How to Recover Photos/Pictures from Corrupted SD Card

To recover photos from a corrupted SD card, try using data recovery software like EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard or Disk Drill. These tools can scan the card and extract any recoverable files, including photos. If the software can't recover the files, you can also try using a card reader to read the card in a different computer or device.

Quick Navigation: Part 1. Symptoms Associated with Corrupted SD Card; Part 2. Possible Reasons for SD Card Corruption; Part 3. Can You Restore Photos from Corrupted SD Card?

Part 1. Symptoms Associated with Corrupted SD Card

A corrupted SD card may exhibit symptoms such as a failure to read or write data, error messages during file transfer or access, and a complete inability to access the card. Additionally, the card may not be recognized by the device, or it may be detected but not initialized.

The SD card is visible in the Disk Management tool, but it's not showing up as a partition, making it inaccessible, possibly due to a corrupted or missing partition table, or the disk not being initialized.
The memory card is not being recognized by the system, showing "No Media" in Disk Management, suggesting a faulty card, loose connection, or driver issue.
The SD card is not being recognized by the computer, which may indicate a problem with the card reader or the SD card itself, and is not visible in either the Disk Management or File Explorer.
The SD card is recognized by the operating system but not by the device manager, possibly due to corruption or improper driver installation.

Part 2. Possible Reasons for SD Card Corruption

An SD card can become corrupted, leading to the loss of saved files, including photos and videos, due to physical damage, software glitches, or improper use.

The SD card is electrically or physically damaged
I/O device error
MBR corruption
The SD card's file system is corrupted, and others.

Part 3. Can You Restore Photos from Corrupted SD Card?

To determine if you can recover photos from a corrupted SD card, start by checking if the card appears in the Disk Manager. If it does, you'll see one of five possible situations: the card is healthy, has a healthy partition, has a corrupted partition, has a raw partition, or is completely dead. If it's healthy or has a healthy partition, you can simply copy your files. If it has a corrupted or raw partition, you may need to use data recovery software to recover your files. This will help you assess the situation and decide the best course of action to retrieve your photos.

1. Run the built-in Check Disk utility (chkdsk) to scan and fix any errors on the SD card.
The memory card appears in Disk Management, but its partition is missing, indicating that the partition is indeed lost. To recover the lost partition, you can try using the built-in Windows feature, "Check for bad sectors," or third-party software like EaseUS Partition Recovery, to scan and recover the lost partition.
The SD card is visible in Disk Management, but its status is marked as 'No Media', suggesting that the system can't identify it as a legitimate storage device, which could be caused by a faulty SD card, corrupted file system, or issues with the card reader or port.
The memory card is visible in File Explorer but not in Disk Management, suggesting a driver or card reader issue, or a problem with the card itself.
The SD card is not appearing in File Explorer or Disk Management, indicating a hardware or driver problem. Try restarting the computer, inspecting the SD card for damage, and verifying the SD card reader is securely connected.

You can recover photos from a corrupted SD card using a data recovery software, even if it's not showing up in the Disk Manager, by scanning the card for recoverable files. This allows you to recover photos and other files, regardless of the card's status.

Retrieve Pictures on Corrupted SD Card in Situation #1 & Situation #2

1. To recover data from a corrupted SD card, download and install a reliable data recovery software, then connect the SD card to your computer.

1. To fix a corrupted SD card, run CHKDSK by following these simple steps: Open the Command Prompt as an administrator by typing "cmd" in the Windows search bar and selecting the result. This will allow you to run the Check Disk utility, which can help repair any issues with your SD card.

Click the "Start" button and type in 'cmd'
Right-click on the "Command Prompt" and select "Run as Administrator"
To run the chkdsk command on a corrupted SD card, type "chkdsk G: /f /r" in the command prompt, replacing "G" with the actual drive letter of the SD card, to check the file system and scan the disk for errors, attempting to repair any issues it finds.

If you still can't access the corrupted SD card, you might need a software tool to recover photos from it. The Deep Data Recovery tool can help you restore images from a corrupted SD card, by following a few steps.

Solution 2. Get Back Corrupted SD Card Photos by Qiling

Deep Data Recovery is a highly efficient and easy-to-use recovery tool that offers two powerful scanning modes to restore formatted, lost, or deleted photos.

Free Download
Windows 11/10/8/7, 100% Secure

Download Deep Data Recovery and Launch it.
Connect SD card to the computer
Filter file types before scanning

When launching the software, all file types are checked by default, allowing you to recover photos from an SD card on Mac or Windows PC. To customize the recovery process, you can click "go to setting" to deselect all file types and select only the specific types you want to recover. This tailored approach ensures that you can recover the desired photos without unnecessary data processing.

Select card and click on the "Scan" button to next.

how to recover images off a corrupted sd card

Retrieve pictures from corrupted SD card

Preview the result window to see the lost photos that have been found. Click the "Recover" button to recover all the pictures.

Format the corrupted SD card to make it functional again.

The corrupted SD card should be inserted into the card reader on your computer. This will allow the computer to read the data on the SD card and potentially recover any lost files.
Open "This PC" and right-click on the SD card icon.
Click on "Format Device" and wait for the formatting process to be completed. This will erase all data on your SD card and you can start saving new photos on it.

For Situation #3: There is "No Media" in the Device

If the reason why your SD card is not showing is because of situation #3, you will need to fix the error of "there are no media in the device" by checking if the SD card is properly inserted and if the device recognizes it, and also check if the card is corrupted or damaged. If it's corrupted, you may need to reformat it.

For Situation #4: The SD card shows in File Explorer but not in Disk Management

If the SD card is not showing in the Disk Manager, updating the driver can resolve the issue. To do this, go to the Device Manager, find the SD card reader, right-click on it, select "Update driver," and follow the on-screen instructions to download and install the latest driver. This should allow the SD card to be recognized and appear in the Disk Manager.

Right-To access the Device Manager, click on "This PC" and select "Manage" and then "Device Manager".
To update the driver for the corrupted SD card, go to Device Manager, expand the "Disk Drives" section, select the corrupted SD card, right-click on it, and choose "Update Driver" from the context menu. This will initiate the driver update process for the SD card.
To update your graphics driver, select "Search for Updated Driver Software Automatically" and follow the prompts. This will allow the system to search for and install any available updates for your graphics driver.

For Situation #5: The SD card is not showing up in both File Explorer and Disk Management

If your SD card is completely corrupted and cannot be accessed, it's likely that all data is unrecoverable. In this case, you may need to replace the SD card with a new one.

If your SD card is corrupted and you're unable to access the images stored on it, there are several solutions you can try to recover them. You can use a data recovery software to scan the card and retrieve the images, or try using a card reader to access the card and manually copy the images. If the card is physically damaged, you may need to send it to a professional data recovery service to have the images recovered.