Audio · exFAT audio media
Core Audio CAF: recover after deletion
How can I recover CAF recordings after deletion?
Short answer
Yes, often, if the card has not been reused: a deleted CAF recording stays in place until overwritten. Remove the card and scan it read-only. Note the recording app and the codec inside, since CAF can hold linear PCM, AAC, ALAC and others, and a recovered file only plays with a matching decoder.
The situation
CAF recordings no longer appears in its recording folder even though the storage device is still detected.
The card mounts normally, but the CAF file has left the folder listing. On an exFAT card a delete only releases the directory entry and the cluster allocation; the chunk structure holding the audio payload stays in place until something writes over it.
01 / Diagnose
Work out what actually disappeared
CAF was designed for long recordings and can carry linear PCM as well as AAC, ALAC or IMA4. A deleted CAF is therefore not one predictable pattern but a container whose audio description chunk decides what the payload actually is. Without that chunk a found file cannot be decoded, which is why the recording app and its settings matter here.
Deletion can release a directory reference before later writes reuse every block that belonged to the file. For Core Audio CAF, this matters because CAF chunks can describe long recordings and several audio codecs
Check the last known path, trash and backups without writing to the original device.
02 / Protect the source
Preserve the best recovery chance
- 1
Stop recording on the device, eject the card and connect it to a Mac or PC through a reader instead of the recorder.
- 2
Note the app that produced the file and the codec it was set to, because CAF holds several formats and the decoder must match.
- 3
Run a read-only scan of the whole card and decline any prompt to repair, index or verify the volume.
- 4
Export candidates to another drive and open each one in a Mac audio application that reads CAF natively.
Do not keep the card in the device for further recordings and do not use it as temporary storage for other material. A CAF recording can occupy a long, unbroken run of clusters, and anything written in the meantime is likely to land somewhere inside it.
03 / Choose the method
Match the tool to the source
For stable, readable exFAT, NTFS and FAT16/FAT32 or uncompressed IMG, DD, RAW and BIN images.
Unconfirmed exports are marked .UNVERIFIED.
File Recovery Hero scans the exFAT card read-only and exports for 50 EUR after a free scan, on macOS and Windows. It does not repair a CAF whose audio description chunk is missing, and it cannot decode a payload whose codec settings are gone.
04 / Verify
Check the recovered content, not just its name
A usable file opens without a format warning, reports the sample rate and channel count of the session and plays to the end. Watch for a length that stops earlier than the recording actually ran; that points to part of the payload already reused by later writes.
Keep the source until two verified copies exist. One working preview is not enough.
Sources and technical references
FAQ
Questions about this recovery case
Can exFAT audio media be recovered in this situation?+
The card mounts normally, but the CAF file has left the folder listing. On an exFAT card a delete only releases the directory entry and the cluster allocation; the chunk structure holding the audio payload stays in place until something writes over it. The result still depends on what remains readable on the source.
What should I avoid before scanning?+
Do not keep the card in the device for further recordings and do not use it as temporary storage for other material.
Does scanning write to my memory card?+
Your memory card is only read. Nothing is saved to it.
How do I know whether the result is complete?+
A usable file opens without a format warning, reports the sample rate and channel count of the session and plays to the end.