So you’ve gone ahead and formatted your drive, maybe by accident, maybe not, and now you’re hoping to get that data back. This article walks you through how to recover your data from a formatted SD card.
What Does Formatting Do?
There are two kinds of formatting, and each one serves a different purpose:
Quick Format-
- This wipes the file system structure and flags the space as free for new data. That means your old data is technically still there, giving you a solid shot at recovering it.
- It’s a fast process, over in no time.
- People typically use this to clear out space by deleting everything stored, or to prep the card for use in a device like a phone or camera.
Full Format-
- This also removes the file system like a quick format does, but it goes further, scanning the SD card for bad sectors and overwriting all existing data, which cuts your chances of recovery way down.
- It takes longer since it’s a much more thorough process.
- You’d use this to fix minor corruption issues on an SD card, or as a security step before getting rid of the card, since it makes it much tougher for anyone else to pull the previous owner’s data off it.
It’s generally easier to recover deleted data from an SD card, but once you’ve formatted it, recovery gets a lot harder.
Note: To maximize the chances of a successful recovery, avoid using the formatted SD card until you have recovered your data.
Does formatting an SD card erase everything on it?
Not immediately, and not completely. A quick format, the kind your camera or phone runs when you hit
Is it Possible to Recover SD Card After Format?
Yes. You can absolutely restore data from a formatted SD card. That said, your options shrink considerably once formatting has happened. Aside from pulling your data from a backup, you’re really looking at two recommended routes:
- Using recovery software.
- Using a professional service.
Method 1: Recover Data from Formatted SD Card using SFware Data Recovery
Once you format an SD card, getting your data back through normal means becomes nearly impossible. That’s where dedicated data recovery software, like SFware data recovery, comes in. Download SFware now and you can get your files off that formatted SD card without much hassle!
1: Download, install, and launch SFWare Data Recovery Software.
2: Pick the SD card drive you want to recover data from, then click “Start Scan“.
3: While the scan’s running, you can already preview the files it’s recovering.
4: Once the scan wraps up, head to Preview, select all the files you want back, and click “After the scan is complete, locate Preview, select all the files that you would like to recover, and click on “Save“.
Method 2: Recover Data from Formatted SD Card by Consulting with a Professional Data Recovery Service
Professional data recovery services know how to retrieve data from formatted SD cards as they bring the expertise and the right people to the job. Find a trusted center near you and consult with them directly.
This route will likely cost you the most, both in time and money, out of all your options. Still, it’s the most reliable one to recover files from SD card after formatting and across pretty much every data loss scenario you can run into.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this article helped you get your data back from that formatted SD card without too much trouble. Going forward, the best way to dodge this headache is to keep a backup folder on hand in case your SD card is accidentally formatted. Got questions or something still bugging you about this? Feel free to reach out.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between formatting and deleting?
Deleting just flags your data’s location as empty space. Once new data comes along needing storage, it simply writes over whatever was deleted before.
Formatting an SD card, on the other hand, strips out and replaces the file system itself, and it can overwrite the whole drive with dummy data to block future recovery attempts.
Bottom line: it’s a lot easier to recover photos and other files after deletion than it is after your SD card’s been formatted.
How to recover formatted SD card data?
Your odds aren’t great, but you can still safely pull your data back from a formatted SD card, either with a professional data recovery tool or by consulting a data recovery service.
What are the pros and cons of formatting an SD card?
Advantages of Formatting your SD card
- Compatibility: Some devices will only play nice with certain file system formats. You can format your card to match what’s needed, then reformat it again when you switch to a different device.
- Fix corruption and inconsistencies: Formatting can clear up small glitches and repair an SD card with a corrupted file system, which can boost the card’s performance.
- Erase huge amounts of data: Formatting makes it easy to declutter an SD card by wiping everything on it at once, saving you time and effort.
Disadvantages of Formatting your SD card
- Data Loss: The biggest risk here is accidentally wiping out all your data. Since formatting clears everything off your SD card, it’s smart to back things up first and proceed carefully.
- Reduced Lifespan: Formatting too often can really cut down your SD card’s overall lifespan. If you’re formatting it regularly, it’s a good idea to swap it out for a new one every couple of years or so.
