Free SD Card Recovery Software

Disk Drill stands out from the crowd as the best solution to the widespread problem of SD card data loss. That's because it offers a perfectly balanced blend of advanced recovery features, excellent usability, and fantastic value.

The application supports over 400 file formats, and it can recognize the vast majority of commonly and not-so-commonly used raw photo and video file formats, including r2 (Canon raw version 2), cr3 (Canon raw version 3), nef (Nikon raw image file), nrw (Nikon raw image file), and r3d (Red digital camera company raw video file).

Regardless of if you have a smaller SD card with the FAT32 file system or a newer SDHC/SDXC card with a large exFAT partition, Disk Drill can apply its advanced data recovery algorithms to restore lost files with the original folder structure and file names intact. Disk Drill can also work with corrupted and raw SD cards that are not available in File Explorer/Finder.

Disk Drill is a freemium software application that lets its users preview an unlimited number of files and recover up to 500 MB of data (Windows version only) for free. Disk Drill's developers, CleverFiles, frequently update their product to keep it bug-free and to ensure consistently great performance.

Included for free with Disk Drill are multiple extra tools. When recovering data from a corrupted SD card, you can use the byte-to-byte backup tool to create a complete image of the card so that you have a secure backup of all its contents in case the corruption spreads and prevents the card from being readable.

✅ Pros:

• Supports most raw photo and video file formats
• Can scan even corrupted and raw SD cards
• Recovers up to 500 MB of data for free (Windows only)
• Comes with multiple free extra tools
• Simple one-click approach to SD card recovery
• Frequently updated

📛 Cons:

• Doesn’t support the Linux operating system

💰 Pricing:

🏆 Best for: Disk Drill should be the first choice for all Windows and Mac users who need to recover lost data from an SD card.

R-Studio aims to meet the needs of data recovery professionals looking for the most feature-packed data recovery software for SD card recovery available. The advanced capabilities of this tried-and-tested tool make it especially suitable for recovering corrupted SD cards, which the tool can scan and recover without relying on an intact file system.

While the application is a free download, you won’t be able to recover files larger than 256 KB with it. To do that, you’ll need to purchase a license. The least expensive R-Studio license (R-Studio FAT), costs $49.99, and it supports only the FAT family of file systems, including exFAT. Because FAT32 and exFAT are the most commonly used file systems for SD cards, you might be able to avoid spending considerably more money on a less limited R-Studio license.

Sure, you won't be able to, for example, create a sector map, run R-Studio in portable mode, or use the built-in hex editor, but most regular users don't really need these and other advanced users when recovering data from SD cards. Just know that a separate license is necessary for each operating system supported by R-Studio (Windows, macOS, and Linux).

✅ Pros:

• Recognizes all major file systems
• Can scan corrupted SD cards
• Runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux
• The least expensive license is enough for most SD card recovery jobs

📛 Cons:

• Too difficult for regular home users
• Each platform requires a separate license
• The free version can’t recover files larger than 256 KB

💰 Pricing:

🏆 Best for: R-Studio is the optimal choice for experienced users that are looking for a more sophisticated tool to assist them in recovering important files from their memory card.

Just like Disk Drill, Recuva, and other beginner-friendly memory card recovery software tools, IObit Undelete stands out with its one-click approach to data recovery. It also offers a handy portable mode that lets you run it on any Windows machine without installing it first.

Where it does fall behind higher-ranking tools is its data recovery performance. Simply put, IObit Undelete can only recover standard document, video, audio, and graphics file formats, and it can’t even preview them. If you need to recover less used file formats, such as raw photos or videos, then IObit Undelete will leave you utterly disappointed.

In addition to potentially delivering disappointing results, IObit Undelete will keep you waiting for them longer than many competing SD card recovery solutions because its scanning algorithms are slow. Worst of all, you won't even know if you're recovering the right files until the very end because a preview feature isn't available.

✅ Pros:

• One-click recovery process
• Portable mode
• Small download size

📛 Cons:

• Lack of advanced options
• Can’t preview files before recovery
• Limited file format support
• Doesn’t seem to be updated anymore

💰 Pricing: Freeware

🏆 Best for: IObit Undelete’s greatest strength lies in its simplicity, allowing you to jumpstart the recovery process with just a single click. This makes it a great tool for novice users who don’t know much about data recovery.

PhotoRec (together with its sister application TestDisk) is a command-line data recovery software for Windows, macOS, and Linux that's distributed for free under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL v2+). That means you can not only use it to perform SD card recovery without any limitations, but you can also poke around the source code and make modifications to it—if you know how, of course.

Regular computer users often find PhotoRec to be intimidating because of its command-line user interface and total lack of basic usability features, such as the ability to preview files before their recovery.

PhotoRec really isn't a great choice for regular users when compared with a highly polished data recovery software application like Disk Drill, but more advanced users are able to appreciate its file system repair capabilities and its decent FAT, exFAT, NTFS, and ext2/ext3/ext4 recovery performance.

✅ Pros:

• Multi-platform
• Completely free open-source software application
• Capable of repairing file system issues

📛 Cons:

• Command-line user interface is difficult to navigate and can contribute to data recovery failure
• Can't preview recoverable files
• Last updated in 2019

💰 Pricing: Free and open-source

🏆 Best for: PhotoRec is the top option for advanced Windows, macOS, and Linux users looking to recover memory card data without paying.

Data loss can happen for many different reasons, and you should understand at least the ones that are most common so that you can better avoid them:

• 🗑️ Formatting: Clicking the Format button lets you quickly and easily delete all data stored on an SD card and prepare it for another device. But if you fail to double-check that the SD card is really empty, you could instantly lose thousands of important files in one go.
• 😲 User error: We all make mistakes, but some of our mistakes can lead to data loss, such as accidentally clicking the Delete button instead of the Rename button. If you notice your mistake soon enough and don’t wait too long before using data recovery software for SD card recovery, you should be able to see your files again.
• ⚠️ Corruption: Software bugs, malware, and other factors can cause data stored on an SD card to become corrupted, unreadable, and, in extreme cases, even inaccessible. Fortunately, corrupted SD card recovery can be performed both using free SD card recovery software and built-in tools.
• 🔨 Physical damage: SD cards are small, fragile, and extremely difficult to repair once heavily damaged. While an SD card won’t break if you drop it on the floor, you can easily snap it in half just by forcefully inserting it the wrong way. Unfortunately, it’s typically not possible to recover a physically damaged SD card at home.
• 👾 Malfunction: Modern SD cards are highly reliable, and it’s extremely rare for them to just stop working suddenly. But just because something is rare doesn’t mean it won’t ever happen to you, which is why you should always back up your files to a safe location.