Recover deleted photos from an SD card on a Mac.
Deleted usually means the name is gone, not the photo. Here is how to get it back, and what to do before you do anything else.
First: stop using the card
Deleting a photo removes its name from the card's directory. The bytes stay until the space is reused. Every new photo, every video, every "format" in the camera menu can overwrite them. So: no new pictures, no formatting, no repair tools. Take the card out and leave it alone until you scan it.
Why the photos are usually still there
Cameras write to FAT32 or exFAT. On both, deleting only marks the directory entry as free. The photo's bytes are untouched. In our tests, files deleted with nothing written afterwards came back 100 percent, byte-identical, with names and dates. Files deleted in the Finder often sit in the card's hidden trash and come back with names too. Real cards vary, but the odds are good if you stop using the card now.
Get them back with Retriever, step by step
- Download Retriever on your Mac. It runs on macOS 13 or newer, Apple Silicon and Intel. Scanning and looking are free.
- Put the card in a reader and choose it in the app. Retriever asks once for your Mac password, through the normal macOS dialog. It reads the card and never writes to it.
- Back up. Retriever makes a bit-for-bit copy of the card and works on the copy. You need free space the size of the card, on the Mac or an external drive.
- Scan. The app reads every byte. "Sniffing through 64 GB…", then "Found 1,204 photos so far".
- Look. Thumbnails by day, the folders of the card, full-size previews. Every file carries an honest badge: intact, probably damaged, fragmented, unverified, duplicate. All of this is free.
- Recover. This is the paid step, 29 USD once. Pick a folder on your Mac, never the card itself. Every written file is verified.
When it will not work
Overwritten data cannot be brought back, by anyone. If you kept shooting on the card, some photos may be gone for good. Retriever tells you within seconds after you choose the card: "21 % hold data, 75 % were overwritten with a fill pattern." Where the pattern is, nothing is left. If it finds nothing, it costs nothing.
One more thing: the Photos app on your Mac has a "Recently Deleted" album. It holds photos deleted from your Mac library, not from the card. For the card, you need a scan.
Scan and look for free
Download Retriever, choose the card, back up, scan, look. You pay only if you save files you have already seen, 29 USD once.