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SD Card Data Recovery

Recover photos, RAW files, dashcam clips, and drone 4K footage from SD, microSD, CF, and XQD cards. SafeRestore handles SDHC, SDXC, and UHS-II cards from cameras (Canon, Sony, Nikon, Fujifilm, GoPro), drones (DJI), dashcams, and Nintendo Switch — even after format or 'card error' messages.

Why SafeRestore

All Card Formats

SDHC, SDXC, UHS-I, UHS-II, microSD, CompactFlash (CF), and XQD/CFexpress. Capacities from 4 GB up to 1 TB cards. FAT32 and exFAT file systems both supported.

RAW & High-Bitrate Video

Recovers Canon CR2/CR3, Nikon NEF, Sony ARW, Fujifilm RAF, and Adobe DNG raw photos plus 4K/8K H.265 video, GoPro HEVC, and DJI drone footage.

Camera-Aware Carving

We know the file structures used by each camera brand and stitch RAW files together correctly even when the card's index is destroyed.

How Recovery Works

  1. Stop Shooting. Take the card out of the camera or device. Every new photo or video can overwrite a deleted one. Use a USB SD reader, not the camera itself, for fastest recovery.
  2. Connect to Computer. Plug the SD card into your Mac or Windows PC via a USB SD reader. SafeRestore detects the card and offers Quick or Deep Scan.
  3. Preview & Save. Recovered photos preview as thumbnails in the app. Choose which to keep, then save to your computer's hard drive — never back to the SD card.

SD Card Issues We Recover From

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Frequently Asked Questions

I formatted my SD card by accident — are my photos really gone?

No, almost certainly not. A camera or in-OS format only clears the file table on the card; the actual photo data remains until new photos are written over it. Stop using the card immediately and SafeRestore can recover almost everything that hasn't been overwritten.

Can you recover RAW files (CR2, NEF, ARW)?

Yes, raw camera files are fully supported. SafeRestore recognizes the proprietary headers used by Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax, and Leica, and reconstructs them as complete RAW files openable in Lightroom, Capture One, or DxO.

What about 4K and 8K video files?

Yes — H.264, H.265 (HEVC), and ProRes are all recoverable. Video files are large and stored across many sectors, so Deep Scan is required (10-40 minutes for a 128 GB card). Recovered clips play in any standard video player.

My dashcam SD card overwrote yesterday's footage. Can it come back?

Loop-recording overwrites are usually permanent because the new footage physically replaces the old. We can sometimes recover fragments of older clips that fell between writes, but a full clip overwritten yesterday is rarely recoverable.

Does the card need to be readable by my computer?

It needs to appear in Disk Management (Windows) or Disk Utility (Mac), even if marked as RAW or unreadable. If the card doesn't show up at all, try a different SD reader — many cards fail through cheap built-in laptop slots but work fine in an external USB reader.

Can you recover encrypted SD cards (BitLocker To Go)?

Yes, if you have the password or recovery key. SafeRestore decrypts BitLocker To Go containers on-the-fly and recovers files normally. Without the key, recovery is not possible.

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