How to Solve the Issue of "Photos Disappeared from Camera SD Card"

• Difficulty: Moderate.
• Reading time: 3-5 minutes.
• Best for: Windows and Mac users, camera owners, Android and iOS users.

This page covers everything about "Pictures and photos missing from the camera SD card" or "Photos disappeared from SD card on Android device." If you're experiencing similar issues with a Nikon, Canon camera, or even an iOS device, don't worry.

Navigate through the content bar and opt for the best Photo Recovery Solution to get back all your lost photos instantly:

"Photos Disappeared from Camera SD Card or Android/iOS Device" Issue Overview

In this section, you will learn how to:

• 1. How to recover missing pictures from an SD card?
• 2. Where have my photos gone from the camera SD card or phone?
• 3. What to do when pictures are lost from an SD card?

"Today, something weird happened when I was checking my recent travel photos on my Android phone. All the pictures on the SD card were not showing up in the gallery, as if they had vanished entirely! What's going on and how can I retrieve my lost photos? Can you assist me with this?"

Is your camera's SD card, your iPhone, or your Windows hard drive doing the same? Don't worry; check the symptoms below.

This will help confirm whether your Android phone – as well as digital cameras from Canon, Nikon, and others – is affected in the same way.

• Unable to view pictures on SD card in camera or computer
• Photos on SD card not showing up in gallery
• Pictures won't load from SD card

So, where are the photos stored on an SD card from a camera, or on an Android phone or iOS device?

• On a camera's SD card, photos are saved in a folder named DCIM or Camera.
• On an Android phone, photos are also saved in the DCIM/Camera folder: /storage/emmc/DCIM (on internal storage) or /storage/sdcard0/DCIM (on a memory SD card).
• On iOS devices, photos are saved in the "Camera Roll" album within the Photos app.

If your photos are missing or have disappeared from your camera's SD card or your phone, try restarting the camera or phone and check the location where the device saves photos.

If you couldn't find any, you should: 1. Stop using the camera SD card or Android/iOS device; 2. Seek help from a reliable photo recovery solution as shown below.

Part 1: Fix “Photos Disappeared from Camera SD Card” Error

Applies to: Solve the issue of Canon, Nikon, Sony, GoPro, DJI, and other camera SD card pictures not showing or disappearing.

If your photos have disappeared from the camera's SD card, stop using the camera immediately. Then follow the photo recovery guide illustrated below:

#1. Download the Camera Photo Recovery Software

To safely and effectively recover photos from your camera's SD card, it's recommended that you turn to a reliable photo recovery tool. Data Recovery Wizard is an ideal choice, well-reviewed by millions of global users.

It allows camera users of all levels to scan and recover their favorite pictures from an SD card with just a few clicks on Windows and Mac computers.

#2. Prepare the Camera SD Card for Photo Recovery

Step 1: Remove the SD card from your camera.

Step 2: Connect your SD card to the computer.

You can insert the SD card into your computer's built-in card reader. Some digital cameras can connect to your computer via a USB cable.

#3. Recover Lost or Missing Photos from Camera SD Card

Follow the steps mentioned below to retrieve lost photos from this SD card:

Step 1: Choose a location and start scanning

Hover the cursor over the SD card, camera, or hard drive partition from where you deleted/lost your pictures, and click on “Scan”.

Step 2: Choose the photos you want to recover

When the scan is finished, select “Photos” on the left. If you're looking for lost photos, click “Lost Photos” at the top of the list. Then, you can search for your photos by device, type, and date.

Step 3: Recover Lost Photos

After the preview, click “Recover” and choose another location to save the photos you want.

Video Tutorial: Recover Lost Photos from SD Card

Additional Tip: Mac Photo Recovery

For Mac users, refer to the guide on how to recover deleted pictures on Mac to perform photo recovery on your storage device.

Part 2: Recover Disappeared Photos from Android's Micro SD Card

Applicable Scenarios: Recover disappeared photos, images, and files from the SD card on your Android phone.

Most of the time, if the photos on Android phone's Micro SD card are missing, the SD card might not be inserted properly or the SD card is unmountable.

To get your missing photos back, you can try one of two things:

• #1. Display Photos on Android SD Card
• #2. Recover Lost Photos from Android SD Card

Follow the solutions one by one, and you can immediately recover lost or missing photos from your Android SD card:

Method 1: Displaying SD Card Photos on an Android Device

If your photos aren't showing up in the Gallery app, try the following to get them to appear on your SD card:

Step 1: Restart your Android device

Step 2: Reinsert the SD card

Step 3. Delete the .nomedia file

Step 4. Replace the Default Gallery App

Step 5: Uninstall any applications that might be causing the problem

Method 2: Recover Lost Photos from Android SD Card

If the tips in Method 1 fail to help you view photos on Android SD card, then you can turn to a reliable Android photo recovery tool – MobiSaver for Android for help.

Step 1: Connect the Android phone with lost photos to the computer via USB in a right way.

Step 2: Run the Android MobiSaver tool to scan your device, analyze the data, and locate your missing photos.

Step 3: After the scan, all the lost photos will be found and listed. Select the photos you want to recover and click “Recover” to save them on your computer.

Alternatively, you can use the MobiSaver for Android app version to retrieve lost Android photos without a computer.

Part 3: Recover Disappeared Photos from iPhone

Applies to: Retrieve disappeared, lost, or deleted photos from iPhone.

Though iPhone doesn't support adding an SD card for expanding the storage, many users still encounter the same issue where photos or pictures vanish from their phones for no reason.

How to fix it? You can get your lost photos back from iPhone or iPad immediately with the tips below:

Tip 1: Manually Look for Deleted Photos on iPhone

Usually, if your photos are missing from your iOS device, you can check them in the Recently Deleted album for up to 30 days. Here's how:

On your iPhone, go to Photos > Albums > Recently Deleted, select the photo you want to restore, and tap Recover.

If you still can't find your missing photos, it's possible that they've been permanently removed by the device. In that case, you'll need a professional iOS photo recovery app to help you out.

Tip 2: Utilize an iOS Photo Recovery Tool

A professional iOS data recovery tool like MobiSaver can easily scan and find your lost iPhone photos with just a few clicks.

With it, you can scan and recover lost photos, messages, call logs, and more from the latest iOS 14 devices like iPhone 12/12 Pro or older ones like iPhone 11/11 Pro/XS/XS Max/XR, and so on.

Guide to iOS Photo Recovery:

Step 1: Connect your iPhone to your computer

Launch the MobiSaver tool, select “Recover from iOS Device” on the left, and then click “Start”.

Step 2: Scan for Lost iPhone Photos

MobiSaver will scan your iPhone 13/12/11/X/XR/XS/8/7/6/5/4 automatically and find the existing photos as well as some lost ones for you.

Step 3: Preview and Restore Photos

Check “Photos” on the left, you will see the photos in your device clearly and choose the ones you need. Click “Recover to Computer” or “Recover to Device” to start the recovery.

Conclusions

On this page, we list some symptoms to help you determine if your photos are missing from the SD card. We also offer practical solutions to immediately restore disappeared photos from your camera SD card, Android phone, or iOS device.

It might be a terrible experience, especially when you don't know how to retrieve the lost photos. Here are some manual solutions and photo recovery software or apps that can assist you.

In addition to photo recovery, we also recommend backing up all your valuable files (including photos) from your phone or camera's SD card to another secure device beforehand.