Lost photos and videos from a memory card? Start here
You pull a card out of your camera and find the shots from an important day are gone. Maybe you deleted the wrong ones, maybe the card was formatted by mistake, maybe the Mac simply won't read it. PHOTORECOVERY Professional from LC Technology International is built for exactly this situation on Mac. It scans the media and saves what it finds to another location, so your original card isn't written to.
Quick facts
- Maker: LC Technology International, Inc.
- Platforms: Mac and Windows editions are offered
- Recovers: photos, video, audio and documents
- Trial: a free evaluation version lets you check that your device is supported before you buy
- License: purchased licenses on the vendor's site are valid for one year
Key features
Get back video clips as well as photos
The Professional edition is the one that recovers video files. The cheaper Standard edition does not. If your card held movies, this is the edition you need.
Recover photos, audio, documents and spreadsheets from one scan
Besides images and sound files, it recovers documents, spreadsheets and text files. Useful if a card or USB stick held a mix of content.
Make a backup copy of the card before you do anything else
It can create a backup version of your media card for archiving. You can then work from the copy instead of risking the original.
Test, wipe and restore cards with Digital Media Doctor
The Professional edition includes Digital Media Doctor. You can use it to test card performance, back up, wipe and format used cards, and restore them to like-new performance once your files are safe.
Works with the usual camera media
The vendor lists memory cards, SD cards, CompactFlash and USB flash drives. The recovery process is simple: attach the media to your computer, run the software, and recovered files are saved automatically to another location.
Who it's for
It suits anyone who shoots photos or video to flash cards and has lost files by deleting, formatting or card errors. That covers hobbyists with a family-event card and professionals who need video recovered too. If you need to recover from an internal hard drive or a RAID, the vendor points you to its separate FILERECOVERY product instead.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Recovers video as well as photos and audio
- Free evaluation version to check compatibility first
- Includes card backup and Digital Media Doctor
- Recovered files go to a separate location
Cons
- Some cameras wipe images during delete or format, and those files cannot be recovered
- Licenses are valid for one year, not permanent
- Not meant for hard drives or RAID, which need FILERECOVERY
What users say
On the vendor's own PHOTORECOVERY page, one customer wrote: "PHOTORECOVERY retrieved everything – I can't believe it!" This quote is from LC Technology's own site.
FAQs
Should I choose Standard or Professional?
Choose Professional if you need to restore videos or want Digital Media Doctor. Standard covers photo and audio files only.
Can I check it works with my camera first?
Yes. Run the free evaluation software before you buy to confirm it works with your device.
Will it recover everything?
Not always. Some cameras wipe images when you delete or format, and those files cannot be recovered.
Do I need a card reader?
It may be needed if your camera isn't supported as a removable disk device.
System requirements
- Windows 7 or higher, or macOS 10.8 or higher (as listed for the Standard edition)
- At least 2 GB of RAM
- Free hard disk space at least twice the size of the media you want to recover