GUIDE · FORMATTING · 15 OCTOBER 2026
Quick format vs full format: what can be recovered
A quick format leaves files in place until they are overwritten; a full format in Windows writes zeros. What that means for SD cards, USB sticks and drives.
Quick format
A quick format writes a new, empty file system: new FAT or MFT, new root folder, new allocation bitmap. The data clusters are not touched, so photos and videos stay on the device until new files are written over them. On FAT32 and exFAT, subfolders such as DCIM usually survive too, with their file names, sizes and first clusters; Frame Witness looks for those folders and uses them to name what it finds.
Full format
Since Windows Vista, a full format writes zeros over every sector of the volume, so there is nothing left to recover by any software. Frame Witness samples the source before the scan and says early when almost everything is blank, instead of running for hours.
Other ways a device erases data
An SSD that receives TRIM erases freed blocks itself. What a camera's own format command does depends on the model. A wipe or an overwrite format leaves zeros or a pattern. Encryption without the key leaves nothing readable.
Measured on Windows-formatted images
On 2 GiB images prepared with the same six test videos and formatted by Windows, Frame Witness recovered 4 of 6 with identical SHA-256 after a FAT32 quick format and 2 of 6 after an exFAT quick format; on the real FAT32 USB stick, 6 of 6. The test results page gives the method and the limits.
Frequently asked questions
Can I recover files after a quick format?
Usually, until new files are written: a quick format replaces the file system records and leaves the data in place.
Can I recover files after a full format?
Not from a volume Windows formatted in full: it writes zeros over every sector.
Is a quick format enough to erase a card before selling it?
No. Use a full format or the camera's secure erase if it has one.
Try it on your own source
Download Frame Witness for Windows (version 1.0.14, Authenticode-signed by Aurelio Avila, SHA-256 fa22d6c7f97da0b4e5efa889e5abb9e4d98815a9b76ac0087424944b21bad6c2). The free account gives a quick scan of the first 8 GiB, up to 100 results, previews and saving files up to 1 MiB each; full scans and larger files need a licence, with current prices on the pricing page.