sd card got corrupted, any chance to get files back??

hey, so my 64gb sandisk sd card randomly stopped working. I was using it in my camera and when I plugged it into my laptop it either doesn’t show up or says I need to format it (which I obviously dont wanna do).

it has a bunch of photos + vids I really need and ofc I didn’t back anything up yet… not smart, I know lol. I haven’t added anything to it since it stopped working, just trying to see if I can save the data.

anyone had this happen before? any free tools or methods that actually worked? trying not to lose hope here 😩

Tagged: SD card

SD card

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Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

Orin Thorne

Participant

October 13, 2025 at 10:06 am

I lost my precious photos the same way. Have you recovered them back? I need my lost photos very badly.

Genelia

Participant

September 23, 2025 at 7:01 am

Sounds like your SD card’s file system got corrupted but the data might still be recoverable. Kai has explained it better.

Hogan

Participant

September 23, 2025 at 6:44 am

If you’re still stuck, you can try booting from a Linux live USB (like Ubuntu). Sometimes Linux can read drives that Windows can’t. If Linux can see the card, just copy the files to your main drive or an external one.

Kai Vortex

Participant

August 22, 2025 at 8:39 am

Yeah, this happened to many, and it is easy to recover most of the stuff, so there’s definitely hope. First off, don’t format the card no matter how many times it asks, that’ll make recovery way harder. Try using a different card reader or USB port if you haven’t already, and maybe even a different computer, just to rule out a hardware issue. If the card still doesn’t show up properly, there are a couple of free tools you can try.
Photorec is good for basic recovery on Windows, and R-Photo is more powerful if the file system is really messed up, as it can pull files even if the drive looks empty or raw.
It’s not the best software, but it works. Also, check Disk Management (on Windows) or Disk Utility (on Mac) to see if the card shows up at all — if it appears as unallocated or RAW space, that’s a decent sign. If none of that works and the files are super important, like irreplaceable memories, you might have to look into a professional recovery tool like Stellar Photo Recovery, but it can be paid.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)