Photos are the one thing people most dread losing, because they can’t be replaced — a wedding, a holiday, a child’s first years, gone in a deleted folder or a formatted card. The good news is that lost photos are among the most recoverable of all files: deleted images and reformatted memory cards almost always leave the pictures sitting there intact, waiting to be brought back. We recover photos from cards, cameras, phones and computers for people across the UK — the sooner you stop, the more comes back.
Cards and USB sticks don’t use TRIM, so deleted and formatted photos stay on them until overwritten — stop shooting and they come back.
Deleting a photo, or formatting the card it’s on, doesn’t actually erase the image — it just marks the space as free, leaving the picture on the card until a new photo happens to be written over it. And crucially, memory cards, USB sticks and camera storage don’t use TRIM — the background-erase feature that makes deleted files vanish quickly on computer SSDs (see deleted file recovery). That means deleted and formatted photos on a card are far more forgiving: they tend to stay recoverable until you overwrite them by taking more pictures.
So the single most important thing you can do, the moment you realise photos are missing, is stop using the card or device. Don’t take any more photos on that card, don’t let the camera write to it, and take it out if you can. A card set aside straight after a deletion or format usually gives a complete recovery; the same card after another day’s shooting may have lost the very shots you wanted. Stop, and the odds are firmly in your favour.
Deleted by mistake. A photo or an album deleted on the camera, phone or computer — still on the storage until overwritten, and very recoverable.
A formatted or reformatted card. The card formatted in-camera to clear an error, or by accident — a quick format, so the photos remain (see formatted media recovery).
‘Card error’ or ‘card not readable’. The card’s index has become corrupt, often from removing it mid-write or a low battery — the photos are intact behind the error. Don’t let the camera reformat it.
Corrupt images. Photos that open grey, half-shown or not at all — a damaged file that can often be repaired (see corrupt file recovery).
A failing or physically damaged card. A card that’s no longer recognised, or was snapped or water-damaged — recovered at the chip level, like any memory card.
Phone photos. Pictures lost from an iPhone or Android after a deletion, update or fault — recoverable in many cases, and always worth asking about.
Stop taking photos on the affected card or device immediately — every new picture risks overwriting a lost one. Don’t let the camera reformat a card that’s showing an error, and don’t format it yourself to ‘fix’ it — the photos are still there. Don’t save recovered photos back to the same card you’re recovering from. And if a card is physically damaged or not recognised, don’t keep reinserting it repeatedly. Take the card out, keep it safe, and let the photos be recovered from a copy — the originals are best left completely untouched.
We recover photos in every common format — JPEG and HEIC, and the camera RAW formats: Canon CR2 and CR3, Nikon NEF, Sony ARW, Fujifilm RAF, Olympus ORF, Adobe DNG and the rest — along with video from the same cards. From SD, microSD and CompactFlash cards, and from cameras, phones, drones, GoPros and dashcams. Whether the photos were deleted, formatted, lost to a card error, corrupted, or trapped on a card that’s no longer recognised, we can work to recover them — and wherever possible we’ll show you a preview of the recoverable images before you decide to go ahead.
We work from a copy of the card or drive, never the original, so nothing is written to it. Where the file system survives, we recover the photos with their original names and folders; where the index is gone — after a format or a card error — we use file carving, identifying each photo directly by its internal signature so we can recover JPEGs, HEICs and RAW files even without any index. Corrupt images are repaired where possible, and a physically failing card is read at the chip level first. The result is your pictures back — and an honest account of any the overwriting reached before you stopped.
It starts with a free diagnostic: we assess what’s recoverable, and wherever possible show you a preview of the photos we can recover, with a fixed written quote before any chargeable work. On most jobs it’s no fix, no fee, and pricing is per case. It’s all done by post or drop-off, so you don’t need to be nearby — send the card, camera or drive in from anywhere in the UK or Ireland, or drop it off in person.
Usually, yes. Deleting a photo doesn’t erase it — the image stays on the card or storage until a new photo overwrites it, and memory cards don’t use the background-erase (TRIM) that makes deleted files vanish on computer SSDs. So the key is to stop taking photos on that card or device straight away. Set it aside and send it in; there’s an excellent chance of getting the pictures back in full.
Usually not. A camera’s format is a quick format that just resets the index — the photos are still on the card until new ones overwrite them. Stop shooting on it immediately, take it out, and send it in. As long as you haven’t filled the card with new pictures, the recovery is usually complete.
Don’t let it format. A card error or a ‘format card?’ prompt usually means the index is corrupt — often from pulling the card out mid-write or a flat battery — while your photos remain intact behind it. Take the card out, don’t reformat it, and send it in; we rebuild the file system or carve the photos from a copy.
Yes. We recover all the common camera RAW formats — Canon CR2/CR3, Nikon NEF, Sony ARW, Fujifilm RAF, Adobe DNG and others — as well as JPEG, HEIC and video from the same cards. Each has its own signature that lets us identify and recover it even when the card’s index is gone. Just let us know what camera it was, and we’ll look for those formats specifically.
Wherever possible, yes. As part of the free diagnostic we aim to show you a preview of the recoverable images, so you can see what’s coming back before deciding to go ahead — and on most jobs it’s no fix, no fee, so if the photos can’t be recovered you’re not charged for the attempt.
No. Our lab is in Belfast, but photo recovery is done by post or drop-off, so we work with clients right across the UK and Ireland. Send the card, camera or drive in with insured, tracked delivery, or drop it off in person — the service, diagnostic and pricing are the same wherever you are.
Take the card or device out of use straight away — no more photos, no reformatting — and get in touch. We’ll assess what’s recoverable, show you a preview where we can, and give you a fixed quote before any chargeable work. No fix, no fee on most jobs.