SD Card & USB Drive Recovery (Undelete from a Disk Image)
Find deleted files in an image of your memory card or pen drive, on your own device.
Free preview.
- Free preview: the full list of files found with their names, sizes and condition, small watermarked thumbnails and the first half of each video (up to 10 seconds), marked.
- Locked until you unlock it: download and saving to your device.
- Unlock: Ultimate pass, ₹1,199 for 30 days, a one-time payment that never renews.
Ways to unlock shows how to get the full result.
Printing this result is locked in the free preview.
Before you scan
- Stop using the card or drive now. Deleted data is still there only until something new is written over it: every photo, file or update saved to it now can land on the space a deleted file used.
- Save the image and the recovered files on a different drive. Writing to the card or drive you are recovering overwrites the very data you want back.
- Is it an SSD inside a computer? Windows (7 and later) and Macs with Apple SSDs send a TRIM command as soon as a file is deleted, and the SSD then erases those blocks, so files deleted from an internal SSD are almost always gone. Over USB, TRIM support is newer and patchier, so an external SSD has a fair chance. R-Studio: data recovery from SSDs · DiskDigger: TRIM over USB
- Was it a full format? A full format (for example Windows format /P, or a “zeroing” or secure erase) writes over every sector, so nothing is left. A quick format replaces only the file system’s tables and usually leaves the files’ data in place. Microsoft: the format command
- Is it encrypted (BitLocker, FileVault, or a card that its device encrypted)? An encrypted volume is unreadable without its key, and this page does not decrypt volumes.
- Is the card or drive failing (clicking, read errors, disconnecting)? Apple’s Disk Utility guide says not to make a disk image of a disk you believe to be failing. Use GNU ddrescue, which copies the good parts first and keeps a mapfile so it can resume, or a data recovery lab. Apple: create a disk image with Disk Utility
- Nothing is uploaded. The image is read on your device, a few megabytes at a time, by code that runs in this page. No file data leaves it.
- Use it only on cards and drives you own or may examine. Deleted files can be private: recover them only from your own cards and drives, or with their owner’s permission. This page never cracks passwords and never unlocks devices.
A web page cannot read a card, USB stick or disk directly, so you first make an image of it: a single file with every sector, made with a disk-imaging program. The Data Recovery Assistant shows how, step by step, and lists the routes worth trying before that (the Recycle Bin, cloud trash folders, backups).
Choose the disk image
Open Photo & Video Recovery and choose the same image: its deep scan reads every sector, whatever the file system.
Find the deleted files
Not what you were looking for? The deep scan searches every sector of the image for photos, videos and documents by their content: it also works when the file system is damaged or gone, and on NTFS, Mac and Linux drives.
Files found
No file matches these filters.
Save the selected files
Pick a folder on a different drive from the one you are recovering, so nothing is written over the data you want back. The browser cannot tell which drive a folder is on.
Saving to a folder needs a browser that can write into a folder you choose (Chrome or Edge); the ZIP works in every browser and keeps the files’ original dates.
Locked in the free preview. Opens the ways to unlock this result.
Locked in the free preview. Batch runs unlock with a pass.
Locked in the free preview. Query results unlock with a pass.
About the SD Card & USB Drive Recovery (Undelete from a Disk Image)
First make a disk image of the memory card or USB drive: a single file that holds every sector of it, made with a disk-imaging program (the Data Recovery Assistant shows the steps for Windows, macOS and Linux). Then open the image here. The page reads the card’s FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 or exFAT file system the way the specifications describe it and lists the files that were deleted, with their names, folders, sizes and dates, and how likely each one is to be whole.
Every file found is then checked by its own content: a photo’s markers are followed to its end, a PNG’s checksums are verified, a video’s index is read, an Office file’s ZIP structure is opened. The list says Opens fully, Partly damaged or Can’t be opened for each one, and shows thumbnails of photos and videos. Nothing is uploaded: the image is read on your device, a few megabytes at a time, so even a 256 GB image needs no more memory than a small one.
Without a pass this is a free preview: the scan runs in full and lists every deleted file with its name, folder and condition, photos show small watermarked thumbnails and videos the first half of what plays (up to 10 seconds), marked; saving the files needs an Ultimate pass.
How to use it
- Stop using the card or drive, and make an image of it on a different drive (the Data Recovery Assistant gives the exact steps and commands).
- Read the checklist above the scanner (SSD, full format, encryption, a failing card): it says when there is nothing left to find.
- Choose the image file (.img, .dd, .bin, .raw, .iso or a macOS .cdr), or all the parts of an image saved in parts (card.001, card.002 …) together. The page shows the partitions it found and their file systems.
- Press Find deleted files. Tick Also look for folders lost by a quick format if the card was formatted: that reads the whole image and takes longer.
- Filter the list by kind or condition, look at the thumbnails, play the first seconds of the videos, and select the files you want.
- With an Ultimate pass, save them to a folder on another drive (Chrome or Edge on a computer) or download them as a ZIP, which keeps their original dates.
Examples
card.img (32 GB, FAT32), photos deleted from the camera’s menu
DCIM/100CANON: IMG_0412.JPG … IMG_0498.JPG · 87 files · 85 open fully · 2 partly damaged (taken over by later photos)
Cameras write each photo in one piece onto an empty card, so deleted photos usually come back whole until new photos are taken.
sdcard.img (64 GB, exFAT), “Format” chosen by mistake
Lost folders/Folder at cluster 6/100MEDIA/DJI_0001.MP4 … · with “Also look for folders lost by a quick format” ticked
A quick format writes a new, empty file system but leaves the old folders’ data on the card. Their files are found again by reading the whole image.
A deleted DSC_0007.JPG on a FAT card, next to DSC_0008.JPG
DSC_0007.JPG (first letter guessed from the other files in the folder)
FAT marks a deleted file by overwriting the first character of its short name. A surviving long name gives the letter back exactly; otherwise the page guesses from the other names and says so.
Common uses
- Getting back photos and videos deleted from a camera, drone, dashcam or action-camera card.
- Recovering documents deleted from a USB stick (FAT32 or exFAT).
- Finding the files of folders that a quick format of a card made disappear.
- Checking which deleted files are still whole before deciding what to save.
Why you need an image first
A web page cannot read a memory card, USB stick or disk sector by sector, and no browser setting changes that: the WebUSB standard does not let a page claim USB mass-storage devices, and the File System Access API gives pages files and folders, never raw devices. A disk image (a file with every sector of the card, deleted areas included) is what recovery needs, and imaging is also the safe way to work: the card is read once and never written to, and every later step works on the copy.
The image needs space on another drive at least as large as the card itself: a 64 GB card makes a 64 GB image.
How deleted files are found
On FAT (FAT12, FAT16, FAT32), deleting a file writes 0xE5 over the first character of its directory entry and frees its clusters in the file allocation table; the rest of the entry (name, size, dates, first cluster) stays. The page reads every folder, also deleted ones, and takes each deleted file’s data from its first cluster on, assuming it was stored in one piece. Clusters that the table now marks as used belong to another file, so the file is marked partly overwritten or overwritten.
On exFAT, deleting clears the “in use” bit of the file’s entries and frees its clusters in the allocation bitmap; the whole name survives. Files written in one piece carry a NoFatChain flag, so their clusters are known exactly; for fragmented files the page follows the cluster chain when it is still there.
The readers are written from Microsoft’s FAT32 File System Specification and the exFAT file system specification.
What the conditions mean
- Opens fully: the file’s own structure checks out from its first byte to its last (a JPEG to its end marker, every PNG chunk checksum, a video’s index and data, every file inside a DOCX or ZIP).
- Partly damaged: it starts correctly, but part of it is missing or was written over (often the end of a photo or video).
- Can’t be opened: its space now belongs to another file, or the file system no longer says where its data was.
- Not checked: a kind of file whose content the page cannot check (text files, for example). The note says whether its space was reused.
Measured on test images
On a FAT32 and an exFAT card image formatted by macOS’s own tools, with files copied onto them and then deleted by macOS, all 8 deleted files came back identical to the originals byte for byte. Their long names came back as well; one file had only a short (8.3) name, and FAT loses its first letter, so that one is listed as _lip.mp4. On card images built in code to Microsoft’s specifications (FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 and exFAT), every deleted file whose clusters were later reused was marked as overwritten or partly overwritten instead of whole, and files of folders removed by a quick format were found again, including the files of folders too large for one cluster. The test images and these checks are part of the page’s automated tests.
Limitations
- Works on disk images only, not on cards or drives directly (browsers do not allow it). Raw images (.img, .dd, .bin, .raw, .iso, .cdr), raw images saved in parts (.001, .002 …) and fixed-size VHD files open directly; E01, DMG and other compressed formats must be converted to raw first (the page says how).
- FAT and exFAT only. NTFS, Mac (APFS, HFS+) and Linux (ext4) volumes are not undeleted here; the deep scan finds photos, videos and documents on any image by their content.
- Deleted files on FAT are read as one piece from their first cluster. A file that was fragmented comes back with the wrong data after its first fragment and is marked partly damaged.
- Data that has been written over cannot be recovered by any software. A full (zeroing) format, a secure erase or TRIM on an internal SSD leave nothing to find.
- Encrypted cards and drives (BitLocker, FileVault, cards encrypted by their device) cannot be read without their key, and this page does not decrypt them.
- A web page cannot set a file’s date: files saved to a folder carry the day they were saved. The ZIP keeps the original dates.
- Thumbnails and video previews need the browser to decode the file: HEIC photos show one only in browsers that decode HEIC, and videos need WebCodecs (recent Chrome, Edge, Safari and Firefox) and a codec the browser has. Video previews play without sound.
Privacy
The image is read by your browser on your device, a few megabytes at a time, in a background worker; no part of it or of the files in it is sent anywhere. A paused scan keeps only its progress in your browser’s own storage, never file data.
Frequently asked questions
What do I get without a pass?
Without a pass, SD Card & USB Drive Recovery (Undelete from a Disk Image) shows the full list of files found with their names, sizes and condition, small watermarked thumbnails and the first half of each video (up to 10 seconds), marked. Until you unlock it, the result can’t be downloaded or saved to your device. An Ultimate pass, a one-time payment that never renews, unlocks the full result. The pricing page lists the passes and their prices.
Can this page scan my SD card or USB stick directly?
No. Browsers do not let web pages read storage devices sector by sector (the WebUSB standard blocks USB mass-storage devices), so you make an image of the card first and open that. The Data Recovery Assistant shows how on Windows, macOS and Linux, with the commands to copy.
Why does a file name start with “_”?
On FAT, deleting a file overwrites the first letter of its short (8.3) name. If the file also had a long name, the page restores the letter exactly from the checksum that links the two. Camera files such as DSC_0001.JPG often have only a short name: then the letter is guessed from other files in the same folder (and marked as a guess), or shown as “_” so you can rename the file after saving.
Will it find files after the card was formatted?
After a quick format, often yes: tick Also look for folders lost by a quick format, and the page reads the whole image for the old folders and lists their files under Lost folders. A folder’s own name survives only when the folder above it survived too; otherwise it is shown by the place it was found (Folder at cluster 3). A folder too large for one cluster is scattered, and its further parts show as Folder part at cluster …: the file names, sizes and dates in them are right, only the folder they were in is unknown. After a full format (which writes zeros over every sector) nothing is left on the card. If the folders are gone too, the deep scan can still find photos and videos by their content.
How do I know a file will open before saving it?
Each file is checked by its own content, not by its name: a JPEG is read to its end marker, a PNG’s chunk checksums are verified, a video’s index and data are read, a DOCX or ZIP is opened file by file. The thumbnails are drawn from the files’ own data. Files marked Opens fully passed those checks.
My image is in several files (card.001, card.002 …). What do I choose?
Choose all the parts together in the file picker, or drag them in together: the page reads them one after another as one image, without copying them. FTK Imager saves raw images in parts of 1,500 MB unless its Image Fragment Size is set to 0.
Where should I save the recovered files?
On a different drive from the card or USB drive you are recovering: your computer’s disk or an external drive. Saving onto the same card could overwrite the deleted data you are trying to get back.
Is anything uploaded?
No. The image never leaves your device: the page reads it in pieces with your browser and processes it in a background worker. It works offline once the page has loaded.