Photos & RAW · camera card and tethered-capture computer
Tethered-shoot originals missing from card and laptop
Where should I recover photos from a failed tethered shoot?
Short answer
First check where the tether setting sent the files: to the computer, to the card, or to both. Look in the capture-session and destination folders of your tethering software before touching anything else. Caches and previews are not original RAW files. Then preserve whichever medium really received the originals and scan that one read-only.
The situation
Expected RAW files are missing from the session folder and may or may not have been written to the card.
The decisive question is where the camera was told to put the files. Tethering software can write to the laptop, to the card, or to both at once, and a thumbnail in the session window is no proof that an original ever arrived. Settle the destination before treating anything as lost.
01 / Diagnose
Work out what actually disappeared
A tethered session creates a session folder with subfolders for captures, selects and output, plus a cache and a preview database. A preview in the browser window can exist while the original never landed, for instance after a cable drop or a full disk. If the body was also set to record to card, the only complete copy may still be in the camera.
Tether settings decide whether assets go to computer, card, or both; caches and previews are not original RAW files.
Check the last known path, trash and backups without writing to the original device.
02 / Protect the source
Preserve the best recovery chance
- 1
Check the camera setting used for that session, computer only, card only or both, since it decides where to look first.
- 2
Open the capture-session folder and all its subfolders, including any folder the software marks as offline.
- 3
Preserve whichever medium actually received the originals, eject the card and scan it read-only for the RAW format used.
- 4
Export recovered files to a drive outside the session folder and import them into a fresh session afterwards.
Do not reconnect the camera and restart the session to test the cable while files are missing, and do not let the software rebuild its catalogue over the old one. A new session writes into the same folder, and a rebuild discards the references showing which captures were expected.
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 reads exFAT, NTFS and FAT16/FAT32 sources read-only; a Mac system disk formatted as APFS is outside its scope, so files lost there need a snapshot or a backup instead. Captures that never left the camera cannot be retrieved from either medium.
04 / Verify
Check the recovered content, not just its name
The originals are back when the exported files develop at the full sensor resolution and their capture times cover the session without gaps. A preview from the tethering cache is not an original: it is smaller, carries reduced metadata, and cannot be developed like a RAW file.
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 camera card and tethered-capture computer be recovered in this situation?+
The decisive question is where the camera was told to put the files. Tethering software can write to the laptop, to the card, or to both at once, and a thumbnail in the session window is no proof that an original ever arrived. Settle the destination before treating anything as lost. The result still depends on what remains readable on the source.
What should I avoid before scanning?+
Do not reconnect the camera and restart the session to test the cable while files are missing, and do not let the software rebuild its catalogue over the old one.
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?+
The originals are back when the exported files develop at the full sensor resolution and their capture times cover the session without gaps.