How to recover deleted data from a memory card

You will need a card reader, a computer, the memory card in question and nerves of steel.

Step 1: Don't do anything to your memory card once you realise photos have been deleted. This means, don't take any more photos on the card and remove it from the camera immediately.
Step 2: Select a recovery suite. The software mentioned in this tutorial is Recuva for Windows and PhotoRec for Mac, which are both free options.

Bear in mind that there are plenty of other options out there, and you may already have one that was included with your memory card, if it was from vendors such as Lexar or SanDisk.


Step 3: Install and set up the software on your PC or Mac.
Step 4: Let's start with Recuva first. Start up the program and choose what sorts of files you want to try and retrieve. In this tutorial we're looking for photos, but Recuva also gives you the option of finding a number of other file types.
Step 5: Run the scan and see what files it turns up. Hopefully you will get some results here, which means the software has found your images.
In Recuva, click "Switch to advanced mode", which will show you what file types the software is looking for. All you have to do is add the file extension of your camera's raw format. This is typically something like .CR2, .NEF or .ARW depending on your camera brand. If in doubt, check your camera manual.


Step 6: For Recuva, select all the images you want to restore, and click the "Recover" button. Choose a place you want to restore the files to. You will want to choose somewhere you can access easily, like the desktop or your pictures folder. It's best not to save them back to the memory card.
For PhotoRec, you will have already chosen a recovery location in a previous step. Navigate to the folder in Finder to see what's there.
Step 7: Check the files that have been recovered, then back them up!