Cameras & Camcorders

[nokegrl06]

Is it possible to get picts back if you accidentally formatted the memory card?  I had a lot of picts on my cannon xt-i and didn't know that formatting would delete the picts from my camera.  Any help you can give would be great!

Thanks =)

[Phil]

Hate to be the one to break the bad news to you but no, you will not be able to get them back. Formatting, on any drive, is the same. It wipes everything clean, and leaves it blank.

[nokegrl06 · Accepted solution]

I actually found a free program online that seems to work for this problem!  The web site is the first one listed on a google search for recovering deleted photos and works with a card reader you can buy at Best Buy!!  Thanks for your help anyway!

[daisyd8981]

Sorry... but no. i did the same thing with my camera, i was so mad at myself!

[Allan-BBY Senior Social Media Specialist]

Hey nokegrl06,

I never actually done this myself, but if I did I would be in panic mode since my images are extremely important to me, as I’m sure yours are to you.

When you format a memory card, you’re not actually deleting the data on your memory card. What you’re actually deleting are the directories that lead either your camera or your computer to your images, and you’re allowing the camera to overwrite any data on the memory card. The first thing I would advise is to not use the memory card until you’ve recovered your images, or determined that they indeed are unrecoverable.

You have a number of things you can try to recover your images. The first thing I would try is bringing your card to the Geek Squad® to see if they can recover your images. Another option you could try is getting a photo recovery program, and seeing if it can recover your images. There are multiple photo recovery programs for download on the internet. Some of these programs are at cost to you and some are free. Just because one program doesn’t recover your images doesn’t mean another program won’t so you may want to try the free photo recovery programs first. I hope this information helps you get your images back!

Thanks,
Allan
Community Connector
Best Buy® Corporate