A quick format writes a new, empty index and marks the space reusable — it does not erase anything. Your files sit exactly where they were until something writes over them, which is why what happens in the hours after a format matters far more than the format itself.
$ bdr diagnose /dev/sdb → Device: SanDisk SD card (256 GB) · camera → Status: FORMATTED — file system reset, data intact → Client: confidential · Reading RG1 $ bdr engineer-working → Forensic image: taken · originals untouched → Previous file system: rebuilt → Found: 3,180 / 3,210 files $ bdr verify → ✓ photos — 2,940 files → ✓ video — 240 clips → ✓ formatted card — recovered
A quick format rewrites the index and leaves your files sitting where they were. They stay recoverable until something writes over them — so don’t reinstall, don’t copy anything on, and don’t keep shooting if it is a camera card.
The two options in the same dialog do very different things, and almost everyone picks the fast one.
Two routes, and which one applies decides whether you get filenames back as well as files.
Where enough of the original file system survives in the volume — a backup boot sector, an old master file table, superblock copies on ext — the original structure can often be rebuilt directly. That is the better outcome, because folders and filenames come back with the data.
Where it does not, files are carved by signature: the image is scanned for the byte patterns that begin known formats and each file reconstructed outward from its header. This works reliably for photographs, video, office documents and archives, and it returns contents without names or folder structure — typically numbered sequentially. Not elegant, but it is the difference between having your photographs and not.
The recoverable window closes in fairly predictable ways.
Every file written lands somewhere, and on a freshly formatted volume the allocator starts at the beginning — precisely where your oldest data sits.
The single most destructive follow-up. A Windows or macOS install writes many gigabytes across the volume it was told to use.
If the format ran for hours rather than seconds, it wrote across the whole disk and there is little point pursuing it.
Not time-dependent in the usual way — the erase happens within minutes of the format and cannot be undone. Externals in USB enclosures often escape this.
Carved files reassemble cleanly when they were written contiguously. Heavily fragmented large files may return partially or not at all.
Priced by device rather than by how much comes back.
Memory cards and USB sticks are from £250 +VAT; a single formatted hard drive, SSD or external is from £300 +VAT; a formatted RAID, NAS or server volume is from £500 +VAT. Every job opens with a free 48-hour diagnostic and a written quote, and most are no fix, no fee.
The diagnostic will also tell you when it is not worth proceeding — a full format, or a TRIMmed SSD, means there is nothing there to find, and that is a more useful answer than an invoice.
Send the device in for its free diagnostic and tell us briefly what happened; an engineer reviews it and confirms your exact quote in writing before anything starts.
Getting your data back begins with getting the device to us. Pack it up safely, pop your contact details inside, and send it over — once we’ve run the free diagnostic, we’ll confirm your exact price in writing before any work starts.
Posting it? A tracked, insured service is what we’d recommend. Rather drop it in? You’re welcome Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm — just package the device up as above first.
Want a bit more detail first? Fill in the form with more about your issue and an engineer will review it and send you a custom quote.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 01865 593000.
What people most often ask about recovering formatted drives, cards and sticks.
Usually, if it was a quick format. That writes a fresh empty file system and marks the space free while leaving your files physically in place. A full format writes across every sector and takes hours — after that there is nothing to recover.
Almost certainly not. Cameras use quick formats because the card has to be usable again immediately, so the images are still there. Take the card out and stop shooting — new photographs will land on the space the old ones occupy.
It depends which route applies. Where enough of the original file system survives, the structure can be rebuilt and names come back with the files. Where it doesn’t, files are carved by signature and return correct but numbered sequentially without folders.
Often not. A format on an SSD normally triggers TRIM, and the drive physically erases those blocks within minutes. The exceptions are SSDs in USB enclosures, where TRIM frequently doesn’t pass through, and drives that have failed.
Stop using it entirely. Don’t reinstall an operating system onto it, don’t copy anything to it, and don’t install recovery software onto that drive. Every write reduces what can be recovered, starting with the oldest data.
From £250 plus VAT for cards and USB sticks, £300 plus VAT for a single drive, and from £500 plus VAT for a RAID, NAS or server volume — fixed in a written quote after a free 48-hour diagnostic.
A free diagnostic, no fix no fee on most jobs, and formatted-media recovery off any drive, stick or card. The less you write to it, the more comes back — begin today.