Restore Files from Undetected Memory Card

“I connected memory card of my digital camera on Windows PC to transfer images from it. When the card was connected, it didn’t show up on my desktop. I removed it and inserted to another USB port via card reader. But the card didn’t get detected even there. Pictures saved on this card are very important and somehow I need to recover them. Can anyone suggest me good method to recover pictures from memory card not getting detected? Thanks in advance.”

Memory cards are the most common storage media specifically for storing media files on digital cameras, camcorders, video recorders, etc. Media files like pictures are of great importance for every user. Thus, even the thought of losing photos from memory card is not bearable. When memory card does not get recognized after connecting it on any system, photo files and other data saved on it will become inaccessible. In this article let’s see why memory card turns undetectable and how to access photos saved on such cards.

“Memory card is not detected on desktop”

Flash memory card may become unrecognized on computer or other gadgets due to the following reasons:

  • Severe virus infection
  • File system corruption
  • Card corruption through logical errors
  • Wrong usage of memory card

What to do with undetectable memory cards?

When flash memory card is not detected on Windows computer, there is no need to panic. There are certain methods to make it detectable again. Connect your unrecognized memory card on system via proper USB port and follow these steps:

Open Windows Explorer -> check whether the card is getting detected as removable drive -> if not, then go to Disk management utility in Control Panel > Device Manager. The upcoming window shows all the drives present on the system and the memory card should be shown under Disk drive option. If the card is not shown in Disk management then it is physically damaged and data from physically damaged memory cards cannot be recovered. If the card is shown in disk drives, then format the device in order to make it detectable. One may think that formatting leads to loss of pictures from the card!! Of course yes. But, without formatting unrecognized card, it is not possible to make it detectable again. However, formatted memory card data can be recovered back with the help of third party recovery tools.

Undetected memory card recovery software:

After formatting the memory card under Disk management utility, employ any professional photo retrieval tool such as Yodot Photo Recovery

This software can be utilized to retrieve images from undetected memory card on digital cameras, camcorders, MP3 or MP4 players, mobile phones and other gadgets. Along with undetected memory card, this software can regain data when tf card not detected, Windows cannot recognize iPod, and when laptop does not detect SD card etc. Software is applicable to work on various Microsoft Windows OS based computers like Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and 2008. Mac users can employ Yodot Mac Photo Recovery tool to being back files from undetectable memory card on Mac OS X systems.

Procedural steps to perform undetected memory card recovery:

Whenever you find your memory card is not detecting and you are unable to access its data, follow the below steps:

  • Download Yodot Photo Recovery software on a Windows computer and connect your affected memory card to this system
  • Then install the tool and launch it by following the given steps
  • In the main screen, select “Lost Photo Recovery” option to extract undetected memory card data after formatting
  • After clicking next, select the drive that represents externally connected memory card on the system
  • Next few seconds, the tool scans the device to detect lost files from it
  • After completion of scanning process, a list of recovered files will be displayed
  • Go through the restored list of files using Data view / File view options
  • Then preview selected files with Preview option
  • Proceed to save them by providing destination location on the system drive (do not save to the  same memory card)

Important Note:

  • Do not discard the memory card improperly from computer or on any gadgets
  • Always backup required important files from memory card on multiple storage devices
  • Avoid connecting the card to spyware attacked gadgets

Other Popular Software

Yodot Photo Recovery (Windows)

Recover and restore deleted photos lost from your digital camera memory card or the images from your Windows PC. The software can recover all popular image types including popular audio and video files.

Yodot Mac File Recovery

The only undelete application for Mac that can recover deleted files from HFS+, HFSX partitions on Mac. The software also has the ability to recover lost files using RAW signature method.