See the steps in action.
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Put the card aside and check your copies
If the card is still in your camera, turn the camera off before removing it. Use a different card if you need to keep shooting.
Check previous imports on your computer, backup drives and any services where you keep your photos. An existing copy may save you a recovery attempt.
If your device is only asking you to format the card and you have not agreed, cancel the request. Formatting is not a recovery step.
Understand what this test shows
After some types of formatting, file data may still be present even though the files are no longer visible. New writes can replace that data, which is why you should stop using the card.
In our demonstration, we open photos and videos on a test card, format it on a Mac, then try to recover the files using EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac.
We formatted a test card containing files we already had copies of. This only sets up the demonstration. Do not format your card again to follow the guide.
This was not a camera-formatting test. The result does not guarantee the same outcome with another card, a different type of formatting or files that have since been overwritten.
Identify your card and start the scan
Connect the card to your Mac using a reader. Install the recovery software on the computer, not on the card you want to recover. Make sure there is enough space on your Mac or another drive for the recovered files.
Identify the card by checking both its name and capacity. Our test card is named “SD Card”. Check those details before starting the scan.
Scanning can take time. The waiting period is shortened in the video, so its duration is not an estimate for your card. Files appearing in the results does not mean they are all recoverable.
If it repeatedly disconnects or is no longer detected reliably, stop repeating scans. For irreplaceable files, seek a specialist assessment.
Sort the results and check the previews
Start with photos, then look at videos. Preview the important files to recognise what you are looking for. Original filenames may not be preserved.
Our scan also finds older test pictures alongside the recent photos. Not every result is a file lost during the most recent format. The result count alone does not measure success.
For a video, a moving preview tells you more than a thumbnail. It still does not replace checking the recovered file afterwards.
Save recovered files to the Mac, never to the card
Select the files you want to recover. When choosing a destination, use a folder on your Mac or on a different drive.
Do not save the results back onto the affected SD card: you could overwrite data that might still be recoverable. In the demonstration, we recover the photos to the Mac, then repeat the process for the videos.
Open your files and make a second copy
Open the destination folder in Finder. View the recovered photos at full size and play the videos outside the recovery software.
For important videos, check several points, including the middle and the end, and listen to the audio. A few playable seconds at the start do not validate the whole file.
The recovered photos and videos shown in the demonstration open on the Mac. We did not measure an overall recovery rate or verify every document and every second of every video on the card.
If a recovered video remains unreadable, keep it intact. Recovering a file and repairing its contents are different tasks.
Once you have checked your files, keep a second copy of the important ones on another drive. Do not reuse the card until you have finished checking and protecting your copies.
A FEW MORE ANSWERS
Common questions.
Can you recover photos after formatting an SD card?
Sometimes. It depends on how the card was formatted and what has been written to it since. Stop using it and check for an existing copy first. Our test does not guarantee the result on another card.
Why does the scan find old photos?
Data from older files may still be present. Our scan also found pictures deleted before this test, so check the previews rather than relying on the number of results.
Should I format the card again before scanning?
No. The format in the video only sets up our test. Do not format your card as a recovery step.
Is a working preview enough?
No. Recover the file to a different drive, then open it outside the software. For videos, check the sound and several points in the recording.
Was this tested on Windows or in a camera?
No. We formatted the test card on a Mac and scanned it with EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac. The on-screen steps apply to that setup.
Sources & demonstration
Based on our recorded test and English video script. Updated 24 September 2026.