Storage media · WAV file and original recorder card
Damaged or unfinalized WAV: recover first, repair second
How can I repair a damaged WAV recording?
Short answer
Often fixable, but recover before you repair: PCM samples frequently survive when a power cut leaves the RIFF header with the wrong length. Keep the original file and card unchanged, recover the best bytes, and rewrite the header only on a copy. Audio blocks that are truly missing cannot be restored by editing metadata.
The situation
A WAV exists but reports the wrong length, will not open, or ended during power loss.
A WAV that opens with the wrong duration is usually two problems in one: the RIFF header lost the size the recorder should have written at the end, while the PCM samples behind it may be complete. Separate the two before any repair tool touches the file.
01 / Diagnose
Work out what actually disappeared
A recorder writes the canonical 44-byte WAV header first with placeholder sizes and corrects them when you press stop. Power loss, a full card or a pulled battery skips that final write, so the file claims a length of zero or a few seconds while the audio behind the header runs for the whole session. Missing blocks are a different matter and no header edit brings them back.
PCM samples can survive a damaged RIFF header, but missing audio blocks cannot be recreated by rewriting metadata.
Check the last known path, trash and backups without writing to the original device.
02 / Protect the source
Preserve the best recovery chance
- 1
Leave the damaged file and the card it came from untouched, and put the recorder aside so no further take lands on that card.
- 2
Copy the file to a working drive and note its byte size; a file of exactly 44 bytes holds a header and no audio at all.
- 3
If the card still holds the take, scan it read-only for WAV first, because a recovered copy is often longer than the file the recorder left behind.
- 4
Rewrite the header or re-wrap the samples only on a duplicate, keeping the untouched original as the reference you can always return to.
Do not let an editor open the broken file and save it in place, and do not run a repair utility against the only copy. A tool that rewrites the header on the original leaves you with its interpretation of the audio and nothing to compare it against.
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 recovers audio files from readable exFAT, NTFS and FAT volumes; it does not repair broken individual files, so header surgery stays a job for a dedicated audio tool working on a copy rather than on the take the recorder left behind.
04 / Verify
Check the recovered content, not just its name
A repaired take reports a duration close to the real recording time, keeps the sample rate and channel count of the session, and decodes to the final sample without a burst of noise. Compare the file size against a healthy take of similar length from the same day.
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 WAV file and original recorder card be recovered in this situation?+
A WAV that opens with the wrong duration is usually two problems in one: the RIFF header lost the size the recorder should have written at the end, while the PCM samples behind it may be complete. Separate the two before any repair tool touches the file. The result still depends on what remains readable on the source.
What should I avoid before scanning?+
Do not let an editor open the broken file and save it in place, and do not run a repair utility against the only copy.
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 repaired take reports a duration close to the real recording time, keeps the sample rate and channel count of the session, and decodes to the final sample without a burst of noise.