RAW photos from a card: recovering NEF, CR3, ARW and RAF files after deletion or formatting

The short answer: When you delete photos in your camera or accidentally confirm card formatting, the data usually does not physically disappear from the card—the space is merely marked as available in the file system. A card inside a camera does not receive a TRIM-style notification, which causes an SSD in a computer to clear blocks after a file is deleted. RAW file recovery from a card therefore has a genuine chance of success. One thing matters above all: remove the card immediately and do not take any more photos on it. Every new image may be written precisely where the deleted data was stored—and that is overwriting, not deletion.

Why RAW recovery differs from JPEG recovery

A RAW file is not an image but raw sensor data accompanied by an extensive header containing metadata. From a data recovery perspective, this creates three key differences compared with JPEG:

• Size. While JPEG files are usually only a few megabytes, RAW files from modern cameras commonly reach tens of megabytes. To illustrate with documented figures, Apple states that ProRAW files are approximately 25 MB for a 12MP image and approximately 75 MB for a 48MP image. Large files are harder to store in one contiguous area.
• Structure. Most RAW formats use a TIFF-derived container and include a JPEG preview. Recovery programs may therefore find a perfectly good preview even when the main image data is already lost—leaving you with a thumbnail instead of the full photograph.
• Variety. The format differs between brands and sometimes even between camera generations. A tool that can recover .NEF files from one camera may not correctly recognise where a file from another camera ends.

Formats you may encounter

The list of cameras deliberately comes from a verified source—Apple publishes a list of cameras whose RAW files are supported directly by the system. If your camera is not listed, that does not mean recovery is impossible; it merely means the file preview may not open without the manufacturer’s software.

Why deleted files on a camera card often have good recovery odds

This is the main difference compared with deleting data from a computer’s SSD.

Microsoft describes TRIM (referred to in its documentation as a „delete notification" or unmap) as a feature that notifies a storage device about clusters released by a file deletion operation—and adds that a device without support for this feature receives no such notification. TRIM is enabled by default for system SSDs in Windows, which is why deleted data is so difficult to recover from them: the controller discards the contents of released blocks by itself.

Deleting an image in a camera, by contrast, is simply a change to the card’s file system. Nothing instructs the card controller to discard the contents. The data therefore usually remains physically in place until new images overwrite it.

The difference between „the space is marked as available„ and „the contents are gone" is the heart of the matter. The physical properties of cards—monolithic designs, counterfeit cards and broken components—are covered in SD card data recovery; this article focuses on what happened to the files stored on the card.

What will reliably destroy your recovery chances

The points are listed roughly by frequency rather than severity—all four are serious.

1. Taking more photos on the same card. This is the most common and costly mistake. A new image is preferentially written to space that has just been released. Taking a few dozen „test" shots can therefore overwrite exactly what you are trying to recover.
2. Saving recovered files to the same card. The program will ask where it should save the files it finds. Never choose the source card—writing the results can overwrite data that the tool has not yet read.
3. Formatting the card in the camera after the incident. If the card already appears empty, formatting will recover nothing and merely add further writes. The article accidentally formatted disk or card: what are the recovery chances? explains what formatting does and does not do.
4. System repair tools. The „Would you like to repair this drive?" prompt that appears after inserting a card into a computer may look harmless. A repair tool, however, writes file-system changes directly to the original card—and if the card is damaged, it can remove references to files that could still have been reconstructed from a sector-level image.

The correct first step is always the same: remove the card, engage its mechanical write-protection switch if it has one, and perform all further work on a sector-level image, not the original.

Fragmentation: why large files are harder to recover

If a tool cannot find a usable file system, it switches to signature-based scanning—it searches the card for known file headers and reads onward from those points. This works extremely well for contiguous files.

But free space becomes scattered on a card that has repeatedly had files deleted and new photos added. A large RAW file may then be written across several non-contiguous areas, and signature-based scanning has no way to determine where one fragment ends or where the next one begins. The result is often:

• a file of the correct size but with the lower part of the image corrupted,
• only the embedded JPEG preview opening successfully,
• or a file that cannot be loaded at all.

This leads to a practical conclusion: the best results come from cards that have not been used at all since the incident and cards that are regularly formatted in the camera—images on such cards tend to be stored sequentially, keeping fragmentation to a minimum.

What to look for besides the images themselves

When arranging recovery, remember that a photographer’s job consists of more than RAW files alone:

• Accompanying .xmp files—in many workflows, a small text file containing adjustments and ratings is stored alongside each image. Without it, you can open the RAW file but lose the editing work.
• The editor’s catalogue—in other workflows, adjustments are stored in a single database on the computer’s drive rather than alongside the images. It must be recovered separately and is often overlooked.
• JPEG counterparts—many cameras shoot RAW+JPEG. If the RAW file cannot be recovered, the JPEG often can because it is smaller and less vulnerable to fragmentation.
• Videos—the same card may also contain clips, which have their own structure and require a different recovery approach.

A recovery enquiry should therefore state not merely „I want my photos back" but exactly what is needed: the date of the event, approximate number of images, file format, whether the camera was set to RAW+JPEG and whether the photographer uses a catalogue.

A workflow that will keep you from ever needing this article

Professional photographers build their workflow so that losing one card does not mean losing the entire job.

• Two cards at once. Cameras with dual slots can write a real-time backup to the second card. This is the only safeguard already in place before you arrive home.
• Import without deletion. After the event, copy the card but do not erase it. The card serves as a temporary backup until the job exists in two separate locations.
• Verify the import instead of guessing. Compare the number of files and open several images from different parts of the day. Only then should the card be cleared.
• Erase by formatting in the camera, not one file at a time. Formatting in the camera creates a clean structure and keeps fragmentation low. If a card must be formatted on a computer, the SD Association recommends its own SD Memory Card Formatter instead of operating-system formatting tools, which are not designed specifically for SD cards.
• Three copies, two media types, one off-site. This is explained in practical terms in using an external HDD for backup and the 3-2-1 rule.
• Retire cards based on age, not appearance. Wear is not visible on a memory card. A card used professionally has a limited lifespan even if it looks brand new.

When software is enough and when the card belongs in a laboratory

DIY recovery makes sense when the card can be read normally, reports the correct capacity, only deleted images are involved and you have somewhere else to save the results. The conditions are: work from an image or at least without writing to the card, save the results elsewhere and do not run any „repair" tools.

Stop and leave the card to a laboratory if:

• the card is not detected at all or reports zero or an implausible capacity,
• the computer detects it only intermittently or it disconnects while being read,
• the card was broken, bent, exposed to liquid or removed while data was being written,
• it is a monolithic microSD card whose controller and memory are enclosed in a single sealed package,
• the first recovery attempt returned corrupted files—a second attempt with the same tool will not produce anything new,
• the card contains a job that cannot be reshot.

A laboratory works from a bit-for-bit image, can control the reading process in sections, skip damaged areas and return to them only at the end. Files are then reconstructed from the image, never from the original card.

What to tell us

Your enquiry should include the card type and capacity, camera model, image format, exactly what happened (deletion, in-camera formatting or a card error) and, most importantly, what you have done with the card since then—whether you continued shooting, whether recovery software was run and where it saved its output. This information allows us to estimate whether recovery is worth attempting.

You can find indicative price ranges by fault type in how much disk data recovery costs; however, nobody can give you an exact price before diagnostics. Before approving the work, you should receive a fixed price, a defined scope and clear terms for an unsuccessful outcome.

Our laboratory is in Brno, and we also accept cards by post. Send us a message through the contact page or call 775 556 063. Until then, keep the card out of both the camera and the card reader.

Frequently asked questions

I deleted photos on my Nikon Z8. Can they still be recovered?

Usually yes, provided that no more photos have been taken on the card since then. Deleting images in the camera only releases their space in the file system; the card does not receive the kind of TRIM notification that causes an SSD to discard the contents of its blocks. Remove the card immediately.

I formatted a card in my Canon EOS R5. Is everything permanently lost?

Not necessarily. Formatting in the camera usually creates a new structure but does not overwrite the entire contents of the images. What matters is whether any photos were taken after formatting. The article about an accidentally formatted disk or card explains this in more detail.

Why will the recovered .ARW file not open?

The most common reason is that the file was fragmented on the card and the tool reconstructed only its beginning. Sometimes only the JPEG preview embedded in the file will open. This indicates that further attempts with the same program are unlikely to help.

Can I save recovered photos back to the same card?

No. Writing to the source card overwrites data that the tool has not yet reached. Always save the output to a different drive.

I shoot RAW+JPEG. Does that help with recovery?

Yes, considerably. A JPEG is smaller, less vulnerable to fragmentation and more likely to be reconstructed successfully than a large RAW file. If the RAW file cannot be restored, the JPEG may still provide a usable image.

Should I format the card on a computer or in the camera?

In the camera. If you need to format it on a computer, the SD Association recommends its SD Memory Card Formatter—operating-system formatting tools are not designed specifically for SD cards.

Sources

• Apple: Digital camera RAW formats supported by iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26 and visionOS 26
• Apple: About Apple ProRAW
• Microsoft Learn: fsutil behavior—disabledeletenotify (TRIM / unmap)
• SD Association: SD Memory Card Formatter

Where to find us

ITHOPE is a company based in Brno, Czechia: we do data recovery from disks, RAID and NAS, PC and laptop service and IT for business, all in our own lab at Viniční 3587/216, 615 00 Brno.

Phone +420 775 556 063 (24/7 line). You can bring the device in person, or send it by courier (Zásilkovna, PPL).