Many factors can contribute to your SD card corruption. When an SD card is corrupted, you cannot access the data stored on it. This can be stressful, especially if you have stored critical files on the card.

Fortunately, multiple data recovery methods exist, some of which can help you recover data from corrupted SD cards. That is why we have prepared this tutorial to give you a step-by-step guide on how to recover data from a corrupted SD card, including some of the ways to fix a corrupted SD card. Read on to find out how to proceed to retrieve your files from a corrupted SD card. 

Step 1: Begin With The Basis Diagnostics

Before attempting data recovery or taking some critical activities such as formatting the card, here are some of the basic diagnostic steps to take so that you have a proper understanding of the problem. 

• Try the card on another computer or device

• Try using a known working SD card on the same device

• Try using a different reader to read the SD card

Suppose all the steps above fail and even on inserting the SD card into your computer. If the computer says the card is unrecognizable or has a RAW unrecognizable file system, or the card is in an unavailable drive letter, then the card is corrupted. 

This is very important to help you prepare for the recovery as in the next step, you will be moving with surety instead of wondering between one troubleshooting method and another.

Step 2: Test The SD Card

If this is a new SD card or you've never used it before, then there could be chances that you bought a fake SD card. "Fake" SD cards are basically made to report false capacities and will overwrite your first data in the loop when it fills up. This will fool you that the card is corrupted but only fake. Test the SD card to establish the truth before moving to the next step. 

With a disk checker tool:

• Open Windows Explorer 

• Right-click on the drive 

• Click on "Properties"

• Choose "Tool" and tap "Check"

• Follow the prompts to complete the checking process 

If your data is not damaged and the card is physically okay, the disk checker will rebuild the logical structure of the disk to make it usable again. The disk checker will also inform you if the card is not working correctly. 

Step 3: Use A Specialized Data Recovery Software

If up to now, the diagnostics have not yielded any good results, but the SD card still shows up when you insert it into the computer, then it is the right time to use specialized data recovery software. 

The data recovery tools will generally go around the limitations of the average disk management standards and examine the SD card bit-by-bit using brute force methods. 

Sometimes if you are lucky to use one of the best data recovery tools, you can recover corrupted data this way. But even if you end up with partial recovery, it is way better than losing all your data to SD card corruption.

However, the data recovery software will not perform miracles with your data. For instance, if your data has been physically destroyed or is not accessible by all means, you will be unlucky to lose all of it. 

An excellent place to start is Disk Drill by CleverFiles. Disk Drill SD card Recovery  is a great general-purpose data recovery software many people use to professionally recover data from SD cards and other devices. You only need to download the software from the official website, install it on your computer and run it to scan your data on the SD card and recover it. 

Remember you must insert the card into the computer before running the scan. Also, note that the scanning may take some time, depending on the data on your disk. 

Can I Hire A Data Recovery Specialist? 

You may need a specialist if you cannot get back your data from a corrupted SD card with the guide above. Also, if the kind of data you are dealing with in your SD card is very critical and of high value, you may need the help of a memory card data recovery professional to recover your files from a corrupted SD card. 

Signs That Your SD Card Is Corrupted

Some of the signs to look out for in case of card corruption include:

• Black camera screen - SD card corruption may cause your device to malfunction. For instance, your camera will display a black screen. 

• Missing files - If you saved files on your SD card but are nowhere to be seen, it is a good indication that your SD card is corrupted. If you take photos with your camera, for instance, they will be missing from your SD card. 

• The appearance of unknown files - If your SD card displays unknown files, it may have been infected with malware and is on its way toward total corruption. 

• Card not recognized - Card not recognized is the other sign your card has been corrupted. If your card cannot be identified by a device or card reader, it may have been compromised and is on its way toward total corruption. 

• Read/write failures - A corrupted SD card will not read or write. That means any devices cannot access it, and as a result, you will most likely lose your data. 

Prevention Is Better Than Cure

If you are reading this article, you may have been a victim of SD card corruption or awkwardly lost data. Hopefully, you have followed the guide and have recovered your data. Below are some things you should do to prevent data loss in the future. 

• Backup your SD card on automated cloud storage for all your photos or videos

• Use services such as OneDrive, Google One, or DropBox

• Move your SD card data into your computer as soon as possible 

• Store two or more copies of your critical data in two separate places

• Buy and use only high-quality SD cards