Taking work now — the first look is freePosted in from anywhere in the UK, or handed in at ten drop-off pointsQuicker still, give us a ring:0800 6890668
SDCSD Memory Card Recovery 0800 6890668 Price my job

Memory card data recovery · UK-wide, by post · SD, microSD, CF, CFexpress, USB

The card will not read. The pictures are still on it.

A card the camera says needs formatting, a card the computer will not show, a card the phone calls corrupted, a card snapped in a bag or drowned with a drone: nearly every one of them still holds what was written to it, because what fails on a memory card is the map, the controller or the package, and almost never the flash. What loses the pictures is the next step: the format the device offers, the chkdsk, the First Aid, the repair tool, the dozen readers tried in hope, the wet card powered to see. Take the card out, say no, and post it, or hand it in at one of ten drop-off points. We image it first on a hardware imager, rebuild the file tables or carve the photographs and video from the image, and when the controller has stopped we read the flash through the card's own test pads and put it back together in software. A card a reader still sees is £149 + VAT. A card no reader sees, or one snapped, locked or lying about its size, is £299 + VAT. CFexpress, XQD, CFast and SD Express cards start at £449 + VAT. The first look is free, the figure is given in writing, and on most jobs no data means no bill.

Put it to an engineer and hear what it would take
0800 6890668

The look is free · a reference for this checkCHECK-····

What kind of card is it?

Choose the closest match. You get a likely cause, the band it falls in, and the one thing not to do tonight.

Free, and nothing to payAnswered inside a working day
£149 + VATA card a reader still sees
FreeThe first look
3–5 daysAt the bench, for a card that reads
UK-wideBy tracked post, or ten drop-off points
Imaged first; nothing written to the cardOne fixed figure in writingMost jobs: no data, no billEvery photograph opened before it is listedReturn postage paidICO-registered · ZC173784

Four card jobs closed, and what went home.

Jobs already closed →
UK · SDC-2026-0701JOB LOGGED ✓

A wedding photographer's SanDisk Extreme PRO 128GB SDXC that showed a card error during the reception, then offered a format on every computer in the house

Nobody formatted it. The card was imaged whole on the bench; the exFAT allocation bitmap and part of the root directory had been torn when the camera's battery died mid-burst. The directory was rebuilt on the image, the last burst of RAW files carved by signature where the entries were gone, and every file opened before it went on the list.

1,942 of 1,944 RAW files recovered3 days here, and back by post
Illustrative example — replace with a genuine case
UK · SDC-2026-0702JOB LOGGED ✓

A SanDisk Extreme 256GB microSD from a drone that came down hard on a hillside, not detected in any reader afterwards, carrying a day's survey footage that had not been copied

No reader saw it. The coating was removed and the test pads mapped; the raw flash was read through a needle adapter, the scrambling and error correction solved, and a virtual card assembled from the dump. The exFAT volume mounted from it and the footage was copied out, with the last clip rebuilt from a reference.

97% of the footage recovered8 days here, and back by post
Illustrative example — replace with a genuine case
UK · SDC-2026-0713JOB LOGGED ✓

A Sony a7 IV's 128GB SDXC card that Windows asked to format on three different laptops after the camera had switched off mid-burst with a low battery, carrying a christening

Nobody pressed Format. The card was imaged whole and its exFAT allocation bitmap found torn where the camera had been writing. The bitmap and the directory were rebuilt on the image, the last burst of ARW files carved by signature and dated from their own metadata, and every frame opened.

100% of the frames recovered2 days here, and back by post
Illustrative example — replace with a genuine case
UK · SDC-2026-0715JOB LOGGED ✓

A Samsung EVO Plus 64GB from a dashcam that had asked to be formatted after three years in a windscreen, formatted by the owner on a laptop, and refused with Windows was unable to complete the format

The card had locked itself read-only; the format had failed on its first write and left the exFAT volume as it was. It was imaged in short passes with the power cycled between them, the volume mounted from the image, and every clip inside the loop copied out, including the one the owner needed.

100% of the loop recovered3 days here, and back by post
Illustrative example — replace with a genuine case

Begin with the card,
or with what the device is saying.

Or begin with the brand →

Every card, and where it came from

SD, SDHC and SDXCThe camera card, the lock switch that lies, and two kinds of inside→microSDAlways a monolith: the test pads, the snapped die, the fakes→CompactFlashChips the bench can reach, and the bent pin in the camera→CFexpress Type A and Type BAn NVMe drive in a card; firmware handshakes and heat→Dashcam and security camera cardsLoops, wear, and the one clip that matters→Switch, Switch 2 and Steam DeckWhat on the card is yours, and what downloads again→USB flash drivesThe same flash behind a connector that snaps→

The photographs, first.

Photo recovery →

Lost photographs

Photo recoveryDeleted, formatted, card not recognised, or damaged: when software is enough, when it harms, and when the card needs the lab→

The two things that decide a job

Whether a reader still sees the card, and what was done before the envelope.

The brand, the capacity and the device matter less than two things. The first is whether the card still presents itself to a reader at its right size, which separates a job of rebuilding tables on an image from a job of reading the flash around a dead controller. The second is what happened in the hour after the fault: the format accepted, the chkdsk, the First Aid, the repair tool, the twelve readers, the wet card powered. Each writes to a card that was about to give its files up intact. The pages on this site quote, in each maker's own words, the offer to refuse.

image · tables · carving · pads · needles · descramble

The image comes first, and the pads come last

Every card that answers at all is imaged in full on a hardware imager that controls how long each read may take, weak areas last, and nothing is written to it afterwards. On the image, the FAT or exFAT tables are rebuilt where they are damaged and the photographs and video carved by their own signatures where the tables are gone, with dates restored from the files themselves and video cut short by a dead battery rebuilt from a reference clip. A card no reader sees is a monolith: the coating comes off, the test pads are mapped, a needle adapter is fitted, and the raw flash is read out around the dead controller and put back together in software.

  • Imaged before anything else
  • Tables rebuilt, or files carved
  • Monoliths read through their pads
  • Every photograph opened before it is listed
How a card is recovered, step by step →
format · initialise · repair · reformat · erase

The offer to refuse, in the makers' own words

Canon's note on its error codes says all images and data will be erased during reformatting. GoPro's page for SD ERR says to back up any pictures and videos before you proceed. Nintendo's page for 2016-0247 says that once formatted, the information on the card cannot be recovered. SanDisk's support note says a card will write-protect itself when its good blocks fall below a threshold. The SD Association's formatter manual says data after a quick format may be retrieved by using a data recovery tool, and Microsoft's says a full format writes zeros to the whole disk. Each is quoted on its own page, and each page says what to do tonight instead.

  • Twelve messages, each with the button to leave alone
  • The warranties quoted on what they will not do
  • A page on when software works and when it does not
  • A card a reader sees from £149 + VAT
Before you format →

What happens after it arrives.

All seven stages in order →

  1. Send the form

    Tell us the card, the device it came from, what it says and what was tried. Back by email come the posting address, the nearest drop-off point, packing notes and a booking sheet to print. The address is not published; it comes by email in reply to the form, and the booking sheet inside the envelope is what matches it to your enquiry when it is opened.

  2. Post it, or hand it in

    In a small bag, taped to a piece of card so it cannot shake loose, in a sealed padded envelope with your name on the outside and the booking sheet inside; every piece of a snapped card. Tracked post from any postbox, or handed in at the nearest of ten drop-off points across the UK; say where you are on the form and it comes by email with the posting details. Nobody collects, and we pay the postage home whichever way the job turns out.

  3. The free look

    The card goes on a hardware imager through the reader it needs, never a laptop slot: what it presents is read, its real capacity measured, and whether it is a card a reader can see with a fault in the data or a card whose controller has stopped is settled. That stage carries no charge, and you may stop at it owing nothing.

  4. One price, written down

    Findings and price arrive together, and nothing chargeable begins until you have agreed to the figure.

  5. You get the files back

    The card imaged, the tables rebuilt or the files carved, the flash read through the pads if it must be, every photograph opened, the file list approved by you, and the data home on fresh media. 3–5 days at the bench for a card that reads, 5–10 days at the bench for monolith work. Your case stays open until you have opened the files yourself.

It will not read, and the format button is not the answer tonight.

A format rewrites the map the pictures depend on, a repair writes the wrong thing back, and a twelfth reader is one more chance for a weak card to lose a block. Take the card out, say no, send the form, and back comes an honest account of what still reads, with the price of getting it home. That account is free, and so is the envelope returning, whether the card came by post or through one of the drop-off points.

0800 6890668

Price my jobPacking and posting