author avatar
28 September 2023  Jennifer Thatcher  Technology Manager of Test Dept.
 

Summary
Learn how to recover data from a formatted SD card on Mac and Windows. Discover methods to repair SD cards and the importance of backing up your data.



Table of contents

table iconWays to Recover Formatted SD Card Using Data Recovery Software
table iconRepair formatted SD card using System Repair for Windows and Mac
table iconBackup SD card regularly
table iconreach a verdict
How to recover data from formatted SD card? – Provides steps and methods to recover data lost after formatting. You may have encountered this problem before: your SD card suddenly becomes unusable and displays a message that it needs to be formatted. When you try to format it, you find that all the data is gone. Don’t worry, you can use the following steps and methods to recover data lost after formatting.

Ways to Recover Formatted SD Card Using Data Recovery Software

With the continuous advancement of technology, we are relying more and more on SD card to store and transfer important data. However, sometimes we may encounter unexpected situations that cause SD card to be formatted accidentally, thus resulting in data loss. In such cases, using a third-party tool to recover formatted SD card is one of the most effective ways. The following will introduce software to recover data lost after SD card formatting.

Method 1 : Recover data from formatted SD card using Windows File Recovery built-in in Windows


In Windows 10 version 2004 and higher, Microsoft has launched a built-in tool called Windows File Recovery, which can help users recover accidentally deleted or formatted files.
Preparation: Before using Windows file recovery tools, make sure your computer has Windows 10 version 2004 or later installed and has administrator rights.
Step 1: Prepare the SD card: Insert the cleaned SD card into the computer’s card reader or connect it to the computer using a suitable data cable.
Step 2: [Optional] Download and install Windows File Recovery: If you do not have this program on your computer, please open the Microsoft Store on your Windows 10 computer, search for, download and install the Windows File Recovery application.
Download Windows File Recovery from windows store
Step 3: Run Windows File Recovery: Find and open the Windows File Recovery application in the Windows Start menu.
Step 4: Select recovery mode: In Windows file recovery application, you can choose from clear different recovery modes. For the recovered SD card, we choose the “Recover from Volume” mode.
Step 5: Run the recovery command: In the Windows file recovery application, enter the command

winfr source-drive: destination-folder /mode:sd

commander-in-chief (military)

source-drive

Replace the drive letter of the SD card with the drive letter of the SD card, e.g., “D:”, replace the

destination-folder

Replace it with the destination folder where you want to save the recovered files, e.g. E:\temp\.
TipsMake sure that the destination folder where you save the recovery file is not the partition where the SD card is located.
Step 6: Wait for the recovery to complete: Windows File Recovery will start scanning the SD card and try to recover the formatted data. Please wait patiently for the recovery process to complete.
Step 7: View the recovery results: After the recovery is completed, you can view the recovered files in the target folder.
By using Windows file recovery tool, you can easily recover formatted SD card data. Remember, before proceeding with the recovery operation, make sure to stop using the SD card and speed up the recovery operation to successfully increase the chances of recovery.
Pros:
  • Conveniently recovers formatted SD card data
  • Built-in tools, no need to download additional software

Drawbacks:

  • Recovery process may take tens of hours
  • Only available for Windows 10 version 2004 and higher

Method 2 : Using Renee Undeleter


Rene.E Laboratory ™ data recovery software is a software specially used to recover various data files. You can use this software when you accidentally delete important files, empty the recycle bin, or format the disk/storage. Tools to retrieve lost data. The software covers four major functional modules, including file recovery, format recovery, partition recovery and image creation, which can help you solve all data loss problems in an all-round way.
Step 1: Connect the SD card to your computer via card reader and download, install and run Renee Undeleter on your computer, select (Format Recovery) option in the main interface.
It should be noted that please do not install the software in the disk from which you need to recover data to avoid data overwriting. In addition, do not save new data to the same disk partition after file loss to avoid corruption or complete loss of lost files.
Select the Format Recovery option
Step 2: Next, select the partition where the lost data is located and click (Next).
Format Recovery Selecting Partitions to Scan
Step 3: Please wait patiently for the scanning, the length of the scanning time will depend on the size of the SD card memory. After the scanning is finished, you can double-click the files to preview them, and then select the files you need to recover and click the (Recover) button.
Note: It is recommended to save the recovered files in other partitions and not in the original SD card to avoid data overwriting. If (Format Recovery) cannot find the files you need, you can also try the (Partition Recovery) function.
Formatting Recovery Scan Results
Tips1. Using genuine tools can ensure the success rate of data recovery.
2. If the SD card is not recognized, you can use these methods to solve it.
3. How to use Renee Undeleter to recover SD card on Mac, please see here .

Repair formatted SD card using System Repair for Windows and Mac

In this case, you need to recover lost data with data recovery software first, and then repairing formatted SD card by using some built-in tools of Mac and Windows operating system is one of the most effective ways. The following describes how to use the system repair feature of Mac and Windows to try to repair formatted SD card and recover lost data.
Before performing system repair, you need to connect the SD card to your computer and use data recovery software to scan and retrieve the lost data. If the data recovery software fails to retrieve the data you need, then you can try to repair the formatted SD card using the System Repair feature. Here are the steps to perform these tasks on Windows and Mac.

Repair Formatted SD Card on Windows


Step 1: Insert the SD card . Insert the formatted SD card into the SD card slot of your Windows computer or connect it to your computer using a USB SD card reader.
Step 2: Use Windows built-in tools.
  • In File Explorer, right-click the SD card drive and select Properties.
  • Under the “Tools” tab, click on the “Check” button and select the “Scan and Repair Drive” option.
  • Windows will try to automatically fix file system errors on the SD card.

Fix SD card errors using Windows built-in tools

Repair Formatted SD Card on Mac


Step 1: Insert the SD card . Insert the formatted SD card into your Mac’s SD card slot or use a USB SD card reader to connect it to your Mac.
Step 2: Use Disk Utility.
  • Open the Applications folder and then go to the Utilities folder.
  • Open the Disk Utility application.
  • In the left sidebar, select your SD card.
Step 3: Repair SD card.
  • Click the “First Aid” button in the toolbar to try to fix any file system errors on the SD card.
  • If the repair is successful, you can try to access the SD card to see if you can find the lost data.
Fixing SD Card Errors with MacOS Built-in Tools

Backup SD card regularly

Although there are data recovery software that can help to retrieve the lost data, it can’t ensure to retrieve all the data 100%. In order to avoid the trouble and loss caused by data loss, we should always pay attention to the importance of backing up the SD card.
So, how to backup SD card? Several methods are given below for your reference:
Method 1: Back up SD card using file management tool
First, connect the SD card to your computer and then use a file management tool (such as Explorer) to back up all the files on the SD card. You can choose to copy the files directly to your computer’s hard disk or other storage devices.
Method 2: Back up SD card using data backup software
If you are worried about missing some files during manual backup, you can use data backup software to backup your SD card automatically. These software usually offer a timed backup feature that can help you back up the data in your SD card on a regular basis.
Hot Topic - ADsRenee Becca – Professional, Reliable Tools for Data Backup and Recovery

Quick Back up files at up to 3,000MB/min.

Overall Support system backup, disk/partition backup, file backup and disk clone.

Intelligent Automatically analyze the data differences between the source files and the backup files and save disk space by backing up incremental/differential data.

Convenient Support VSS, allowing to freely view web pages during the backup of the operating system.

Highly compatible Support various files and storage devices.

Quick Back up at up to 3,000MB/min

Overall System/partition/disk backup

Incremental/differential technology Save disk space

Free TrialFree TrialNow 2000 people have downloaded!
Method 3: Back up SD card using cloud storage
In addition to traditional storage methods, such as copying to a computer or other device, you can also consider using a cloud storage service to back up the data in your SD card. This can avoid losing the backup data at the same time due to the damage of your computer or other storage devices.
Cloud Backup
Method 4: Regularly check the integrity of your backup files
Regardless of which method you use to back up your SD card, you should periodically check the integrity of the backup file. If you find a problem with the backup file, you should re-backup it immediately to ensure the availability of the backup file.
By backing up the SD card, we can effectively avoid the trouble caused by data loss. Remember to backup regularly so that your data will always be safe.

reach a verdict

In this article, we have described how to recover formatted SD card data in Mac and Windows operating systems. We hope it can help readers to solve the problem of losing data after formatting and protect important data from loss. Remember, before using any SD card repair method, make sure to recover data first to prevent unexpected situations.