How to Recover Photos From a Corrupted SD Card?

SD cards are a great way to boost your phone or digital camera’s storage capacity, allowing you to keep more photos, videos, and files at your fingertips. They're also super handy when transferring data between devices. However, these memory cards are prone to physical or logical damage, accidental formatting, and deletion. Sometimes, your SD card gets corrupted and you lose tons of your valuable memories and data.

If you are reading this article, probably, the damage has already been done. Without a solid way to fix a corrupted SD card, you might find yourself in a fix.

To help you out, we’ve compiled this guide with some workable solutions to recover photos from a corrupted SD card.

Signs and Symptoms of SD Card Corruption

It is important to look for the first signs of physical or logical damage in an SD card, before it’s too late! If your SD card shows any signs and symptoms listed below, there is a good chance that it’s corrupted:

• A black screen flashing error message “SD card is not accessible.”
• Files on the SD card do not open and show error message – Read/Write error on SD card.
• You’re unable to copy files on the SD card and it throws the error message – Write-protected.
• You’re unable to add, delete, copy, or save files on your SD card.
• Slower than usual data transfer.

Methods to Recover Photos from a Corrupted SD Card

Before proceeding with the advanced SD card recovery methods or formatting your SD card, there are many easy fixes that you can try. First, determine the type of your SD card. In some cases, you can use SDHC device to read corrupted SD cards. Some card readers and cameras may need software to read the SDHC cards. You can visit the device manufacturer’s website and find any available software required for it.

Before fixing your SD card, you must recover your lost or deleted data from it to avoid any permanent data loss during troubleshooting.

Method 1: Connect the SD Card to Another Device

Sometimes, some devices may not read an SD card due to compatibility issues. In such cases, try connecting your SD card to another device.

Method 2: Use a Professional Photo Recovery Software

Using professional photo recovery software like Stellar Photo Recovery is the most reliable method for recovering photos from a corrupted, inaccessible, damaged, or formatted SD card.

Here’s the step-by-step method to recover photos from a corrupted SD card using Stellar Photo Recovery:

Step 1: Connect the corrupted SD card to your system using a card reader.

Step 2: Download, install, and launch Stellar Photo Recovery on your PC.

Step 3: On the Recover Photo, Audio & Video screen, select SD card, and click Scan.

Step 4: Once the scan is complete, all the recovered files are listed in a tree view. You can Preview them before saving.

Step 5: In the left pane, click the desired folder, select the video files you wish to retrieve and click Recover.

Step 6: Next, a Recover dialog box will appear. Click the Browse button to select a location to save your recovered videos.

Step 7: Finally, click Save to start the saving process. The recovered videos will be saved at the specified location.

Method 3: Use Windows File Recovery Tool

The Windows File Recovery tool can help retrieve lost files using simple command-line instructions. It is compatible with Windows 10 version 2004 and later and allows you to retrieve various file types from internal and external storage media.

It's free, so you can restore as much data as you want from a damaged SD card without spending anything. Remember, it only works if your storage device is recognized with a drive letter. If your SD card is missing a drive letter, you'll need to assign it one before proceeding.

 Here’s the rundown:

Step 1: Go to the Microsoft Store and download Windows File Recovery.

Step 2: Open Terminal (Admin) by pressing Win + X.

Step 3: Next, use the following command: Winfr F: E: /extensive /n *.jpg

Note: Replace F with the drive letter assigned to your SD card. Next, replace E with the drive letter of the storage device or the folder where you want to save the recovered files.

The main drawback of using Windows File Recovery is its command-line interface, which is not at all user-friendly, and hence, not suitable for beginners. Also, its less versatile than a professional photo recovery software as it supports only a limited number of file formats.

Solution 4: Unhide Hidden Files and Folders

If a virus attacks your memory card, it often executes commands that hide your files, making the card seem full. To unhide these files, follow these active steps:

Step 1: Plug your SD card into the computer.

Step 2: Use File Explorer to open the SD card.

Step 3: Navigate to the View tab.

Step 4: Under the View tab, find and check the box next to Hidden Items.

Now, the hidden files on your SD card should be visible. Should these steps fail, your SD card may have a deeper problem, and repairing it could be the necessary fix.

How to Fix a Corrupted SD Card?

Dealing with a corrupted SD card can be puzzling, with so many probable fixes out there. After experimenting with numerous approaches, we have outlined the ones that have proven to be the most reliable.

Method 1: Use Windows Built-in Repair Tool

Repair corrupted SD card using a built-in Windows utility tool named Error Checking. Here’s how to fix a corrupted/damaged SD card using this tool:

Step 1: Type File Explorer in the Windows search bar and click Open to launch it.

Step 2: Look for the affected SD card, right-click on it, and choose Properties.

Step 3: Go to the Tools tab and click Check.

Step 4: Select Scan and Repair drive.

Caution: If you see a prompt saying ‘Windows can’t repair the drive while it’s in use’, save any unsaved work on the SD card and select to repair the card now or next time.

Method 2: Reinstall the Driver

Another way to fix a corrupted SD card is by reinstalling the driver. To do so, follow these steps:

Step 1: Go to My Computer/ This PC and right-click on it. Select the Manage option.

Step 2: Click on the Device Manager option on the left side.

Step 3: Double-click the Disk Drives option from the list. Then right-click on the name of your removable drive.

Step 4: Click on Uninstall device and click OK.

Step 5: Disconnect your storage media and restart your PC.

Step 6: Reconnect your SD card again. Your PC will detect it.

Method 3: Try the CHKDSK Command

Command prompt is another Windows built-in tool by which you can interact with the OS using command-line interface and fix issues. To fix a corrupted SD card using the CHKDSK command:

Step 1: Press Win + R to launch the Run window.

Step 2: Type CMD into the Run window and press Shift + Ctrl + Enter together to Run as Administrator.

Step 3: Next, type CHKDSK x: /f /r and press Enter. (Change x with the drive letter assigned to the corrupted SD card.)

After you press "enter", the Chkdsk will check for possible errors and try to fix the corrupt SD card.

Method 4: Use the ATTRIB Command

If your SD card is corrupted and your photos are hidden, you can use the ATTRIB command to change the file attributes and make those hidden photos visible again. This command is quite handy for recovering files that you thought were lost due to storage device corruption.

Here’s how to do it:

• Click the Windows button, type “CMD” in the search bar, and hit Enter.
• In the command prompt window, enter the following command: attrib -h -r -s /s /d g: \*.*

Note: Replace g with your SD card’s driver letter.

• After you run this command, go back to File Explorer to view your SD card's files.

Solution 5: Reformat the SD Card

When your SD card starts showing a lot of read and write errors, it usually means there are underlying issues with the file system. In cases like this, the most effective fix is to just wipe the slate clean—reformat the whole memory card and begin anew. It's like hitting the reset button, giving your card a fresh start to store and manage your files properly.

However, it's crucial to back up your data beforehand as formatting will delete all files. Follow these steps to format your SD card:

• Connect the SD card to a computer.
• Open Windows File Explorer and locate your SD card.
• Next, right-click on the SD card and select Format.
• In the dialog box, set up the File System format as NTFS, set a Volume Label and check the box next to the Quick Format option.
• Lastly, click Start, and Windows will start the formatting process for your SD card.

By now, your SD card should ideally be restored to its original settings, allowing you to access its entire storage capacity.

Conclusion

SD cards are still widely used and the chances of data loss on SD cards remain huge. It’s recommended to use a data recovery software, such as Stellar Photo Recovery to retrieve your memorable photos, important documents and more in a few simple steps.

You should also be vigilant about data loss scenarios that can arise due to a corrupt SD card. There are many ways to protect your SD card against corruption and damage. Look for the best backup solutions and ways to avoid SD Memory card corruption. Protect your valuable data in the first place!