How to Recover Pictures from SD Card Using ZAR (Windows)
If you have accidentally deleted some of the files from SD Card, or lost files to a corrupted card, then also you may be able to recover the files using data recovery software. There are some options available on every operating system, as well as on the paid programs that will help you recovering your data easily.
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Stop accessing the SD card. If the files has been deleted, there is a chance that the data is still there, but has just been set to be overwritten by new data. If we are not accessing the SD card, you increase the chances that the data will not be overwritten. So it have been advised that until the deleted files is been recovered, it’s best to remove the SD card from any device.
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Download and install ZAR (Zero Assumption Recovery). You need to purchase the full version of ZAR, but the demo version allows you to recover only images. Only download ZAR from the developer’s website. On the ZAR website, click the “image recovery” link towards which is available at the bottom of the page. This will allow you to install the free demo that can recover images.
- Insert your SD card. Insert your SD card into your system using an SD card reader, or by inserting it in your camera and connecting the camera via USB. Your computer may prompt you to format your card or say that it’s not readable. Do not format your card according to this prompt, as this can write over where your pictures are saved on the card.
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Open the Image Recovery tool in ZAR. Start ZAR and click Image Recovery (Free). In other programs also, look for a similar button as some programs skips this step altogether.
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Select your SD card. In the “Disks and partitions”, select your SD card. It must be labeled as an SD card. Click Next Button to start the recovery scan.
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Choose which files you want to recover. You will find the list of images that the software found on your SD card. Select the images that you want to recover, or select all to restore all the lost images. You would not be able to preview them, and the file names are most likely be lost.
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Choose where to store the recovered images. Don’t save the recovered images, If your SD card has been damaged. Instead, create a folder on your computer to save the pictures. This will keep your pictures safe if anything happens to your SD card again.
- Copy the files. Click Start copying the selected files button to restore the pictures at the location specified by you. Some of the pictures may not be fully restored. Even if the thumbnail looks okay, the picture itself may be partially or fully damaged
