Card asking to be formatted? Don't click OK.
Recovering Files From Damaged Memory Cards, USB Flash Drives and Camera Media
If the system asks to format the card, or the camera stops reading it after a shoot, the data may still be intact and only the path to it is broken. Every quick fix attempt can change what's left.
- +25
- Years of experience
- +50K
- Cases handled
- 99%
- Success rate after diagnosis
Small media, damage that adds up fast.
When does a card or flash drive need an inspection?
- 01
The drive asks to be formatted
The message asking to format the disk appears every time it is connected.
- 02
The camera won't read the card
The camera shows a card error, or the card looks empty although it holds a shoot.
- 03
A snapped or hot flash drive
The metal connector broke off, or the stick runs hot and appears in no computer.
A chip is not a disk.
Camera card recovery for Sony, Canon and GoPro media
SD cards, camera media and USB sticks store data in NAND chips managed by a controller. When the controller fails or a joint breaks, the medium doesn't appear at all, and reading the chip itself may be required. In monolithic media the chip and controller sit in one moulded piece, so work starts by identifying the media type and connection state before any read attempt. Deleted video from Sony, Canon or GoPro cards may be recoverable depending on what was written afterwards.
Inspect the case
Choose the path
Safe recovery
Supported devices & brands
The name on the label doesn't decide the method.
What decides how a card is read is the chip inside it, its controller, and the way the two are packaged together. These are the cards and sticks that reach the lab most often.
SanDisk
SanDisk SD, microSD and USB media run on their own controllers and translation tables. Many of their microSD cards are moulded as a single piece, so there is no chip to remove and the work is done on the body of the card itself.
Lexar
CF and SD cards common in professional shooting. Continuous video wears specific cells faster than the rest, so faults show up first in the long clips, before the card stops appearing at all.
Samsung
Samsung EVO and PRO cards and USB sticks pair the maker's own chip with its own controller. The common fault is a sudden stop: the card reports the wrong capacity or turns read-only, which points at the controller, not at deletion.
Kingston
One model can carry different controllers depending on the production batch, so the work starts by identifying the exact one. The factory tools circulating online reformat the medium instead of reading it, and are never used on a case that still holds data.
SD, microSD, CF and CFexpress
The form factor decides the access. CF connects through fine pins that can bend inside the camera, while CFexpress is effectively an NVMe drive in a card shell and is handled like an SSD, not like an SD card.
Monolithic chips and controller failure
In monolithic media the chip and the controller sit inside one moulded block, so the memory cannot be removed. The contact points are located on the body of the card and read directly, then the data order the controller used to manage is rebuilt.
What happens to a card inside the lab
- 01
Identify the medium before connecting it
The markings on the body are read and the media type and controller family identified before anything is plugged in. The card is not re-inserted repeatedly, nothing is allowed to write to it, and the connection goes through a read-only path.
- 02
A full image at a slow read
If the medium still appears, a full image is taken at low speed, with retries on stalling sectors and the temperature watched throughout. After that the card is set aside and all work continues on the image.
- 03
Read the chip when nothing appears
If the medium doesn't appear at all, the joints and the metal connector are examined under the microscope. On discrete media the NAND chip is removed and read on a programmer; on monolithic media the contact points on the card body are located instead.
- 04
Rebuild the order, then the files
A raw chip read is not files: ECC errors are corrected, the data scrambling is reversed, the pages are put back in sequence, then the file system is rebuilt and camera clips are carved from their own internal structure. We verify by opening the photos and playing the clips before handover.
FAQ
Before you accept the format prompt.
Better not. The prompt often means only the file table is damaged, and the data may stay recoverable as long as no format or new write happens.
It may be possible in many cases; the result depends on whether the clips were overwritten and on the card type.
The chip and its connections can be inspected in break cases, and feasibility is decided after that inspection, depending on whether the chip survived.
The fault may be in the controller or the internal connections. In those cases the memory chip itself is read, and the result depends on the chip's condition and the card type.
Logical cases can finish within a day or two, while monolithic media or electrically damaged devices take longer. We give a time estimate after inspection.
Not necessarily, but every new file can overwrite the space an old one occupied. Stop using the card immediately; what remains is determined by the inspection.
Next step
Send case detailsDon't shoot and don't format before inspection.
Take the card or drive out of the device and send us the media type, the camera model and any message you saw. Inspection and diagnosis are free, with no obligation.