Photos & RAW · exFAT media card
PNG still images: recover after an interrupted recording
What can I do with deleted PNG stills after a recording interruption?
Short answer
Only complete chunks are usable: if power failed while a PNG was being written, the file may lack its closing IEND chunk or later image data. Power the device down, remove the medium and keep an untouched copy. Check each recovered PNG's checksums, and try to salvage a partial image only on a copy.
The situation
deleted PNG stills is missing, too short or unreadable after power loss, a card error or an unsafe stop.
After a power failure the question is not where the file went, but how much of it was ever written. A still that was being saved may hold its header and part of the picture while the closing chunk and the final rows never reached the card.
01 / Diagnose
Work out what actually disappeared
PNG is written chunk by chunk: signature, IHDR, the compressed image data, then IEND. If the battery died, the card was pulled or the device stopped unsafely, the last still can break off anywhere in that sequence. The exFAT entry may also carry a stale length, so the file looks longer or shorter than the data behind it.
The payload may have been written before duration fields, indexes, directory entries or closing structures were committed. For PNG still images, this matters because PNG uses chunk lengths and CRCs that allow a stricter structural check than a filename alone.
Check the last known path, trash and backups without writing to the original device.
02 / Protect the source
Preserve the best recovery chance
- 1
Power the device down properly instead of retrying, and take the card out before the firmware tries to close or tidy the interrupted file.
- 2
Note which still was being written when the power went and how many pictures the session should contain, so the gap becomes visible.
- 3
Make an uncompressed image of the card, or scan it read-only, and run every repair attempt against that copy rather than the card itself.
- 4
Export the candidates to another drive and open them in order; keep the last complete still and treat everything after it as partial.
Do not put the card back into the camera and continue the session, and do not let a repair tool write to the card. An interrupted file is fragile: another recording, or a tool fixing the picture in place, removes the only version of the data that exists.
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.
Data that never reached the card cannot be produced by any scan, and mending a half-written picture is outside the product. File Recovery Hero reads exFAT, NTFS and FAT16/FAT32 media and uncompressed images read-only and exports files; it does not repair single stills.
04 / Verify
Check the recovered content, not just its name
A still counts as intact when its chunks pass their CRC checks and the image draws to the last row. A truncated file normally decodes down to the point where writing stopped and then breaks off; that partial picture can be worth keeping, but only as a copy.
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 media card be recovered in this situation?+
After a power failure the question is not where the file went, but how much of it was ever written. A still that was being saved may hold its header and part of the picture while the closing chunk and the final rows never reached the card. The result still depends on what remains readable on the source.
What should I avoid before scanning?+
Do not put the card back into the camera and continue the session, and do not let a repair tool write to the card.
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 still counts as intact when its chunks pass their CRC checks and the image draws to the last row.