Card Not Detected
Stop here. This symptom means a do-it-yourself attempt can make the case worse or destroy useful evidence.
Free first-step guidance
DIY SD Card Recovery: Photos, Video, And Camera Media
For SD, microSD, CFexpress, and camera cards where photos or videos were deleted, formatted, or became unreadable.
- General information only
- User assumes DIY risk
- No software links
Best practices
What to do first.
- Stop using the card in the camera immediately. Do not take one more test photo or video.
- Use a reliable card reader and copy visible files to a computer drive first.
- If the card asks to format, cancel and use recovery software only if the card is stable.
- Recover to the computer or another drive, never back to the card.
- Keep the original card unchanged until you are satisfied with the recovered files.
Avoid
Actions that commonly make recovery worse.
- Do not format in the camera before recovery.
- Do not record new video to test the card.
- Do not run repair tools that write to the card before copying data.
- Do not keep retrying if the reader disconnects or the card gets hot.
Physical Crack
Stop here. This symptom means a do-it-yourself attempt can make the case worse or destroy useful evidence.
Heat
Stop here. This symptom means a do-it-yourself attempt can make the case worse or destroy useful evidence.
Repeated Disconnects
Stop here. This symptom means a do-it-yourself attempt can make the case worse or destroy useful evidence.
Professional Shoot Or Irreplaceable Photos
Stop here. This symptom means a do-it-yourself attempt can make the case worse or destroy useful evidence.
When to stop
Stop before the next attempt if the data matters.
If you are unsure, the safest free step is to stop and ask what not to do next. Do not keep testing just to prove the problem.
- Do not send passwords, private files, wallet seeds, confidential records, or drive images through chat.
- Do not pay anyone or ship anything until the case, path, and expectations are confirmed directly.
- Keep the original device unchanged until you are sure the recovered files are complete and usable.