It is well known that when you delete a file on your computer, it will go to the Recycle Bin folder. Unless you empty the folder, you can recover it at any time. However, if you remove images on an SD card, you won't find them in the Recycle Bin folder. The good news is that the image files are still in the memory before they are overwritten by new data. This guide tells you three ways to recover deleted photos from an SD card on PC and Mac.

Part 1: The Easiest Way to Recover Photos from SD Card

As mentioned previously, the deleted images on the SD card won't be stored in the Recycle Bin folder. Nevertheless, chances are that you can get deleted pictures from SD cards before they are overwritten using a data recovery tool, such as Apeaksoft Data Recovery. It utilizes advanced technology to recover deleted images from SD cards on both Windows and Mac.

How to Recover Deleted Images from SD Card

Step 1. Scan the SD card

Install the best SD card recovery software on your computer once you find that you have deleted important photos on your SD card. Launch the software and insert the SD card into your computer. Select Images under the file type section, and choose your SD card under the Removable Derives section. Click the Scan button to begin scanning deleted photos on the SD card.

Step 2. Preview photos

When the data scan is done, you can browse and search the photos by format, filename, and more. If you cannot find the desired pictures, click the Deep Scan button to perform a deep scan. Then you can preview the images with thumbnails.

Step 3. Recover photos from SD card

Select the photos that you want to retrieve, and click the Recover button at the bottom right corner. Then select an output folder, and hit Recover again. A few seconds later, you will get the deleted pictures from the SD card.

Part 2: How to Recover Photos from SD Card Using Windows File History

On Windows 11/10, there is a built-in backup utility called File History. It can back up your files including photos on an SD card if you have turned on the utility. It provides the chance to recover erased photos from an SD card on a PC.

Step 1. Press the Win + R keys on your keyboard to open the Run dialog, type filehistory, and hit the Enter key to open the File History window. Or search for file history in the Start menu, and open it from the result. If you see File History is on, move to the next step. Otherwise, you have to look for third-party data recovery software.

Step 2. Click Restore personal files from the left sidebar to enter a new window. Here display all your backup files. Choose an appropriate folder, like Pictures. Then you can view the photos in the folder.

Step 3. Insert the SD card into your PC, select one or multiple images that you want to restore, and click the Restore button at the bottom and choose Restore again. Then the deleted photos will go back to the original location. If you do not insert the SD card, choose Restore to instead, and set a directory to save the photos.

Part 3: How to Recover Photos from SD Cards Using Time Machine

Time Machine is the native utility on Mac to back up files on Mac. It enables you to view the backups in snapshots and recover deleted photos from an SD card using a MacBook. Here are the steps to complete the job.

Step 1. Go to the Apple menu, choose System Preferences, and open Time Machine.

Step 2. Make sure that you have enabled Back Up Automatically, and check Show Time Machine in menu bar.

Step 3. If you have wiped a few images on an SD card by mistake, open the Finder app, head to the Go menu, and choose Computer. Navigate to the folder on your SD card where the lost photos are saved originally.

Step 4. Click the Time Machine menu on the top bar, and choose Enter Time Machine. Next, click the Upward and Downward buttons on the right side to find the snapshot of the matched folder or your SD card.

Step 5. Finally, select the deleted photos that you want to recover, and click the Restore button.

Part 4: FAQs of Recovering Photos from SD Card

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