Photos & RAW · formatted exFAT HEIF photo card
Recover HEIC, HEIF, or HIF after formatting
Can HEIF-family photos be recovered from a formatted exFAT card?
Short answer
Often yes, if nothing was written after the quick format: HEIC, HEIF and HIF images use ISO-BMFF boxes that a scan can recognize by their file brand. Recovery counts only when the whole container, including image items and metadata, is intact. Scan the untouched card read-only and open every result at full resolution.
The situation
HEIC, HEIF, or HIF images are missing after formatting.
HEIC, HEIF and HIF are all ISO-BMFF containers with differing file brands, which a scan reads from the first box of each file. After a quick format those brands are still in place, so the images can be identified even though the directory that named them has gone.
01 / Diagnose
Work out what actually disappeared
In this container the photograph is not a single stream but a set of image items, described by metadata boxes that state where each item lies. Formatting removes the file-system layer above and leaves those boxes untouched. A file counts as recovered only when item data and metadata boxes belong together, because the metadata on its own renders nothing at all.
These formats use ISO-BMFF boxes, so file-brand and complete container structure matter.
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 camera or phone adapter and connect it through a reader without granting any write access.
- 2
Scan the untouched medium read-only for the HEIF family, so that all three file brands are covered in one pass.
- 3
Export the results to a separate drive, since writing a container back to the source would overwrite candidates still to be found.
- 4
Open each image at full resolution in an application that supports the format natively instead of converting it first.
Do not convert the recovered files to JPEG before you have checked them, and do not let a photo library import them straight from the card. Import processes write caches and adjustment data, and converting an incomplete container merely hides how much is missing.
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 exports complete HEIC, HEIF and HIF files from readable exFAT media without writing to the source; it does not rebuild a container whose image items are missing. Phone storage that presents itself only through a media protocol is not a readable source.
04 / Verify
Check the recovered content, not just its name
An image is complete when it opens at full resolution, not only as the preview the file manager renders, and when its metadata boxes report the expected capture time and dimensions. Depth or burst variants stored as additional items should be present too if the camera recorded them.
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 formatted exFAT HEIF photo card be recovered in this situation?+
HEIC, HEIF and HIF are all ISO-BMFF containers with differing file brands, which a scan reads from the first box of each file. After a quick format those brands are still in place, so the images can be identified even though the directory that named them has gone. The result still depends on what remains readable on the source.
What should I avoid before scanning?+
Do not convert the recovered files to JPEG before you have checked them, and do not let a photo library import them straight from 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?+
An image is complete when it opens at full resolution, not only as the preview the file manager renders, and when its metadata boxes report the expected capture time and dimensions.