How to Recover Data from FAT32 SD Card/Hard Drive/USB (Windows & Mac)

Overview of FAT32 File Recovery

SD cards of many popular brands, such as Samsung, SanDisk, PNY, Transcend, Sony, Kingston, Lexar, and Toshiba, facilitate our life and work by adding extra storage capacity, universally from 2GB to 64GB. SD cards are using the FAT32 file system, and we can use them on PCs, cameras, smartphones, game consoles, etc.

Be careful while using FAT32 SD cards. As the scenario presented above, the memory card can turn bad or corrupted. The FAT32 file system may become RAW. Once the SD card becomes RAW, it indicates there is no file system on it. To bring it back to normal, it has to be reformatted to FAT32 on a Windows-based computer. In this case, you'll lose all data on the memory card.

How to Recover Data from FAT32 SD Card/Hard Drive on Windows 10

If you are a Windows 11/10/8/7 user, you can get two ways to recover data from a FAT32 SD card and hard drive. One is using Windows data recovery software. And the other is checking your backup. Follow the steps below to recover data from FAT32 SD card/USB/HDD.

Method 1. Recover Data from FAT32 Hard Drive with Data Recovery Software

Besides, accidental deletion, formatting, virus infection and other threats attack will risk contents on the SD card. Most of the cases require an instant FAT32 SD card recovery solution. Here you need to learn how to recover data files on a FAT32 SD card after accidents with free memory card recovery software. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard ranks at the top list for the following highlights:

• 0:00 Introducing SD Card recovery
• 0:30  When You Lost SD Card Files, Here Is What to Do:
• 2:58  Plug in the SD Card 
• 3:43  Step 1. Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard.
• 4:15  Step 2. Wait for the scanning process to complete.
• 4:40  Step 3. Select files and click "Preview" to check lost files.

If you prefer a step-by-step guide, follow the steps below to recover FAT32 SD card data all by yourself now:

Step 1. Connect the SD card, memory card, or CF Card to your computer and launch EaseUS memory card recovery software on your PC. The SD card will be listed under the Devices section. Choose the SD card and click "Scan for lost data" to start looking for your lost data.

Step 2. The software will start a scan automatically. The scan is powerful enough to find all lost files that even lost file names. After the scanning process, you can find deleted items from the tree-view panel on the left. Then, click "Filter" if you are looking for a specific file type, like photos, documents, videos or emails.

Step 3. You can directly double-click the files to preview the content. After this, you can choose wanted files and click "Recover" to restore them to a secure location on your PC or other external storage devices.

💡Tip: You can restore data on the local disks, external hard drives, and also the cloud storage.

Method 2. Recover Data from FAT32 SD Card/Hard Drive with File History

Windows 11/10/8.1 users have a built-in backup feature called File History. It backs up files in the Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos, Desktop folders, and OneDrive files to wanted drives. If you have turned on this feature, you can recover FAT32 data with File History.

Step 1. Click the Search box and type file history.

Step 2. Click "Restore personal files" from the search results.

Step 3. Choose the files you need to restore and preview them.

Step 4. Click the green "Restore" button.

How to Recover Data from FAT32 SD Card/Hard Drive on Mac

The operations to recover a FAT32 SD card or hard drive could be a little bit different if you are a Mac user. There are still two ways to restore macOS data. One is using EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac. The other is to restore data with Time Machine. Keep reading to get more information.

Method 1. Recover Data from FAT32 SD Card with Mac Data Recovery Software

EaseUS provides a Mac version of the data recovery tool. With it, you can recover deleted files on macOS Ventura, Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina, and more. Besides, it supports data recovery from a hard drive, SSD, USB flash drive, pen drive, SD card, memory card, and more. Download this reliable tool and restore SD card data now.

Step 1. Select the SD card

• Correctly connect your memory card to your Mac. Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac.
• Go to "SD Card Recovery", find your Canon/Nikon/Go Pro/DJI/Sony SD card, and click "Search for lost files".

Note: Before data recovery, you'd better click "Disk Backup" from the left sidebar to create a backup of your SD card to avoid further data loss. After backing up the SD card, the software can recover data from your SD card backup, and you can remove the SD card and use it again.

Step 2. Filter lost SD card data

After the scan, all files will be presented in the left panel in the scan results. Find wanted photos, videos, and other files.

Step 3. Preview and recover data

Preview the SD card data and select the wanted files. Then, click the "Recover" button. Don't save the recoverable files to the SD card itself in case of data overwriting.

Method 2. Recover Data from FAT32 SD Card with Time Machine

Mac users also have a built-in backup and recovery tool, which is called Time Machine. It helps users to back up apps, music, photos, email, and documents. Follow the steps below to run a Time Machine Data Recovery.

Step 1. Plug in the drive that contains the Time Machine Backup.

Step 2. You'll see the Time Machine Backup drive. Open it and click on the database file to view the backup.

Step 3. Copy the files you want to restore and paste it to the new drive.

Conclusion

No matter you are using a Windows system or macOS, you can find a way to recover data from a FAT32 SD card/hard drive/USB flash drive. Using data recovery software is recommended because the operations are easy and fast. Even if you don't have a backup, you can still get the SD card data back.

Recover Data from FAT32 SD Card FAQs

If you still have problems, you can read the questions and answers below to get additional help.

1. How do I recover data from FAT32?

You can recover data from the FAT32 drive with the steps below:

• Download and install EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard
• Select the FAT32 partition and click Scan
• After the scan, find lost data through the file type
• Select wanted files and click Recover to retrieve lost data from the FAT32 drive

2. Can I recover data from a formatted SD card?

Is SD card formatted recovery possible? Yes. Although SD card formatting will cause file loss on the device, it doesn't mean the data is totally erased. Formatting only breaks the data structure on the card. But in fact, the data is still there.

3. How do I fix a corrupted SD card?

You can repair a corrupted SD card and run a corrupted SD card recovery with the solutions below:

• Change the SD Card Drive Letter
• Repair Corrupted File System
• Update SD Card Driver
• Format Corrupted SD Card

4. What is the best FAT32 Recovery tool?

There are many reliable data recovery tools available for free. For Mac and Windows, EaseUS data recovery software is your best bet. While for Linux, PhotoRec is your best choice.