GUIDE · SD CARDS · 15 OCTOBER 2026
Recover deleted photos from an SD card on Windows
What survives on an SD card after you delete photos or format it, how to scan the card on Windows without writing to it, and what no software can bring back.
What is still on the card
Deleting a photo removes its entry from the card's file system (FAT32 or exFAT on most cameras and phones); the picture itself stays in place until new photos or videos are written over it. Frame Witness reads the surviving FAT32 and exFAT records, folders such as DCIM that a quick format left behind (they keep file names and paths), and then searches the raw bytes for photo and video structures: JPG, PNG, GIF, WEBP, HEIC, AVIF photos and MP4, MOV, 3GP, AVI, FLV, MKV, WEBM, TS, M2TS, MPG, WMV, MXF, DV video.
What a photo needs to come back
A JPEG, GIF, WebP, HEIC or AVIF photo is carved as one continuous run of bytes from its own header to its end, so it comes back intact when the camera stored it in one piece and nothing overwrote it. A PNG split in two pieces can be rejoined using the checksums stored inside it. Photos stored in many pieces whose file-system record is gone usually come back incomplete; Frame Witness marks them as such instead of presenting them as recovered.
What has been tested
No physical SD card has been tested yet. The same FAT32 code was tested on a real 62 GB Verbatim USB stick after a Windows quick format, where all six test videos came back with identical SHA-256 and decoded to the end, and on FAT32 and exFAT disk images formatted by Windows. Those tests used videos, not photos; the test results page gives the details.
What cannot come back
- Overwritten data. Bytes that new files replaced are gone for every program.
- Full and overwrite formats. A full format in Windows writes zeros over the volume; an overwrite format or a wipe does the same with other patterns.
- SSD TRIM. A drive that receives TRIM usually erases freed blocks itself.
- Encryption without the key. A BitLocker volume, or a phone with file-based encryption, cannot be read without its key.
Step by step
- Stop using the card. Take it out of the camera or phone. Every new photo can overwrite an old one.
- Connect it with a card reader. If Windows offers to scan and fix the card, choose Cancel. Frame Witness only reads it, but Windows can write to a volume it repairs.
- Install Frame Witness. Download the signed Windows release (version 1.0.14, Windows 11 x64; Windows 10 not yet tested) and create a free account: it gives a quick scan of the first 8 GiB, up to 100 results, previews and saving files up to 1 MiB each.
- Scan the card. Choose Scan a card or drive, select the card and start the scan. For evidence, create a RAW image first and scan the image.
- Review in the gallery. Sort by size or available date, open each photo and check whether it is complete before you rely on it.
- Save to another drive. Export the photos you need to a different physical drive, never back to the card.
Frequently asked questions
Can photos be recovered after formatting the SD card?
After a quick format, usually yes until new files overwrite them: a quick format rewrites the file system records, not the photos. After a full format in Windows, no: it writes zeros over the card.
Does the free account recover photos?
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. Larger files and full scans need a licence.
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.