If your SD card was formatted or corrupted, you can still pull MOV files off it with free tools. Stop using the card immediately. Any new recording or saving can overwrite the deleted clips. Scan the entire card for lost videos first, then repair the MOV files that come back damaged. This is not the same as fixing a single broken file. The card itself needs salvaging before any clip will play.
Stop Using the Card and Assess the Damage
Stop using the card at once. Recording or saving to it can overwrite deleted clips, making them unrecoverable. A quick format leaves data in place. A full format or overwrite erases it completely. Remove the card from your camera or drone and connect it to a computer with a card reader.
Check whether your operating system sees the card. If it asks to format the card, do not agree. You will use recovery software to scan the card without formatting it. Get the deleted video off the card before attempting any repairs.
Scan the Card with PhotoRec
PhotoRec is a free, open source tool that scans for known file signatures and can pull MOV and MP4 files from a card. It does not rely on the file system, so it works even after a quick format or when the card is corrupted.
What You Need
- A computer running Windows, macOS, or Linux
- A card reader
- The SD card you want to salvage
- A different drive or hard disk to store the rescued files
Running the Scan
- Download PhotoRec from the official website and extract the files.
- Run the program. On Windows, double-click photorec_win.exe.
- Select your SD card from the list of drives. Pick the correct one.
- Choose the partition type, usually Intel/PC partition.
- Select the file system type. If unsure, leave the default.
- Choose Other to scan for all known formats, or select Video to focus on MOV and MP4 files.
- Select Whole to scan the entire card.
- Choose a destination folder on a different drive. Never save to the card being scanned.
- Press Y to confirm and start the scan. Large cards take a long time.
When the scan finishes, the tool places rescued files in a folder named recup_dir.1 or similar. These files lose their original names and get generic labels.
Check Rescued MOV Files for Playability
After the scan, you will have a collection of MOV files. Open them in a media player to see if they play correctly. Rescued video files lose their original names and can be fragmented. Large video files are more likely to be fragmented on a card that was nearly full. Fragmented carved results will not play.
If a file plays without issues, you are done with that clip. If it fails to play or shows only a few seconds, the file has structural damage that needs repair.
Repair Damaged MOV Files
A carved MOV often lacks a usable moov atom, so it needs rebuilding after rescue. The moov atom contains metadata: the video duration, frame rate, and codec information. Without it, the file cannot be decoded properly.
You can repair damaged MOV files using online tools that rebuild the moov atom. The site mov.repair offers a free service for fixing corrupted MOV files. Upload the damaged clip and let the tool analyze and reconstruct the missing metadata. There is no watermark on the output. The tool works best when the video data itself is intact. If the file is heavily fragmented, repair may not succeed.
Getting Better Repair Results
- Keep the original rescued file. Do not delete it until you have a working copy.
- If the repair fails, scan the card again with a different tool or use a deeper scan mode in PhotoRec.
- For extremely fragmented files, consider a dedicated video repair tool that can reassemble fragments.
Avoid Common Salvage Mistakes
Several mistakes can prevent successful rescue or make the problem worse.
- Writing new data to the card: Any new file can overwrite the space where your deleted videos were stored.
- Saving to the same card: Always rescue to a different drive, never to the card being scanned.
- Using the card after a quick format: Even if the card appears empty, the data is still there until overwritten. Stop using it immediately.
- Ignoring fragmentation: Large videos on a nearly full card are often fragmented. PhotoRec may recover pieces that do not stitch together correctly. You may then need a tool that can reassemble fragments.
Card-Level Salvage Vs. File Repair
If you have only one damaged MOV file and the card is still working normally, use a file repair tool directly. But if the card itself is formatted, corrupted, or has many missing files, you need card-level salvage first. This approach is for camera card corrupted videos where the entire card is affected. After salvage, you may still need to repair the individual MOV files that come back damaged.
For drone users, the same steps apply. Drones often use SD cards that become corrupted due to sudden power loss or improper ejection. The combination of PhotoRec for scanning and a repair tool for the rescued files gives the best chance of getting your footage back.
Salvage QuickTime Files from Other Devices
The same process works for pulling QuickTime files from other storage: USB drives, internal hard disks, or memory sticks. If you formatted a drive that contained MOV files, stop using the drive and scan it with PhotoRec. The rescued files need the same repair steps if they are fragmented or missing the moov atom.
For formatted SD card video rescue, the key is to act quickly and avoid writing any new data to the card. The longer you wait, the higher the chance that the deleted clips get overwritten.