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An SD card is a kind of essential storage medium for cameras, drones, and dash cams. It is most widely used to save short photos and videos. However, the frequent need to transfer these files to a computer or remove unnecessary ones makes accidental deletion a common occurrence. If you hope to recover deleted files from an SD card on a Mac, then this guide is exactly what you need. Moreover, in this article, we will also explain where deleted files go and share some tips to improve your chances of successful recovery.
Of course. In fact, the SD card stores files by splitting them into two parts: the index information (filename, storage location, file size, etc.) and the binary data. The deletion operation only clears the index information, while the binary content remains intact within the physical sectors of the flash memory chip, where it is marked as “free and available for new files to overwrite the old files”. Because of the lack of index information, the deleted files are invisible and unreadable by your Mac. That’s the reason why they disappear right away after the deletion. Therefore, the disappearance is just a loss of logical visibility at the system level, not a physical erasure.
In this case, professional Mac SD card recovery software, such as iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac, can bypass the lost file index information to read the binary data. It can identify the file headers and footers to reconstruct deleted files and their index information, making these files that were previously inaccessible to the system readable once again.
Now, though you know that the files deleted from the SD card are still there, it doesn’t mean they can be recovered with 100% certainty. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you follow the suggestions below to maximize your chances of recovering your files.
The following methods can help you recover files from an SD card on Mac even without a backup. Each method corresponds to different situations. Choose the one that’s right for you.
When you delete some files from the SD card connected to a Mac, they will not be permanently erased right away. Instead, they will be moved to the Trash. If you haven't emptied the Trash yet, the following steps will help you find them easily.
Note: If the deleted files are not in the macOS Trash, you can also check the hidden folder named ".Trashes" on the SD card. To do this, open your SD card in Finder and press the "Command + Shift + ." keys. The folder will appear on your screen with a semi-transparent look.
Did you not find the deleted files from the SD card at the location above? Or perhaps you deleted them on another device, such as a camera? In this case, you need professional software to recover data from the SD card on Mac. Here are some excellent ones for your reference.
Why do we put iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac in the first place? Because it features a highly user-friendly design that makes it easy for even beginners to use, while also offering the following powerful capabilities.
Guide to recover deleted photos/videos from an SD card on Mac for free with iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac:
Note: Since this method directly extracts RAW data from SD card sectors, iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac may not be able to recognize deleted files with their original filenames. Consequently, they may appear on the results page with new filenames based on sequence numbers.
It is an excellent and popular open-source data recovery tool. Although its user interface is not user-friendly, it can identify files by their signatures. This feature allows you to recover files you deleted long ago or files lost due to a severely damaged file system.
Here are the steps for how to restore deleted files from the SD card on a Mac with PhotoRec:
In addition to the two programs we recommended, there are many other software options available for Mac SD card recovery. If you would like to explore more choices, you might consider the following five. They are equally powerful and easy to use, but some require payment.
Although the following methods do not directly recover data from the SD card on your Mac, they may still help you retrieve copies of them.
If you have been using Time Machine to back up important data and the files you previously deleted from the SD card happen to be included in those backups, then the following methods may be able to retrieve them.
Nowadays, multiple cloud storage services allow you to synchronize files from local storage devices, such as Dropbox and Google Drive. If you have used such a service and included the SD card in the sync process, you may be able to find the deleted files in the cloud.
Although these services automatically detect and sync file changes in the background when you insert the SD card into a Mac, the deleted files are not immediately erased. Instead, they are moved to a "Trash" or "Deleted Files" folder and retained for a certain period. Therefore, when you realize that this is a mistake, you can simply log in to your cloud account to restore them to their original location or download them directly to your Mac.
Tips: If the SD card is used with a Canon or Nikon camera, the photos or videos you previously deleted might still be available on Canon Image Gateway or Nikon Image Space.
Because of frequent insertion and ejection for data transfer, SD cards are more prone to damage than internal hard drives. It is also a common cause of data loss on SD cards. If your SD card shows signs of corruption, such as being unreadable, failing to mount, or triggering errors when you try to access files, in most cases, using the "First Aid" function in Disk Utility can resolve these logical errors.
Tip: If these issues recur, the best way is to use the "Erase" function in Disk Utility to reset the SD card's file system. Before you do, back up the data on the SD card to another hard drive.
As you can see, it doesn’t mean these important photos and videos are lost forever after you accidentally delete them. As long as you stop using the SD card immediately and follow the correct steps, almost anyone can recover deleted files from an SD card on a Mac. If you have any questions, such as encountering difficulties in a certain step or not being sure which SD card recovery program to use, please feel free to contact us.
Yes. Just like deleting files, formatting does not completely erase the data on an SD card. For this, you can use a powerful data recovery program, like iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac, to scan the formatted SD card and recover the photos. Besides, here are multiple methods to unformat an SD card.
If your SD card is used in an Android phone or tablet, you can use DiskDigger to recover lost data, but only for photos and videos.
Yes, it is possible. However, as time passes, it is very likely these old files have been overwritten. Anyway, you can still try data recovery software, such as iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac or PhotoRec, to scan your SD card. Perhaps they are still intact there.
Yes. If the SD card can be displayed in Disk Utility, iBeesoft Data Recovery for Mac can help you extract the data from it. On the contrary, data recovery services can be a last resort.
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