How to Recover Deleted Videos from SD Card on PC or Android

Losing video files from SD cards is a common issue, but don’t worry—recovery is often possible. This article guides you through simple, effective methods to retrieve your lost videos, drawing on our extensive experience in digital storage solutions.

Our research, using ahrefs.com, indicates that users globally conduct approximately 100,420 monthly searches on Google related to memory card recovery, specifically for SD cards. Of these searches, roughly 13,090 target “files,” encompassing virtually any format. Photos/images/pictures account for approximately 14,750, while videos capture around 3,050 searches. The remaining searches address other memory card issues and miscellaneous topics.

While video file loss from memory cards may not be the most frequent concern, representing around 3% of searches, it still remains a significant issue for users seeking solutions.

How to Recover Deleted Videos from SD Card on Windows 10/11

Recovering lost or deleted video files from an SD card can be tricky, so it’s best to use specialized recovery software. There are many options out there, but we recommend using Disk Drill Data Recovery due to its user-friendly interface, proven reliability, and robust functionality. Not only can Disk Drill recover deleted videos on your computer, but it can also help recover deleted videos from external media, like an SD card.

Both in my professional writing on data recovery and personal experiences with data loss, I consistently rely on Disk Drill.

Disk Drill is a freemium product. That means you can download it for free and use the trial period to recover your videos. Should the total size of your videos exceed the free trial limit of 500 MB, you can still use it to verify that your video files are recoverable before you upgrade to PRO.

Here’s how to recover videos from an SD card using Disk Drill for Windows:

1. Download and install Disk Drill to your Windows PC: To start, download and install Disk Drill for Windows.
2. Insert the SD card and find it inside Disk Drill: Connect the SD with deleted videos on it to your computer. If your computer doesn’t have a built-in card reader in its case, you can use a USB card reader. Alternatively, you can try connecting the device that uses the SD card to the computer directly to see if Windows allows you to access the SD card through it as a storage device.
3. Initiate the scan: With your SD card connected, select it in Disk Drill, then click on the ‘Search for lost data’ button. Disk Drill will begin its scan.
4. Review the results: At the end of the scan, Disk Drill will display the recoverable files it has discovered on the card. It’s also helpful to preview the video files you intend to recover. To do this, click on a specific file in the list. A preview window will appear on the right side. If it doesn’t appear automatically, click the eye icon next to the filename. Disk Drill can preview any video file format natively supported by Windows or any format playable through a program installed on your device. Previewing serves two valuable purposes: (1) It verifies that you’re recovering the intended file, and (2) a successful preview indicates the file is not corrupted and should recover successfully. After previewing, select the video files that you’d like to recover by checking the box next to their names.
5. Recover the files: When you’ve selected the files, you can click on ‘Recover’ or ‘Recover all…’ to begin the recovery process. From there, you will need to specify a location where the files can be recovered to. Ideally, the specified recovery location will sit outside of the SD card (like on your computer’s hard drive, or a USB).

How to Recover Deleted Videos from SD Card on Android

Smartphones, particularly those that run Android, are popular for their ability to house SD cards to expand their storage. While not all phones can accept SD cards, there is a good number that can.

If you’ve accidentally deleted videos from the SD card in your phone, there’s a chance that they can still be recovered if you act fast enough.

DiskDigger is an app available on Android that can search for and recover lost photos and videos from your device’s internal memory and SD card. It features similar functionality to Disk Drill but is designed to work directly from your Android smartphone.

Here’s how to recover deleted videos from a memory card using the Android version of DiskDigger:

1. Install DiskDigger: Install DiskDigger to your smartphone from the Google Play Store.
2. Start a basic scan: Once you open the app, you’ll be met with a few options. Choose ‘Start Basic Photo Scan’ to begin DiskDrill’s scan of your device. Before the scan starts, you will also need to give DiskDigger permission to access your storage, which will appear as a prompt after you start the scan.
3. Review the results: When the scan is complete, you will be met with the files that DiskDigger was able to find on your device (and SD card). At this point, you can begin going through and selecting the files you’d like to recover by tapping on them.
4. Recover the files: Once you’ve chosen the files you’d like to recover, tap on the ‘Recover’ button. You will be prompted to choose a recovery location. To ensure the files can be recovered safely, it’s suggested that you use a cloud-based platform to store your files, like Google Drive or Dropbox. Otherwise, restore them to your Android device and move them to a different storage media afterward for safekeeping.

Important: Rooting a modern phone can disable certain functionalities, like NFC payments. Therefore, it’s recommended to remove the SD card and scan it directly on a computer.

How to Recover Lost Videos from Digital Cameras and GoPros

The great thing about SD cards is that they can be used in a wide range of devices. If you have a camera from Nikon, Sony, Canon or even GoPro, chances are that camera uses an SD card to store photos and videos. Using recovery software, you have a good chance of recovering the files you lost or deleted as long as the camera hasn’t been used since the files were lost.

You can do this by either removing the SD card and connecting it to your computer using an SD card reader, or by connecting your camera directly to the computer as a storage device (applicable to older devices using the UMS (USB Mass Storage) data transfer protocol). Connecting your camera to the computer as a storage device allows recovery software to access the SD card, even though it’s still inside your camera.

Once your SD card is connected to your computer, you can then make use of SD card recovery software to scan and recover the files that were lost or deleted from the SD card.

Can I Even Recover Deleted Videos From my SD Card?

The ability to capture and store videos instantaneously is something that’s easily taken for granted by many. While many devices may only have internal storage only, many others still rely on SD cards for primary or additional storage.

SD cards are user-friendly, compact, and affordable to the point where you can get one without having to break the bank. Because of their simplicity, they can be found in a whole range of devices, from smartphones to professional-grade cameras and camcorders.

But, what happens when you lose video files from your SD card? Well, in most cases, they can be recovered, even after deletion. However, to answer this question more precisely, it is necessary to understand how your video files become lost or deleted in the first place. The chances of recovering your videos or footage directly depend on how exactly it was lost. Let’s take a closer look at a few popular scenarios.

Tips to Prevent Video Loss on SD Cards

SD cards do a great job of storing your files, but they’re not perfect. They’re still susceptible to physical damage and corruption, and either of these can happen at any moment. Because of that, it’s good to make sure that you’re taking care of the files you store so that in the event of file loss, you’re prepared.

• Backup important media files – Instead of keeping your media files on an SD card exclusively, you can make copies and store them on other media like an external hard drive, or even cloud-based storage like Google Drive or Dropbox.
• Store your SD cards appropriately – If you have multiple SD cards, consider buying a case to organize and house them safely. Otherwise, make sure your SD cards are stored in a space that’s safe from exposure to excessive heat or moisture.
• Safely eject from your computer – Removing your SD card without first safely ejecting it can interrupt the read/write process, causing files to become corrupted.
• If errors appear, stop using the card – If you start having issues with your SD card, stop using it immediately and get any files off the card. Errors are a sign that the SD card is failing, and continued use could cause catastrophic file loss.

FAQ

Conclusion

Losing video files can be devastating, and at some point or another, it happens to everyone. Luckily, using the above solutions, recovering your files has never been easier thanks to recovery tools like Disk Drill and DiskDigger.

To ensure that your files stay safe from corruption and accidental deletion, it’s good to establish a proactive backup routine. This way, even in the event of file loss, you can get yourself back up and running in no time.