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Stop using the pen drive, USB drive, or SD card as soon as you notice files are missing. Don’t take more photos, copy files to it, format it, or save recovered files onto it: new writes can overwrite deleted data, and overwritten bytes cannot be reconstructed by recovery software. On Windows, try Microsoft’s Windows File Recovery first; for a damaged filesystem or files it misses, PhotoRec is a cross-platform alternative. Recovery is never guaranteed.
Protect the files before you try recovery
- Stop writing to the affected media. Eject it safely if the device is still connected and making background writes. Microsoft advises minimizing computer use after file loss, and CGSecurity warns against writing to the affected drive or card. Microsoft’s Windows File Recovery guidance puts it plainly: “If you want to increase your chances of recovering a file, minimize or avoid using your computer.”
- Do not format or run repair operations that write to the card or drive. These actions may reduce the chance of recovering data that remains.
- Prepare a separate destination. Recovered files must be saved to a different drive from the one being scanned. If you do not have another suitable drive, an external USB drive can serve as destination storage; it is not a recovery tool and cannot restore overwritten data.
- For an SD card, use a built-in reader or a suitable card reader. If the media is physically failing or disconnecting intermittently, stop experimenting. The tools described below are software recovery methods, not hardware repair procedures.
Recover files with Windows File Recovery
Microsoft’s Windows File Recovery is a command-line application available through Microsoft Store for Windows 10 and Windows 11. It attempts to recover deleted local files, including from external drives and USB devices; it does not support cloud storage or network file shares. Install and run it from your computer’s system drive, not from the affected media.
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Choose a recovery mode
Use the filesystem and deletion circumstances to pick a starting mode, following Microsoft’s guidance:
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute| Filesystem or situation | Starting mode |
|---|---|
| NTFS; files deleted recently | Regular |
| NTFS; files deleted some time ago, or the drive was formatted or corrupted | Extensive |
| FAT or exFAT, common on SD cards and flash/USB drives | Extensive |
Microsoft says recovery from non-NTFS filesystems is supported only in Extensive mode. These are starting points, not promises that files will be found.
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Run a recovery command
- Identify the affected drive letter in File Explorer and choose a destination drive with a different letter. Check both carefully; the source and destination must differ.
- Open Windows File Recovery and use its documented command pattern:
winfr source-drive: destination-drive: [/mode] [/switches]. Replace the placeholders with the actual drive letters and selected mode. For example, for an exFAT card mounted as E: and a separate destination mounted as D:, an Extensive-mode command iswinfr E: D: /extensive. - To narrow the search, use an
/nfilter for a filename, path, file type, or wildcard. Follow the current Microsoft syntax for the filter you need, and keep the destination on a separate drive. - Review the recovered output on the destination drive. Do not move it back to the affected card or USB drive until recovery is complete and you have another copy.
Microsoft’s current command syntax, mode table, and filter examples are in its Windows File Recovery instructions.
Try PhotoRec if Windows File Recovery does not find the files
PhotoRec is free, open-source, multi-platform software. CGSecurity lists USB memory drives and Secure Digital (SD) cards as supported media. PhotoRec searches for known file signatures, so it can be useful when a filesystem is damaged or formatted.
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What to expect from signature-based recovery
PhotoRec’s usual carved output does not preserve original filenames or folder structure. You may need to sort recovered files by extension or open them to identify their contents. Its step-by-step instructions warn against storing recovered files on the source filesystem; choose a different destination before saving results.
The available documentation describes what each tool supports, but does not establish that one has a higher recovery success rate than the other. PhotoRec is a fallback option, not a guarantee.
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Know when to stop
If a drive or card is physically failing, repeatedly disconnecting, or holds exceptionally valuable files, further scanning and experimentation may not be appropriate. The software guidance here does not establish a repair procedure or a professional-service recommendation for those situations. If files have been overwritten by later use, no recovery program can reconstruct those overwritten bytes.
Quick Recap
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