How to Recover Data from Corrupted Memory Card?

Can you recover data from a corrupted memory card?

Memory card is light and compact, and its main function is to expand the storage space of portable devices, including, digital cameras, mobile phones and other multimedia players, etc., to relieve the storage pressure of the device itself. Memory cards play a huge role in everyone's work and life, but many users respond that memory card used for a certain time, there will be a reminder of memory card damage. For example, when trying to open it in Windows File Explorer, it cannot open, and prompts users need to format the disk before using it.

No matter whether you choose to format or not, the data in the memory card disappeared. In general, when the memory card is damaged, it is not recommended to format it when lost files are of great importance. The rest part of this article will focus on corrupted memory card data recovery, helping you get back lost files safely and quickly.

Guide 1: Recover lost data from logically corrupted memory card

This guide applies to recover lost files from corrupted drives which are not damaged to a very bad extent. If the corrupted drive is caused by severe bad sectors, then move to Guide 2.

Step 1. Launch DiskGenius > select the corrupted memory card and click File Recovery button.

Step 2. Click Start button to search for lost files.

Step 3. Preview files you want to recover and check if they are affected by the corrupted memory card.

Step 4. Copy lost data to another partition or disk.

Guide 2: Retrieve data from damaged memory card with bad sectors

This guide will show you how to create a sector-by-sector memory card cloning by way of skipping bad sectors, after which you will be able to perform data recovery from the target disk instead of the damaged memory card. DiskGenius Standard Edition is the recommended software to clone the memory card with bad sectors.

Step 1. Connect the corrupted memory card and a new disk to your computer, then run DiskGenius.

Tip: The new disk can be another removable disk, or even a virtual disk created by DiskGenius.

Step 2. Mirror the memory card using the "Copy Sector" function. Click the "Tools" menu, and then select the "Copy Sectors" option.

The copy sectors dialog box is as follows:

Step 3. Select the Source Disk and Target Disk respectively. Click the "Disk" icon to select a partition or disk, and click the "File" icon to select any file.

Step 4. Set sector copy options. The software provides a number of options which can be set according to the actual situation of the source disk. After that, click the "Copy" button, and DiskGenius starts to clone the corrupted memory card.

Step 5. After the sector copy finishes, you can use the "File Recovery" function to scan the target file, and then copy the found data to another location to complete the recovery. For detailed steps, refer to Guide 1.

Common problems with memory cards

Memory card cannot be formatted: there are many reasons why a memory card cannot be formatted. Firstly, it might be infected with a virus. After eliminating the virus factor, see if the equipment is in a state of overheating for a long time, read and write frequently; plus, high temperature is easy to burn card; Mobile devices and memory cards are not compatible; There is physical damage to the memory card.

After the memory card is connected to the computer, it is prompted to format. This may be caused by improper use. If the "safely eject hardware device" is not used before unplugging the memory card, the unformatted problem may happen the next time when you use it; the issue may also be caused by a problem with the card reader (e.g., poor contact with the card reader); The file system of the memory card is not recognized by the operating system, or the memory card is damaged internally.

The card reader cannot read the memory card. This may be caused by poor contact between the card reader and the memory card, or the memory card is damaged.

To Sum Up

Do not worry when the memory card is corrupted, according to the tutorial above, with the assistance of DiskGenius, you can easily recover lost files from RAW or corrupted partition on memory cards and other storage devices.

Further Reading

• How to Recover Files from A Flash Drive That Needs to Be Formatted?
• How to Recover Lost Files from Corrupted USB Drive Easily in Windows 10/8/7?
• How to Fix Raw External Hard Drive Without Formatting?
• Fix "The File or Directory Is Corrupted and Unreadable" In Windows 10/8/7