Is it Possible to Recover Files from a Formatted SD Card?

We use SD cards for various reasons including transferring files between devices. Some people also use them as backup for files they will need in the future. However, they may not be the best storage or backup devices available in the 21st century.

We say this because SD cards still face a number of issues including frequent attacks with viruses and data loss. But some of these issues are user-related, for example formatted SD cards.

If you choose to format an SD card today, you must think twice before you do it. This is because formatting permanently deleted the files and it is very difficult to recover them. You are probably reading this article because you have formatted your SD card and lost key files which you now need to recover from SD card.

In this guide, we will show you some of the top fixes to recover formatted SD cards including SD card recovery software on Mac and Windows. But first, is it possible?

Can You Restore Formatted SD Cards

The straight answer here is yes. Whenever you format an SD card, it is common and smart for people to try and get ways to recover the lost files. However, if you try searching this online, the number of results you get can be so confusing that you may easily end up losing your data permanently.

Stay calm even if you mistakenly formatted the card on PC, camera, or even cellphone. You can recover the files if you move with speed. Below are some of the things you must do to increase your chances.

  • Stop using the SD card immediately
  • Remove the card from the device where it was connected during formatting
  • Turn to an SD card recovery software you can trust such as Disk Drill by CleverFiles

 

Recover Formatted SD Card with SD Card Recovery Software

Instead of wasting more time trying to search and test free SD card recovery software, we recommend you go straight to Disk Drill – the best data recovery software for SD cards in 2024. This software helps you to recover files from formatted SD card, USB, memory stick, and external hard drive among others.

Download and install the software on your PC from the official Cleverfiles website. Use this software to scan the formatted SD card. Deep scan will help you find all photos, videos, Adobe files, audio files etc. in only a few simple clicks.

Other than formatted SD card recovery, Disk Drill presents to you the following key features.

  • Recover data from accidental deletion, partition loss, RAW, virus attack etc.
  • Recover data from various file systems including NTFS recovery, FAT32 recovery etc.
  • Recover videos from formatted SD cards to retrieve lost photos, screenshots, documents etc.

Step-by-step Process to Recover Formatted SD Card

In this section, we will show you the step-by-step process to recover the SD card. Below is what to do:

Step 1: Once you have installed the software, launch it and connect the formatted SD card.

Step 2: Choose and select the formatted SD card then hit the “Scan” button to proceed

Step 3: Using filter, locate the lost files or preview the results and choose the items you want to recover.

Previewing the files helps you identify the exact ones you will need to recover. Also, you can quickly see if the recovered files are the ones you are looking for.

Recover Formatted SD Card with Backups

Many people have been in this situation especially because they accidentally formatted their SD card or other storage device. However, if you keep backup files of your data, you will never face a challenge of recovering them even if you lost the original files.

Below are some of the backups you can use to recover formatted SD cards successfully.

Recover files from backup disk

If you can access the backup disk where you backed up your files, connect it to the PC and open it. Find the files you backed up, copy them and paste them back to the storage where you intend to use them. We recommend you do not paste the files in the same storage where formatting occurred.

Recover Files with Backup and Restore

Backing up an SD card to the computer is another smart way to secure your SD card files. you can only use this method if system restore was previously activated on your PC. Open the start menu and search for the system restore. Choose the right date where you want to restore your Windows to recover your files.

Restore Formatted SD Card From Cloud

Cloud backup is a smarter way to back up data today. There are several ways you can backup files such as iCloud and Google Drive. Visit the cloud website where you backed up the files, login to your account, select the files and download them back to your PC.

Why is it possible to Restore Formatted SD Card?

Well, you must be fully aware that formatting causes the files to be deleted from the SD card and that is probably why you are interested in this question. Generally, formatting an SD card does not usually mean that the files are totally erased. The process only breaks the data structure on the card to make the whole device “empty.” In a real sense, the data still remains there.

Therefore, it is still possible to recover the files in the SD card even after it is formatted. But this is only possible if the data is not overwritten with new content. You should read the section above on “Can you restore a formatted SD card?” again to understand some of the things you must do to recover deleted files from SD card more successfully.