Once you’ve found the correct drive, press Enter. For example, if you have a 16 gigabyte card, you’ll want to find the drive similar in size. It may not be labeled in a manner that you’re familiar with (e.g., SanDisk media card), so look at the size of the disk as a clue. Step 3: Using the arrow keys, select your media card from the list. Step 2: Launch PhotoRec and enter your Mac password if prompted. Step 1: Connect your memory card to your computer either a built-in or external card reader. (For Windows users, Recuva is a good alternative, with a more user-friendly interface.) But it has a rather intimidating user interface, so I’ll walk you through the various steps.įor my tests, I used a MacBook Air running OS X Yosemite. It costs nothing, and works with Mac and Windows. I tried several different desktop apps, such as Stellar Phoenix Mac Recovery, but the one I had the most success with is called PhotoRec by CG Security. Fortunately, you can find plenty of solutions online. Your memory card or digital camera may have come bundled with recovery software, but if you’re anything like me, you either threw it out or you have no idea where you put it. If you follow that rule, there’s a good chance that you’ll get those images back using recovery software. Still, in this case, it’s important that you don’t take any new photos, since they might overwrite the space of the deleted photos, at which point they’re totally gone.

The system just marks the space as available for use for other files (new pictures).

Doing so doesn’t actually completely erase the files from the card. Recovering photos from a memory cardīefore diving into the recovery process, it might help to understand what happens when you delete a photo from your memory card. There’s no 100 percent guarantee that the methods will work, but they’re worth a shot before paying for a professional recovery service or giving up completely. I should note that there are a lot of other options out there these are just a few examples. Some solutions involve using software, while others might be as simple as looking in the right folder. What follows are some ways to recover your lost photos from a memory card or smartphone.

Recuva alternative reddit