Photos & RAW · exFAT image medium
TIFF camera images: recover after a quick format
Can deleted TIFF photographs be recovered after a quick format?
Short answer
Often yes: a quick format replaces the file-system records, while large TIFF image data usually remains until new files overwrite it. Eject the medium and save nothing to it, not even a test file. After a read-only scan, open each TIFF completely, because a valid header alone does not prove the image data survived.
The situation
The medium now has a new empty directory, while the previous deleted TIFF photographs is missing.
Formatting replaced the file system, not the picture data. On a medium that mainly held large TIFF files, most of those blocks remain untouched, which is why a scan by signature usually still reaches them long after the directory itself was discarded.
01 / Diagnose
Work out what actually disappeared
A quick format writes new administrative structures: an empty root directory and a fresh allocation table. Every earlier file keeps its content, but nothing points at it any more. For TIFF that is workable, because the byte-order mark and the first image-file directory identify the file and lead on to its strip offsets.
A quick format can replace file-system records without immediately overwriting every older content block. For TIFF camera images, this matters because TIFF stores byte order, image-file directories and offsets that must point to complete strips or tiles.
Check the last known path, trash and backups without writing to the original device.
02 / Protect the source
Preserve the best recovery chance
- 1
Eject the medium as soon as the format is noticed, and do not save a test file just to confirm that it mounts.
- 2
Write down what the volume contained, how large the files were and which program produced them, before any scan begins.
- 3
Scan the medium read-only for TIFF signatures, or work from an uncompressed image of it so the source is never touched again.
- 4
Export the hits to another drive, sort them by size and check the large ones first, since those carry the full image data.
Do not use the newly formatted volume as working space, not even briefly. Its free space is precisely where the old picture data lies, and one large file written there can consume several images at once, long before the scan is finished.
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.
Neither file names nor folder structure return after a format, and a scan cannot tell two versions of the same picture apart by name. File Recovery Hero reads the formatted exFAT or NTFS volume without writing to it and exports once licensed; lost catalog metadata stays lost.
04 / Verify
Check the recovered content, not just its name
Because names and folders went with the directory, judge each file by its content: correct dimensions, plausible bit depth, complete strips and, where they belong, the layers the original carried. A file that ends after a few rows of image was already partly covered.
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 image medium be recovered in this situation?+
Formatting replaced the file system, not the picture data. On a medium that mainly held large TIFF files, most of those blocks remain untouched, which is why a scan by signature usually still reaches them long after the directory itself was discarded. The result still depends on what remains readable on the source.
What should I avoid before scanning?+
Do not use the newly formatted volume as working space, not even briefly.
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?+
Because names and folders went with the directory, judge each file by its content: correct dimensions, plausible bit depth, complete strips and, where they belong, the layers the original carried.