Complete Guide to Canon Video Recovery - Everything You Need to Know

As one of the world's leading camera brands, Canon is a name you'll find on many professional photographers' shopping lists. However, while they've massively improved over the years, Canon cameras are still far from perfect and are vulnerable to data loss.

Luckily, these issues are resolvable, and we will delve deeper into Canon video recovery below. We'll explore the likely culprits and teach you how to restore your precious clips with efficient Canon video recovery software, CMD, and backups.

Causes of Video Loss on Canon Camera

Before we get into the preparation tasks or the recovery part, let's quickly examine the possible culprits behind Canon camera video loss. Below is a comprehensive table of video loss scenarios, their most likely causes, and the solutions you can apply for each scenario, so let's dig right in.

Things to Do Before Recovering Canon Video Data

Now that we know more about the possible reasons for Canon camcorder data loss, we can move on to the preparation phase, which ensures your chances for Canon video recovery remain high. It also includes completing the following four tasks.

Remove Your SD Card From the Canon Camera

This action prevents the camera from using the SD card any further, which can negatively impact your recovery chances.

Don't Write Any New Data on Your SD Card

Cutting, copying, or pasting any data to and from the SD card is a bad idea, whether on the Canon camera or the PC. These actions also decrease your chances of recovery and should be avoided if you want to successfully restore your Canon video files.

Don't Format Your SD Card

Whatever you do, don't format the SD card once you connect it to the computer. While quick formats aren't a significant issue, full formats significantly decrease data recovery chances. Such an action rewrites the device's memory with ones and zeros, making finding video files that once populated that space challenging.

Canon Video Recovery Methods

Once you know the cause behind the data loss in your particular scenario and you've successfully made all the preparations for efficient Canon video recovery, the process can be a breeze. Let's jump straight into the top four methods for Canon video recovery.

Way 1: Using Canon Video Recovery Software - Wondershare Recoverit

Wondershare Recoverit is fueled by advanced search and recovery algorithms, support for over 500 data loss situations, and 1,000 file types and formats.

In addition, since Wondershare Recoverit is especially effective when handling corrupted photos and videos, you can use its Corrupted Video Repair features to restore the integrity of your Canon video files. These capabilities make Recoverit a perfect solution for any video data loss scenario.

Moreover, its user-friendly design makes navigating the app and restoring Canon video files remarkably easy.

Here's what you'll need to do.

1. Launch the data recovery app, select the Hard Drives and Locations option on the left, and click on your Canon camcorder.

   

Alternatively, right-click the SD card folder or drive in File Explorer and choose the “Scan for deleted files with Recoverit“ option.



2. The app automatically starts a deep scan of the selected folder or disk.

   

3. Refine the app's scan by modifying various file filters to help it find specific video files.

   

4. Add keywords to pinpoint the app's scan further and find specific items.

   

5. Before you recover the located files, use the app's preview feature by tapping the Preview button to verify the file's integrity and ensure it's the video file you're looking for.

   

6. Wait for the app's deep scan to complete or pause the scan if it has already found the data you're looking for. Then, tap the Recover button to save the discovered video files to a safe location.

   

While the steps above are for Canon video recovery on Windows machines, Wondershare Recoverit is also available for macOS, and the process is quite similar to the one above.

Way 2: Using CMD

The Command Prompt method can be effective for those with command-line experience and tech-savvy users who prefer handling things independently and without third-party apps. It uses a well-known and potent CHKDSK function to scan disks and fix minor errors, preventing data loss. To use it, follow these steps:

1. Connect your device to the computer. Alternatively, connect the SD card through a card reader.
2. Press the WIN key on your keyboard and type in "cmd."
3. Right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.
4. In the Command Prompt window, type in the following command and hit Enter.
   chkdsk D:/f

   You should swap the letter D in the command with the corresponding letter of your Canon camcorder or the SD card, which you can view in File Explorer.

5. If the CHKDSK function finds any errors, you will be prompted to fix them. If that's the case, type in the following three commands and press Enter after each.
   Y
D
D:\>attrib - h -r -s /s/d .

These commands will allow the CHKDSK function to fix the Canon camcorder or SD card, confirm its drive letter, and create a folder with recovered videos that you can later copy and save in a different location.

Way 3: Recover From a Backup File

Backups are another excellent solution to data loss situations. They allow users to restore files infected by malware and corrupted data and video files the user has accidentally deleted. These apps do so by finding and retrieving a previous file version saved before data loss happened.

Although Windows provides built-in backup and recovery tools, you can also use third-party apps like Wondershare UBackit. The app supports file, partition, disk, NAS, or Outlook backups, disk cloning, and backup encryption. It can also do incremental, real-time, and scheduled backups.

To restore Canon video files with it, you should follow these steps:

1. Open the app and tap the Restore option on the left.
2. Select the backup you want to restore and click the Restore button.

   

   Alternatively, tap the Preview button to restore specific files from said backup.

3. Select the specific video files you wish to restore. Choose to preview them or tap the Restore button.

   

4. Select the target destination and tap Okay.

   

5. Start the restoring process and track its progress in the app. Once it's complete, you'll receive a notification.

   

Please note that Wondershare UBackit, or any other backup and recovery tool, is only an option if you've previously set backups. If you haven't created copies of your Canon video files before, using backups for Canon video recovery isn't possible.

Way 4: Contact Data Recovery Service

If all else fails, or you're dealing with physically damaged SD cards or Canon camcorders, it might be time to take your devices to recovery experts. Although costly, ranging from $500 to $2,000 per device, professional data recovery services can restore data from various situations. Popular data recovery service providers include WeRecoverData Service, SERT Data Recovery, and PITS Data Recovery Services.

Conclusion

Video files of Canon cameras often go missing or become inaccessible due to accidental file deletion, malware infections, corruption, faulty storage device sectors, and improper SD card ejections.

Here, Wondershare Recoverit represents a terrific option. Its advanced recovery algorithms and support for hundreds of data loss scenarios, file types, and storage devices make the Canon video recovery process a breeze.

Other solutions include CMD's CHKDSK, which can fix minor SD card errors; backups, but only if you created them before video data loss happened; and professional data recovery services, which can be costly.