Cameras · Sony exFAT photo card and destination
Sony ARW files missing after import
Why did Sony ARW files not arrive with the JPEGs?
Short answer
Usually an import setting, not the card: a RAW filter, a duplicate rule or an aborted transfer can copy the JPEGs and leave the ARW files behind. Search the destination and your other drives for the shared filename stems. If the ARW files exist nowhere, keep the card unused and scan it read-only for ARW.
The situation
JPEG copies are present, but matching ARW originals cannot be found.
Nothing here proves the ARW files were destroyed. A body shooting RAW plus JPEG writes two files per frame under one shared stem, and import software can be told to take only one of them. Treat this as a filing question on the destination before you touch the card.
01 / Diagnose
Work out what actually disappeared
Lightroom, Capture One, Photos and the Windows import dialog all offer settings that skip RAW, treat RAW plus JPEG as a single image, or stop at the first unreadable file and leave the remainder behind. A transfer cancelled partway does the same. Only when the ARW files turn up on none of your drives does the Sony card itself become the subject of the investigation.
Import filters, duplicate rules, or a partial transfer can separate RAW and JPEG assets.
Check the last known path, trash and backups without writing to the original device.
02 / Protect the source
Preserve the best recovery chance
- 1
Search every destination drive for the stem of one missing frame, for example DSC01234, with hidden and system files included in the search.
- 2
Open the settings of the tool you imported with and check whether RAW was filtered out or bundled with its JPEG as one entry.
- 3
If the ARW files exist nowhere, put the card in a reader, stop using it, and scan the exFAT volume read-only for ARW.
- 4
Export anything recovered to a drive other than the card and check that the ARW count matches the JPEGs you already hold.
Do not run the import a second time onto the card, and decline when the camera offers to delete the images it considers imported. Repeating the transfer finds nothing a file search would miss, while an in-camera cleanup can release exactly the ARW entries you are hunting for.
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.
No recovery can produce an ARW the camera never wrote, which is what a JPEG-only setting leaves you with. On the card side File Recovery Hero reads exFAT and FAT volumes without writing to them, but frames covered by later exposures are gone, and a half-copied ARW is not repaired.
04 / Verify
Check the recovered content, not just its name
The job is finished when every JPEG has an ARW partner under the same stem and each ARW develops at full sensor resolution in your converter. Sample frames from the beginning, middle and end of the shoot; a gap that follows the shooting order points at an interrupted transfer.
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 Sony exFAT photo card and destination be recovered in this situation?+
Nothing here proves the ARW files were destroyed. A body shooting RAW plus JPEG writes two files per frame under one shared stem, and import software can be told to take only one of them. Treat this as a filing question on the destination before you touch the card. The result still depends on what remains readable on the source.
What should I avoid before scanning?+
Do not run the import a second time onto the card, and decline when the camera offers to delete the images it considers imported.
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 job is finished when every JPEG has an ARW partner under the same stem and each ARW develops at full sensor resolution in your converter.