery in the future.
