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Trying to recover my SD card… any free SD card recovery software suggestions?
Quote from JustMike on January 15, 2026, 11:27 amI deleted a bunch of photos and videos from my SD card before I had a chance to copy them to my hard drive, like an absolute idiot. At first I thought this would be an easy fix but I was wrong. Pretty quickly I realized that I won’t get anywhere without some kind of SD card recovery software. The problem is that every tool I found asks me to pay and I really don’t want to pay. I just need to restore the lost files once and move on, and I’ll try very hard not to repeat this mistake. So now I’m stuck looking for free SD card recovery software. I don’t need anything fancy, just something that can recover my SD card.
If you know any free SD card data recovery software that actually works, please share. At this point, I’ll take anything that helped you before.
I deleted a bunch of photos and videos from my SD card before I had a chance to copy them to my hard drive, like an absolute idiot. At first I thought this would be an easy fix but I was wrong. Pretty quickly I realized that I won’t get anywhere without some kind of SD card recovery software. The problem is that every tool I found asks me to pay and I really don’t want to pay. I just need to restore the lost files once and move on, and I’ll try very hard not to repeat this mistake. So now I’m stuck looking for free SD card recovery software. I don’t need anything fancy, just something that can recover my SD card.
If you know any free SD card data recovery software that actually works, please share. At this point, I’ll take anything that helped you before.
Quote from Ryan404 on January 26, 2026, 3:12 pmthat’s a pretty basic and very common scenario. first thing first while you’re reading this thread, do not use the SD card for new shoots and don’t format it (every new write lowers your chances of getting those files back)
as for free recovery software for SD cards there really aren’t many real options. iif you’re on windows, you can try recuva from the ccleaner developers, or photorec (keep expectations low) as photorec’s main version runs in terminal, and it’s not friendly at all. there is qphotorec with a gui but it’s still very basic. on macos it’s even simpler. basically photorec only, and that’s the terminal version, no gui there.
that’s pretty much it. I don’t know any other truly free tools and even these ones are far from perfect.
that’s a pretty basic and very common scenario. first thing first while you’re reading this thread, do not use the SD card for new shoots and don’t format it (every new write lowers your chances of getting those files back)
as for free recovery software for SD cards there really aren’t many real options. iif you’re on windows, you can try recuva from the ccleaner developers, or photorec (keep expectations low) as photorec’s main version runs in terminal, and it’s not friendly at all. there is qphotorec with a gui but it’s still very basic. on macos it’s even simpler. basically photorec only, and that’s the terminal version, no gui there.
that’s pretty much it. I don’t know any other truly free tools and even these ones are far from perfect.
Quote from phillyjohn on January 27, 2026, 12:59 pm@justmike
For fully free tools really try PhotoRec. Recuva will mostly just wave back at you if your SD card turns out to be corrupted. PhotoRec can scan the card and retrieve deleted data, but be ready for the outcome. It won’t let you preview recoverable files. It just recovers everything it can find in one big dump. After that you’ll need to open each photo and video manually to figure out whether it’s something you actually need or just old stuff that was deleted long ago and never overwritten. So it’s kind of a 50/50 situation. If price is the main criterion you’ll have to struggle a bit. Fully free recovery means extra work on your side.
@justmike
For fully free tools really try PhotoRec. Recuva will mostly just wave back at you if your SD card turns out to be corrupted. PhotoRec can scan the card and retrieve deleted data, but be ready for the outcome. It won’t let you preview recoverable files. It just recovers everything it can find in one big dump. After that you’ll need to open each photo and video manually to figure out whether it’s something you actually need or just old stuff that was deleted long ago and never overwritten. So it’s kind of a 50/50 situation. If price is the main criterion you’ll have to struggle a bit. Fully free recovery means extra work on your side.
Quote from DataNerd on January 27, 2026, 1:24 pmLet me share what might be an unpopular opinion but free SD card recovery software is useful only in rare cases. People already mentioned corrupted SD card issues and when the SD card is not detected and free tools usually fail there.
One more thing nobody mentioned is the camera type. If the card comes from something like a GoPro or DJI, free tools may recover photos, but they usually fail to recover deleted videos from SD card. Video files are fragmented, so you often end up with broken or glitchy clips. This is where I’ll mention a paid option Disk Drill. It has a dedicated module for this scenario, and when I tested it, I got proper, watchable videos instead of fragments.
**I know paying is not what anyone wants to hear, but sometimes paying once for a good result beats wasting hours on half-working free tools.
Let me share what might be an unpopular opinion but free SD card recovery software is useful only in rare cases. People already mentioned corrupted SD card issues and when the SD card is not detected and free tools usually fail there.
One more thing nobody mentioned is the camera type. If the card comes from something like a GoPro or DJI, free tools may recover photos, but they usually fail to recover deleted videos from SD card. Video files are fragmented, so you often end up with broken or glitchy clips. This is where I’ll mention a paid option Disk Drill. It has a dedicated module for this scenario, and when I tested it, I got proper, watchable videos instead of fragments.
**I know paying is not what anyone wants to hear, but sometimes paying once for a good result beats wasting hours on half-working free tools.
Quote from JustMike on January 27, 2026, 1:41 pmI didn’t expect to get more than one reply here, but wow you guys are awesome! So far you kind of convinced me that PhotoRec is the best free SD card recovery software and I want to give it a try. though, I still have no idea how I can recover files from my SD card with it. Judging by the screenshots online, the program looks scary as hell but I’ll try to figure something out.
UPD: nope nope nope. I’m out. I really don’t want to deal with this. I don’t want to watch a video tutorial for every single step just to recover my files. I need something more understandable and straightforward. Does anyone have any other suggestions?
I didn’t expect to get more than one reply here, but wow you guys are awesome! So far you kind of convinced me that PhotoRec is the best free SD card recovery software and I want to give it a try. though, I still have no idea how I can recover files from my SD card with it. Judging by the screenshots online, the program looks scary as hell but I’ll try to figure something out.
UPD: nope nope nope. I’m out. I really don’t want to deal with this. I don’t want to watch a video tutorial for every single step just to recover my files. I need something more understandable and straightforward. Does anyone have any other suggestions?
Quote from bryan on January 27, 2026, 1:44 pm@justmike Lmao dude. Come on.
You asked for free SD card recovery software, people gave you the only real options, and now you’re like "nah, too scary". That’s on you. If you don’t wanna deal with ugly tools, stop chasing free stuff. Open Google, search best data recovery software, buy something normal, and be done with it. This isn’t rocket science. Free cheese only comes in a mousetrap 🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️
@justmike Lmao dude. Come on.
You asked for free SD card recovery software, people gave you the only real options, and now you’re like "nah, too scary". That’s on you. If you don’t wanna deal with ugly tools, stop chasing free stuff. Open Google, search best data recovery software, buy something normal, and be done with it. This isn’t rocket science. Free cheese only comes in a mousetrap 🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️
Quote from JustMike on January 27, 2026, 1:45 pmQuote from bryan on January 27, 2026, 1:44 pm@justmike Lmao dude. Come on.
You asked for free SD card recovery software, people gave you the only real options, and now you’re like "nah, too scary". That’s on you. If you don’t wanna deal with ugly tools, stop chasing free stuff. Open Google, search best data recovery software, buy something normal, and be done with it. This isn’t rocket science. Free cheese only comes in a mousetrap 🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️Alright, got it. Point taken. Thanks.
Quote from bryan on January 27, 2026, 1:44 pm@justmike Lmao dude. Come on.
You asked for free SD card recovery software, people gave you the only real options, and now you’re like "nah, too scary". That’s on you. If you don’t wanna deal with ugly tools, stop chasing free stuff. Open Google, search best data recovery software, buy something normal, and be done with it. This isn’t rocket science. Free cheese only comes in a mousetrap 🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️
Alright, got it. Point taken. Thanks.
Quote from em_on_pc on January 27, 2026, 2:24 pmIn most cases I personally use R-Studio (been using it for years now, probably close to 10, and it’s paid). That said, the same developers also have R-Photo. By the name it sounds like free SD card photo recovery software, but it can also recover deleted videos for free. It’s Windows only (no Mac version). Not sure if this helps, but I figured it’s worth mentioning in case someone else here can use it
In most cases I personally use R-Studio (been using it for years now, probably close to 10, and it’s paid). That said, the same developers also have R-Photo. By the name it sounds like free SD card photo recovery software, but it can also recover deleted videos for free. It’s Windows only (no Mac version). Not sure if this helps, but I figured it’s worth mentioning in case someone else here can use it
Quote from chris_89 on January 27, 2026, 2:26 pm+1 for Disk Drill. It saved me more times than I can count. The price is totally justified. Also worth mentioning that it has a 100 MB free limit enough to test the software and even recover a couple of photos (if you didn’t delete an entire shoot just a few files by mistake).
I don’t really get the obsession with hunting for free tools. Paid recovery software is usually way more reliable, simply because it’s an actual product that developers keep improving. + most of them let you scan the SD card and preview results first. If the files are there and look good, you pay once and walk away with your data. That’s a fair deal to me.
+1 for Disk Drill. It saved me more times than I can count. The price is totally justified. Also worth mentioning that it has a 100 MB free limit enough to test the software and even recover a couple of photos (if you didn’t delete an entire shoot just a few files by mistake).
I don’t really get the obsession with hunting for free tools. Paid recovery software is usually way more reliable, simply because it’s an actual product that developers keep improving. + most of them let you scan the SD card and preview results first. If the files are there and look good, you pay once and walk away with your data. That’s a fair deal to me.
Quote from DataRecoverExpert on January 27, 2026, 2:27 pmHi everyone! Huge thanks to all of you for keeping this thread active -you’ve already shared a lot of solid advice here 👍
You’re absolutely right that free data recovery options are limited, but they do exist, and this discussion shows both their strengths and their limits.
If you want to see everything laid out clearly, I recommend checking our curated list of the best SD card recovery software. For each tool, we break down pros/cons and system requirements, so you can immediately tell whether a program will work on your PC or Mac.
The guide includes tools that were mentioned multiple times in this thread, such as Disk Drill, Recuva, and PhotoRec, but it also covers additional options nobody has brought up yet, including:
- EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard (Windows & macOS)
- IObit Undelete (Windows)
- MiniTool Power Data Recovery (Windows)
And if you need step-by-step help, we also have an SD card recovery section with detailed guides covering deleted files, formatted cards, and recovery scenarios based on the device where the card was used (different cameras, Android phones, and card types, with their specific recovery nuances).
Hope this helps!
Hi everyone! Huge thanks to all of you for keeping this thread active -you’ve already shared a lot of solid advice here 👍
You’re absolutely right that free data recovery options are limited, but they do exist, and this discussion shows both their strengths and their limits.
If you want to see everything laid out clearly, I recommend checking our curated list of the best SD card recovery software. For each tool, we break down pros/cons and system requirements, so you can immediately tell whether a program will work on your PC or Mac.
The guide includes tools that were mentioned multiple times in this thread, such as Disk Drill, Recuva, and PhotoRec, but it also covers additional options nobody has brought up yet, including:
- EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard (Windows & macOS)
- IObit Undelete (Windows)
- MiniTool Power Data Recovery (Windows)
And if you need step-by-step help, we also have an SD card recovery section with detailed guides covering deleted files, formatted cards, and recovery scenarios based on the device where the card was used (different cameras, Android phones, and card types, with their specific recovery nuances).
Hope this helps!
Quote from JohnMiller on January 27, 2026, 6:23 pmHey guys! I get that you’re mostly trying to help @justmike here but could someone help me out too? Quick question - can any of the tools mentioned above recover formatted SD card, or are they only useful for cases where someone tries to figure out how to recover my deleted photos from SD card?
ps: I’m asking because my card was actually formatted and just want to understand if I’m even in the same boat or if that’s a totally different story.
Hey guys! I get that you’re mostly trying to help @justmike here but could someone help me out too? Quick question - can any of the tools mentioned above recover formatted SD card, or are they only useful for cases where someone tries to figure out how to recover my deleted photos from SD card?
ps: I’m asking because my card was actually formatted and just want to understand if I’m even in the same boat or if that’s a totally different story.
Quote from Ryan404 on January 27, 2026, 6:32 pm@johnmiller yeah.
all of them can handle a formatted SD card but only if it was a quick format not a full one. That detail matters a lot. it gets trickier if the card was formatted in-camera (some cameras do more than a simple format). for example sony cameras format the card in a way that wipes data so aggressively that recovery becomes impossible even for paid tools. pick one of the tools already mentioned in this thread and try it, that’s really the only way to know for sure.
@johnmiller yeah.
all of them can handle a formatted SD card but only if it was a quick format not a full one. That detail matters a lot. it gets trickier if the card was formatted in-camera (some cameras do more than a simple format). for example sony cameras format the card in a way that wipes data so aggressively that recovery becomes impossible even for paid tools. pick one of the tools already mentioned in this thread and try it, that’s really the only way to know for sure.
Quote from OhioTom on January 28, 2026, 12:36 pmKind of surprised nobody mentioned this yet, but SanDisk cards often come with a one-year license for SanDisk RescuePRO. The software itself is paid, but the license makes it free for a year. During that year you can recover as much as you want, and if the year runs out buying another SanDisk SD card basically gets you both a new card and another license (card + software in one shot).
Definitely worth checking if you’re using SanDisk.
Kind of surprised nobody mentioned this yet, but SanDisk cards often come with a one-year license for SanDisk RescuePRO. The software itself is paid, but the license makes it free for a year. During that year you can recover as much as you want, and if the year runs out buying another SanDisk SD card basically gets you both a new card and another license (card + software in one shot).
Definitely worth checking if you’re using SanDisk.
Quote from AlexR on January 28, 2026, 12:48 pmIf anyone else stumbles on this thread later, make a backup once you recover anything. SD cards aren’t meant for long-term storage and they fail silently and always at the worst time. Some recovery programs include built-in tools to create a disk image or backup of the SD card before or after recovery. That feature can save you from going through this mess again if something goes wrong during the process.
If anyone else stumbles on this thread later, make a backup once you recover anything. SD cards aren’t meant for long-term storage and they fail silently and always at the worst time. Some recovery programs include built-in tools to create a disk image or backup of the SD card before or after recovery. That feature can save you from going through this mess again if something goes wrong during the process.