Photos & RAW · exFAT camera card
HEIC, HEIF and HIF photos: recover after a quick format
Can deleted HEIC, HEIF or HIF images be recovered after a quick format?
Short answer
Often, if you have not shot again: a quick format replaces the exFAT records while older HIF or HEIC blocks stay until overwritten. Take the card out without a test shot. Scan read-only, then open each hit at full resolution, because a readable thumbnail inside the container does not prove the main image is complete.
The situation
The medium now has a new empty directory, while the previous deleted HEIC, HEIF or HIF images is missing.
The card looks empty because formatting rebuilt the exFAT records, not because the pictures were erased. HIF and HEIC data normally survives a quick format until the camera writes new frames, so the decisive question is what the body has done since.
01 / Diagnose
Work out what actually disappeared
A quick format in the camera creates a fresh DCIM structure and a new allocation table, and it usually resets the internal image counter as well. The picture containers stay untouched in their blocks. What disappears is every reference to them, so a scan has to recognise HEIF containers by their box structure instead of listing them by name.
A quick format can replace file-system records without immediately overwriting every older content block. For HEIC, HEIF and HIF photos, this matters because these images use an ISO-BMFF layout with item tables, metadata and encoded image payloads.
Check the last known path, trash and backups without writing to the original device.
02 / Protect the source
Preserve the best recovery chance
- 1
Take the card out of the body before shooting anything, because the freed blocks are exactly where the camera places the next frame.
- 2
Note the camera model, the file type it writes and roughly how many pictures the card held before the format was triggered.
- 3
Scan the card read-only through a reader, letting the search cover the whole medium rather than only the newly created DCIM folder.
- 4
Export the found containers to another drive and open every one of them at full resolution before you put the card back to work.
Do not fire a test frame and do not let the camera fill the card with a new folder tree. A quick format leaves the picture data in place, but the first fresh image lands on exactly the blocks that still hold the earlier originals.
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.
A format is reversible only while the blocks stay untouched; whatever the camera has already written over is gone for good. File Recovery Hero reads the exFAT card without changing it and exports once licensed, but it neither repairs incomplete containers nor opens encrypted media.
04 / Verify
Check the recovered content, not just its name
Trust the full-size picture, never the preview: a HEIF container can still deliver an embedded thumbnail while the coded image points into reused blocks. A recovered file is sound when it decodes completely at sensor resolution and its capture data matches the shoot you remember.
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 camera card be recovered in this situation?+
The card looks empty because formatting rebuilt the exFAT records, not because the pictures were erased. HIF and HEIC data normally survives a quick format until the camera writes new frames, so the decisive question is what the body has done since. The result still depends on what remains readable on the source.
What should I avoid before scanning?+
Do not fire a test frame and do not let the camera fill the card with a new folder tree.
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?+
Trust the full-size picture, never the preview: a HEIF container can still deliver an embedded thumbnail while the coded image points into reused blocks.