Data loss from Mac may occur for several reasons, including accidental file deletion, malware infection, formatted SD card, power failure, physical damage, and SD card corruption.
When you lose data such as photos from an SD card, you should immediately attempt the recovery with photo recovery apps to make the process much easier. Also, do not use the card quite often before your files are recovered.
Remember, the less you use the memory card you will recover files from, the higher the chances of data recovery. Therefore, you should avoid using the SD card from where you lost your photos.
This article shows you some of the best methods you can use to recover lost photos from a formatted SD card on a Mac. For more ways to recover deleted files from an SD card on Mac, follow the link provided.
Recover Lost Photos With Disk Drill For Mac
Disk Drill for Mac is a versatile third-party software that will make your life easier, especially if you keep losing photos and other types of files on your Mac.
If you need assuring results with your photo recovery trials, we recommend using Disk Drill by CleverFiles. It has been built with powerful features to resolve even very tough photo loss scenarios.
With Disk Drill, you will recover photos and images from a formatted SD card very quickly. Besides, the software works on several devices and supports many other file formats.
If you formatted your SD card and lost photos in the process, you should first think of whether you have preinstalled Disk Drill for Mac or not. If not, download and install the software and follow the steps below to recover the photos. Also, see best data recovery tools for Mac OS X.
Step 1: Download and install the accessible version of Disk Drill for Mac
Download and Install the app on your computer’s main disk and provide your administrator’s password when prompted to do so in the process.
Step 2: Connect the card to your Mac.
Now connect the SD card to the Mac. You can use the card reader of your computer, an external card reader, or still connect the laptop directly to the device where the card is located.
Step 3: Launch Disk Drill and choose the SD card.
Open Disk Drill and choose the SD card from the list of disks presented on the main window. You can then focus on recovering the photos you lost from the SD card only.
Step 4: Scan The Memory Card
Now tap the “Recover” button to start the scanning process. Allow the software to search the disk and return a list of files you can recover. Remember, you can pause the process midway or at any time if you think the files you need are already discovered.
Step 5: Preview The Files
Now preview the files that Disk Drill has discovered. Check the list carefully and find out if the photos you lost are in the list of discovered documents.
Step 6: Choose the files for recovery
From the list in the preview, select the photos you intend to recover. Once you choose the photos, choose a designated storage location to save them. Remember not to keep the pictures on the SD card from which the images are recovered to avoid overwriting or corrupting them.
Step 7: Recover the deleted Mac data from the SD card
Now click the “Recover” button a second time and allow the software to recover the photos and send them to the new location as you specified in the previous step.
Recover Lost Photos With Command Prompt
If you have not installed any photo recovery software, the command prompt will come in handy.
A single command prompt helps you fix the attributes without attempting to fix every file individually.
Step 1: Link the SD card to your PC.
Step 2: Key in “Win” + “R” keys and launch the Run program.
Step 3: Key in “cmd” and click “OK.’
Step 4: Key “ATTRIB -H -R -S /S /D X:*.*” in the CMD window and tap enter. Replace the “X” with the letter representing the SD card.
Recover Photos From The Recycle Bin
When photos are deleted from the SD card, the first place to look for them is the Recycle bin.
Here are the steps:
Step 1: Find the recycle bin on Mac and double-click the icon to open the folder.
Step 2: Check that the photos you deleted are in the bin and select those you intend to recover.
Step 3: Right-click on the photos you have selected and choose “Restore.”
Step 4: Wait for the restore to end and check the original folder to confirm the photos are back.
Recover Lost Photos By Restoring Previous versions
Make sure File History is turned on and the SD card is. Choose the “Turn on an option” and include your external hard drive among the active file history locations.
Below are the steps:
Step 1: Get the folder where you stored the photos before they were deleted.
Step 2: Right-click inside the folder and select “Properties.”
Step 3: Open the “Previous Versions” tab.
Step 4: Choose the previous version of the photos you want to restore.
Step 5: Click the “Restore” button to initiate the process.