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How to Recover Pictures Mistakenly Deleted

Digital technology has changed the way pictures are taken and stored by digital cameras. Rather than having the image stored on a strip of light-sensitive material, images are converted into digital files and saved to a memory card. This provides you, the photographer, with an opportunity to review pictures immediately and delete the ones that you do not wish to save. This also leads to the possibility that pictures may be accidentally deleted. When this happens, you can restore the lost pictures using software available on the Internet.

Things You'll Need

Computer
Memory card reader
Internet connection

Instructions

- 1
  Remove the memory card which was in use when the picture was accidentally deleted from the camera. While deleted pictures cannot be viewed, the file is still on the card and can be recovered.
- 2
  Turn on your home computer, and download a memory card recovery program like PC Inspector Smart Recovery or PixFix Image Recovery. If you are using a Mac computer, you can download Camera Salvage. Once downloaded, open the software on your computer.
- 3
  Insert the memory card containing the deleted picture into your computer's card reader or into an external card reader. Wait a moment for your computer to acknowledge the memory card.
- 4
  Using the downloaded program, click "File" and select "Start/Scan" from the drop-down menu. Select the icon that represents the memory card you just inserted, and click "Ok" in the bottom right of the screen.
- 5
  A new window will open up after the scan is completed and will include the deleted picture. Select the deleted picture from the new window, and save the picture to your computer's hard drive. Remove the card from your card reader, and install it back into your digital camera.

Photography