How to recover deleted files from SD card on Mac quickly

If you lose your files on SD card because of a mistaken deletion or corrupted, it could be time to use reliable ways to recover the deleted files from SD card on your Mac.

Tip: For those who have SanDisk SD cards, you may use SanDisk RescuePro that comes with card when you purchase it to handle Mac SD card recovery tasks — we'll discuss in this article.

If you're using another brand of SD card, try Mac Data Recovery to help retrieve your precious photos, videos, music and other files. It earned its spot on the best SD card recovery apps list because of its high efficiency and success rate.

There are a few different ways to recover SD card on your Mac when you lost files.

Did you accidentally delete pictures and video clips on your SD card that you took in your digital camera, or reformat your SD card (SanDisk, Sony, Lexar, etc.) by mistake without backing up data? It happens to the best of us!

Luckily for you, before your deleted files are gone forever, there are many of options you can take to recover deleted files from an SD card on your Mac, regardless of your SD cards: SD card, SDHC card, SDXC card, microSD/miniSD card, CFexpress card, MMC card, xD Picture card.

This article is mainly used for Mac SD card recovery, but you will also get ideas after reading if you need to perform a file recovery on a PC for your memory card.

Table of contents

• Before doing a SD card recovery in Mac
• Use the file recovery tool that comes with your SD card
• Use Mac Data Recovery for a deep and thorough search
• Recover the deleted files from hidden Trash in SD card on Mac
• Use other popular SD card recovery tools for Mac
• Recover deleted files from SD card on Mac with Time Machine

Before doing a SD card recovery in Mac

Before you perform a SD card recovery process on your Mac, it's important to know that most SD cards use DOS formatting, which means the deleted files are still recoverable if you stop using the SD card immediately. Any changes you make to the card will occupy the space that was used for the deleted files, diminishing the chances of successful SD data recovery in Mac.

You then should remove the SD card from your device and connect to your Mac with a card reader, and use a data recovery tool to recover files from your SD card as soon as quickly.

Use the file recovery tool that comes with your SD card

Many of SD card manufacturers include the data recovery software with their products, which helps recover files from a formatted or erased SD card. If you have a SanDisk SD card, you're lucky enough. When you bought a higher end SanDisk SD card, you would get the data recovery software named RescuePro, along with the License Key on the back of the package, or inside on an insert. If you haven't thrown away the outer packaging, you may check if it's still there.

Nothing found? You may go to RescuePro website and purchase the software.

Also: How to transfer music from Mac to iPhone

Once you've got the RescuePro recovery software, follow these steps to recover deleted files from SD card on a Mac.

1. Run RescuePro on your Mac after installation. Then put your SD card in the card reader on your Mac computer.

The software support recovery of photos, videos, documents, music, graphic files, archives, presentations, data files, and more.

2. If you're going to recover deleted files from SD card on Mac, click "Recover Photos" on the screen.

3. After selecting photos, you will want to choose "Removable Disk" or something similar related the name of SanDisk SD card, followed by "Start."

4. Wait for this Mac SD card recovery software to scan the SD card for deleted files.

5. Preview the deleted photos that RescuePro finds from SD card and recover them.

Use Mac Data Recovery for a deep and thorough search

If your SD card doesn't come with a file recovery utility by default, don't worry. You have a lot of third-party options to choose from. If you are looking for a reliable data recovery app with good results, Mac Data Recovery is the perfect pick.

Carrying with deep scan abilities and a huge file-type library, Mac Data Recovery enables users to recover lost data from SD cards, hard disks, SSDs, USB drives, memory sticks, optical media, external hard drives, and lots of popular digital cameras. And it includes a file preview feature with which you can view the file to make sure it's the one you need before recovery.

Retrieving files from SD card on Mac computer is pretty quick and efficient with Mac Data Recovery. Here's how it works.

Step 1: Launch Data Recovery

Use your Mac's built-in card reader or grab an external one to connect your SD card, and run this Mac Data Recovery from dock.

Supported Mac SD card recovery:

• SD card: SanDisk, Kingston, Sony, Lexar, etc.
• SDHC card: PNY, Genuine SanDisk, Lexar, Samsung
• SDXC card: Samsung, Transcend, PNY, OWC
• microSD/miniSD card: Delkin, Verbatim, Silicon Power
• CFexpress card: MyMemory, EgoDisk, Delkin
• MMC card: Transcend, Johnziny, Canon
• xD Picture card: Olympus, xD-Picture, Fujifilm
• More...

Step 2: Select data type and your SD card

You will see a good UI layout arranging everything in an organized fashion that's easy to grasp. To recover SD card data, choose a file type or several types.

Next, in Removable Drives section, select your SD card from the disk list presented.

Step 3: Perform a deep scan for deleted files

Click the "Scan" to start the scan process. The software will scan the SD card byte by byte to find deleted files. This can take a few minutes, especially you have a large amount of space in the SD card.

After the scan is finished, This Data Recovery sorts the results by files types on the left sidebar. You may click the specific type to display all found files. It also provides handy filters and search function at the top of the screen, letting you quickly locate and access specific files you need, like pictures, documents, or videos, making the Mac SD card recovery process much easier.

Step 4: Preview and recover deleted files from SD card in Mac

If you're recovering photos, do a preview if required.

Choose the files you want to retrieve from the list, and click the "Recover" button at the bottom right and choose a safe location on your Mac to save the SD card recovered files.

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Recover the deleted files from hidden Trash in SD card on Mac

If you're scrolling through your files list and accidentally delete a photo or a video instead of permanently erasing it using Shift + Delete, you will also want to look the hidden Trash folder. Almost all SD cards have a trash bin for your deleted files, where they are held temporarily for a specified time.

You may unhide this Trash on your SD card in Mac, and try to recover deleted files there.

1. Remove the SD card from your camera and insert it into a card reader on your Mac.

2. Access your SD card and go to its root folder.

3. Press the CMD + Shift + > keys to show the hidden .Trashes folder.

4. You'll be presented with a few folders and files inside them.

5. Check the folders carefully, and then find deleted files you need.

6. Select the files, right-click, and choose Put Back to restore to your SD card.

After SD card recovery on Mac, you may press the combo to re-hide the Trash bin again.

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Use other popular SD card recovery tools for Mac

While RescuePro and Mac Data Recovery are two of very popular options for recovering deleted files on an SD card in Mac, there are other practical file recovery apps for SD card to consider.

PhotoRec

Developed by CG Security, PhotoRec is a free and open-source command-line tool that enables users to recover lost files from digital camera's SD card or any similar storage media. Don't let the name fools you, it supports SD card recovery on Mac of various file types, including documents, videos, photos, and archives. PhotoRec recovers files based on signature and may be able to recover your data where other tools failed.

PhotoRec requires a slightly steeper learning curve compared to tools with a graphical user interface. But if you're familiar with Command Prompt on your Mac, you'll be able to recover your lost files quickly, and best of all, it's completely free.

CG Security has more details about how to download, install, run, and recover deleted files using PhotoRec: https://www.cgsecurity.org/testdisk_doc/

Pros:

• Available for macOS, Windows, and Linux
• Free, open source, and easy to use
• Recover nearly 500 different file formats
• A signature based SD card file recovery tool
• Multi-language support

Cons:

• Command line interface can be intimidating
• lacks advanced features for professionals

Related article: Photos disappeared from iPhone

Data Rescue 6

Data Rescue is another great SD card data recovery software for Mac you can't miss. It performs a quick scan by default, which is incredibly fast, and enables you to take a deep scan to recover files lost through a formatted or corrupted SD card, meaning you can tailor the scan to suit the specific data loss scenario. It also comes with advanced filters and search features, making it easy for power users to identify and recover the lost files quickly.

The process of data recovery on SD card in Mac is relatively straight-forward: begin with "Start Recovering files," select your SD card, and choose a scan mode, preview the lost files, and initiate the recovery process.

Pros:

• Recovers files from SD card, HDD, SDD, USB drive, Compact Flash, etc.

• One license for both Mac and Windows
• Includes two modes: Quick scan, and Deep scan
• Handy preview, advanced filters, search capabilities.

Cons:

• Allow recovering a small amount of data (1GB)
• Standard License costs $79 for only 30 days
• Take a long time to perform deep scans
• Lack of a good tutorial system

TestDisk

CG Security offers TestDisk and PhotoRec as a combined package in a single portable download. TestDisk is freeware tool specifically focusing on recovery of partitions and filesystems, while PhotoRec is designed to recover photos, videos and other classic files.

TestDisk can recover deleted partition, and undelete files from FAT32 (Most SD memory cards use the FAT32 by default), exFAT, NTFS, HFS, JFS, ext2, ext3, ext4, and many others. Furthermore, it can recover NTFS/FAT32 boot sector from its backup.

Recovering SD card on Mac with the command line TestDisk is straightforward and delivers fast and effective results for anyone with reasonable tech knowledge. You may download its latest version, 7.2, here.

Pros:

• Free and open-source partition recovery software
• Find lost partitions for a wide range of file systems
• Create non-booting disks bootable again

Cons:

• Command line interface isn't intuitive for beginners
• Lacks support of recovering individual files.

Recover deleted files from SD card on Mac with Time Machine

If you've ever inserted your SD card into your Mac to back it up with Time Machine, you could also completely restore your SD card from an old backup. Time Machine can back up all of your files, including videos, photos, music, documents, and other data.

Important: restoring SD card from a Time Machine backup will erase any data that has been added on your device since the backup was made. You'd better back up your SD card first before doing a restore.

Here's how to do a Mac sd card recovery with Time Machine.

1. Back up your SD card first, or transfer all files to your Mac or an external drive.

2. Click the Time Machine icon on the menu bar on your Mac, then click Enter Time Machine.

3. Browse your SD card backups and snapshots through the arrows and timeline.

4. Select the backup that includes your lost files.

5. Click the Restore button.

Also: How to transfer photos from iPhone to SD card

FAQs about SD card recovery Mac

Frequently asked questions about restoring deleted files and folders from SD cards.

Q1- Can I recover deleted photos from SD card on Mac?

If you can't find a copy of your photos anywhere, you may use a Mac file recovery program.

• Open Appgeeker Mac Data Recovery.
• Connect your SD card to a card reader, then insert it into your Mac.
• Select file types, and the drive where your SD card locates.
• Scan your SD card.
• Pick the files you want to recover from the scan results, click Recover.

Q2- How do I recover a deleted video clip from my SanDisk SD card Mac?

If you accidentally deleted videos on your SanDisk SD card, you can use the SanDisk RescuePro found on the packaging of the SD card to run on your Mac, and scan for the SD card to recover your deleted videos.

Q3- What's the best data recovery software for SD card on Mac?

Depends on your needs and skill level, it's hard to say which one is the best Mac Data Recovery for SD. Here are a few top options, each offering different strengths.

• Appgeeker Mac Data Recovery: User-friendly interface, with a wide range of file types (photos, videos, audios, documents, emails, archives, etc.) and storage media (PC, Mac, hard drive, USB drive, flash drive, memory sticks, SD cards, trash, recycle bin, etc.) supported.
• SanDisk RescuePro: Simple and intuitive, great for SanDisk SD cards. And it should be included in your package when you purchased a SanDisk card from Western Digital.
• PhotoRec: Free and open source SD card recovery software, capable of recovering files from SD card in Mac. It even can retrieve a damaged or formatted SD card.
• Data Rescue 6: Available for Windows and Mac platform, it can perform quick and deep scans to recover recently deleted files on SD card or other disks. Free SD card data recovery up to 1GB.
• TestDisk: Free to use, highly effective at recovering lost or deleted partitions and fixing corrupted NTFS, FAT, ext2/3/4 file systems. Command-line interface required steep learning curve for beginner, though.

Q4- How do I access my SD card on my MacBook?

1. Connect the SD card to your Mac's USB port with a card reader.

2. Open Finder, locate your SD card under Locations in the sidebar.

3. Double-click the SD card icon and browse the files and folders on the SD card.

4. If required, select the files or folders. right-click, choose "Copy." Navigate to a local location on your Mac and right-click, then choose "Paste."

Q5- Is it possible to recover lost files from a SD card after formatted on Mac?

If you haven't backup available, you may use the data recovery software to recover your deleted files in Mac by scanning the drive system. Please don't use the formatted SD card any more before performing the file recovery. After the deep scan, it's highly advisable to choose a safe folder to save the recovered files rather than the SD card itself.