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How to Recover Deleted GoPro Footage (Works for SD CARD ERROR too!)

If you film a lot with your GoPro, then one day you’re going to run into the infuriating “SD CARD ERROR.”

Or perhaps you’ve deleted footage or formatted your SD card by mistake. It happens.

These things have happened to me, and I had to find a solution to recover the data.

The dreaded GoPro SD Card error
My GoPro HERO10 Black showed me this “SD Card Error” after deleting my days worth of footage!

The infamous SD CARD ERROR happened recently while filming a moto-vlog in Sri Lanka.

Here’s what I did to recover the lost files.

Is there a free solution to recover deleted GoPro data?

If you’re looking for a free solution, I couldn’t find one that didn’t waste hours of my time.

I wasted a few hours just trying to find a free “solution” that worked. None did.

But I did find a cheap solution with lifetime upgrades.

The first thing to do if you delete footage

GoPro SD Card Error top right of screen
I couldn’t continue to use my GoPro until I reformatted the SD Card. But don’t do that yet, we have to recover your data first. Notice the “SD ERR” in the top left.

If you get this SD CARD ERROR / SD ERR or accidentally delete data, the first thing you need to do is preserve your lost data!

Remove the SD card and place it into an SD card adapter with the write-protect tab activated.

This will stop your computer from writing any data over top of your lost data, making it unrecoverable.

How to recover deleted GoPro files

In the past EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro ($149.95) had always worked for me.

This particular time, it did recover the files, but they weren’t playable. It couldn’t repair the corrupted MP4 files, so they weren’t playable.

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro usually works for me when recovering deleted footage. But not this time.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro found all the files, but it couldn’t restore them to a playable state.

So I went looking for another solution that would recover GoPro files properly.

I found a cheap purpose-made solution for recovering GoPro files

While browsing the GoPro Community Forums, I found more people complaining about their GoPros deleting footage.

In that thread, I found a recommendation to try GoPro Recovery developed by CnW Recovery Developments Ltd in the UK.

I bought it for $22.95, and it worked!

GoPro Recovery software recovered my deleted footage!
GoPro Recovery in action, saving my lost footage! It works with Canon, DJI, and other cameras too.

GoPro Recovery recovered and repaired 21.9 GB / 29 files of 4K GoPro footage that EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Pro couldn’t!

One file was corrupted beyond repair. It would play, but it skipped and stuttered. I guess this was the file that caused the SD Error and crashed my GoPro Hero10 Black.

If this post helped you, please leave a comment.

By Karl Rock

Karl Rock, is a Hindi speaking Kiwi ex-pat who take viewers behind the scenes of incredible India and its neighbours. He has visited every state and union territory in India, and its culturally similar neighbours – Pakistan and Bangladesh, and aims to make others fall in love with India and the subcontinent.

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