How to Recover Photos From Corrupted SD Card: Step-by-Step Guide

You got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit an exotic place and clicked many photos for your private collection. However, as soon as you plugged in your SD card to your computer, you got shell-shocked seeing that all pictures had vanished.

You might think now, “How can I recover pictures from a damaged SD card?” But don’t jump the panic bandwagon as you’ll find the answer to this thought in this post. We’ll share the reasons why your pictures might get corrupted and how to recover photos from corrupted SD card in 4 stages according to situation of loss.

Part 1: Common Causes of SD Card Corruption

Here are common causes of SD card corruption, their description, and solution listed in form of a table for your ease of understanding. Prior to learning how to recover photos from corrupted SD card for free in detailed steps, have a look at it:

Causes	Description	Solution
Improper Ejection	Removing the SD card improperly without using ejection function	You can repair this type of corruption with a Windows native tool like CHKDSK or use data recovery software.
Bad Sectors	Logical errors like bad sectors can result in corruption	Can fix bad sectors with CHKDSK
Data Corruption	Errors in SD card data, file system damage, or inconsistencies	Use data recovery software to retrieve corrupted data or reclaim files from a backup
Virus or Malware	When your system is hit by a virus or malware attack, your SD card will likely get affected too	Use data recovery software to retrieve corrupted data or reclaim files from a backup
Physical Damage	Visible symptoms of physical damage like scratches, dents, etc.	You’ll need to send memory card to data recovery services

Part 2: How Can I Recover Pictures From a Damaged SD Card?

There are 4 stages you must follow to get back your images. Pick or skip a stage according to your recovery needs:

Stage 1: Check All Your Backup Drives

Before learning about how to recover photos from corrupted SD card, look for a backup of your memory card. You likely have one on an internal/external disk or a cloud drive like OneDrive. Even if your SD card is physically damaged, and not logically you can reclaim pictures from its backup.

Stage 2: Use CHKDSK in the Command Prompt

It might be that your SD card has logical corruption and you’ve only lost access to photos on it but they’re not corrupted. In such a case try CHKDSK, a Windows native tool to repair logical corruption like bad sectors, etc in your SD card.

However, if you want to know how to retrieve pictures from damaged SD card, don’t forget that CHKDSK will only fix logical errors on your memory card. So, you’ll be able to access images on it. If its the pictures that are corrupted, it won’t help reclaim them. Here’s how to use it:

Step 1: Plug in your corrupted memory card to your computer.

Step 2: In Windows search box, input “cmd.” Then, open “Command Prompt.”

Type following command. Hit “Enter” afterward:

chkdsk F: /f /r /x. (Here replace “F” with your SD card’s drive letter).

Stage 3: Use a Free SD Card Data Recovery Software

If you don’t have a backup and CHKDSK is unable to fix your damaged memory card, then try 4DDiG Data Recovery. It can both repair and reclaim photos from a corrupted SD card. The tool can, in fact, reclaim 2000+ file types from various data loss situations such as formatting, lost partitions, virus attacks, system crashes, unbootable drives, etc. Here’s what more you can learn about this corrupt SD card recovery tool:

Can recover up to 2GB of photos free of cost.
Can regain pictures from various storage drives like SD cards, HDDS, SSDs, USBs, etc.
It offers both superficial and deep scanning and a free preview of recovered images.
No technical knowledge required.
Allows you to save lost photos to cloud storage instead of the damaged SD card.

Here’s how to recover photos from corrupted SD card for free with this tool:

Step 1: Install and execute this memory card recovery tool on your computer. Then, plug in your damaged memory card to same PC.

Step 2: Choose “SD card” from left window. Click “Start.” You can pause or stop scan to examine recovered pictures in “Photo” category beneath “File View.”

Step 3: If you’re happy with the tool’s corrupt SD card recovery results, click “Recover” and export images to your computer.

Stage 4: Reach Out to Professional Data Recovery Services

Even after using a data recovery software, are you still looking for a way to learn how to retrieve pictures from damaged SD card? Your card might not be logically but physically broken. So, look for signs of visible damage.

Even if there aren’t any apparent symptoms but you’re still unable to reclaim pictures from it, contact professional data recovery services. Though quite expensive, they have the necessary expertise and tools to get back your memory card photos for you.

Part 3: How to Prevent the Corruption of SD Card?

After learning how to retrieve pictures from damaged SD card you must also take some preventative measures to avoid losing them again due to corruption. Here are some crucial tips to follow:

Use ejection feature in your computer or camera to safely remove SD card.
Avoid forcefully inserting your memory card in a device, and don’t remove it while it’s reading or writing data to prevent corruption.
Never download anything on your memory card that’s from an untrustworthy source.
Run regular antivirus scans to protect data against malicious programs and bugs, and avoid using unknown or unprotected devices with SD card.
Never use poor-quality SD cards. But get them from a reliable brand like Kingston, Samsung, Sandisk, etc.
Save your memory card in a cool, and dry storage, away from heat, moisture, and direct sunlight to avoid corruption of data.

FAQs about Corrupt SD Card Recovery

Is it possible to recover a corrupted SD card?

Yes. It’s viable to reclaim files from a corrupted SD card. You can use a specialized tool like 4DDiG Data Recovery for that purpose. It can retrieve files from different data loss scenarios with a high success rate.

How to know if an SD card died?

Your SD card might be dead if it’s not recognized, or its access is blocked. Other symptoms include when it shows error messages, has corrupted files, or there is visible physical damage on it.

Conclusion

Hopefully, we were able to give an answer you were looking for on how can I recover pictures from a damaged SD card If you own a backup of your memory card you can reclaim pictures from it. But if it’s inaccessible simply fix it with CHKDSK.

But the best way to learn how to recover photos from corrupted SD card when it’s logically corrupted and you don’t have a backup is through 4DDiG Data Recovery. This tool can reclaim 3000+ file types from various internal/external storage devices and data loss situations with high success.

Author Profile

Adam Regan

Deputy Editor

Features and account management. 3 years media experience. Previously covered features for online and print editions.

Email Adam@MarkMeets.com