I accidentally formatted my camera’s SD card during a file transfer on my MacBook Air. I stopped using the card immediately to prevent overwriting.
I downloaded Disk Drill to attempt data recovery, but both apps are not scanning the external SD card correctly. The scan results only show the files already existing on my Mac.
Has anyone experienced this? Is there a specific macOS setting (like permissions) I need to change so these apps can actually see and scan the formatted SD card?
It’s good that you stopped using the SD card right away. That gives you the best chance of recovering the photos.
I’d first check whether the SD card is actually being detected by macOS. Open Disk Utility and see if the card shows up there. If it does, make sure Disk Drill has Full Disk Access under System Settings > Privacy & Security, as macOS can sometimes block access to external drives. You can try a different card reader though.
If Disk Drill still isn’t picking it up properly, you could try Stellar Photo Recovery. It works excellent with accidentally formatted camera SD cards, especially for recovering photos and videos from Mac.
For MacBook Air models equipped with Apple chips (M1/M2/M3/M4, etc.), a security prompt for external device connections has been introduced. Please follow these steps to change your macOS settings:
In System Settings → Privacy & Security.
Scroll down to the “Security” section and find “Allow accessories to connect”.
Check if this is incorrectly set to “Not Automatic”. It is recommended to change it to “Automatic”, or when you plug in an external card reader, check if a “Allow accessories to connect?” prompt appears on the screen; be sure to click “Allow”.
If this doesn’t work, you may need to try other data recovery software. Read also: How to Recover Data from Accidentally Formatted SD Card for Free?
Before trying another recovery program, I’d make sure the SD card is actually being detected by macOS. Check Disk Utility and, if possible, try another card reader.
If the card is visible there but Disk Drill isn’t scanning it correctly, you could try EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac and see whether it recognizes the card.
Don’t format the card while you’re trying to recover the files. If you find the missing data, save it to the Mac or another external drive rather than the SD card itself.
