Nef File Recovery: Can I Recover .Nef File from SD Card?

As a photographer, you're likely aware of the critical impact that losing photos can have. If you use a Nikon camera, there’s a risk of losing NEF files from your SD card due to accidental deletion or formatting. NEF files can also be inadvertently deleted from your computer. In some cases, loss may result from logical corruption or physical wear on your storage device.

Fortunately, deleted NEF files can often be recovered. This guide offers a comprehensive overview of the process for NEF files recovery.

What are .NEF Files?

.NEF files are a type of RAW image file format used by Nikon digital cameras. "NEF" stands for Nikon Electronic Format. These files store unprocessed image data exactly as captured by the camera's sensor, along with metadata like camera settings, lens information, and more.

Unlike JPEGs or other image formats, NEF files retain all the original data from the photo, allowing for more flexibility in post-processing. This means you can adjust things like exposure, white balance, and color without losing image quality. NEF files are preferred by professional photographers who want maximum control over their images during editing.

Can I recover .NEF files after accidentally deletion or format?

In the majority of instances, it is feasible to retrieve expunged NEF files. The likelihood of recovery is contingent upon a variety of factors, including the cause of the file loss and the extent to which the storage device has been utilized following the loss of NEF files.

The following are potential causes of NEF file loss:

❌ Accidental deletion: Errors occur. When you are in a hurry or attempting to purge old photos from your camera, you may inadvertently delete essential ones. Fortunately, the likelihood of recovering an NEF photo in the event of an inadvertent deletion is high, provided that action is taken promptly.

😫 Inadvertent formatting: It is possible that you neglected to remember that you had essential files on your SD card, USB, or hard drive and subsequently performed a format. Once more, there is a high probability that recover lost files from a formatted hard disk, SD card or another storage device if you act promptly.

💥 Storage Media Corruption: Storage devices are susceptible to logical errors, including corruption. It is still possible to retrieve files from a corrupted SD card or other storage media. Nevertheless, it is advisable to conduct the NEF file recovery before attempting to repair the corrupt storage device.

🐞 Malware and virus: Malware and virus have the potential to corrupt files or delete them from the storage device without your knowledge. The likelihood of recovery is high if the recovery is initiated promptly upon discovering the virus attack.

🤕 Physical damage: It is feasible to retrieve the NEF files from a storage device as long as your computer can read the data. However, in the event of substantial damage, it may be necessary to seek assistance from a data recovery service.

Scanning is a hard task that should not be done on a drive that has been severely damaged. Instead, use a tool like Disk Drill to make a copy of the drive. Then, scan the copy to get back the files.

.NEF file recovery solution for Windows users

When you use professional data recovery tools, your chances of getting your data back are much higher. The same is true for NEF file recovery. Because it has so many useful features, AOMEI FastRecovery is highly suggested by many secure data recovery services.

You can get back photos, papers, videos, audio files, and more with this free file recovery software. Photo files like NEF, PNG, CR2, MRW, DNG, and more can be used. This data recovery program can get back files from SD cards that have been formatted, not recognized, written to RAW, or even damaged.

AOMEI FastRecovery might be the best program to get back NEF files. To do a deep scan and get back deleted NEF files, you can click the button below to download and run the software.

Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI FastRecovery. Choose the exact partition or disk where your data lost and click Scan.

Step 2. Then, the recovery tool start to scan and search. lt will execute the “Quickly Scan" first for finding your deleted data fast, and then execute the “Deep Scan" for searching other lost data.

Step 3. Once the scan is completed, all deleted files, recycle bins and other missing files will be displayed. Please select the file you would like to recover and then click "Recover".

Step 4. Then, select a folder path to save your recovered files.

Step 5. Wait patiently for this process of recovering ends.

Tips: Recover Corrupted NEF Files

For Nikon users, there is another issue for them to solve: how to recover corrupted NEF files. Usually, when files get damaged, they can't be opened. Many things can go wrong with a NEF file, like a virus attack, a bad sector, a damaged drive, and so on. If you lost NEF files because they got damaged, you can try the following ways to get them back.

Method 1: Utilizing the CHKDSK command line

The initial approach to resolving corrupted Nikon NEF images is to utilize CHKDSK in the command prompt. Therefore, this may serve as your initial attempt at rectifying corrupted Nikon NEF images. What is the mechanism behind the CHKDSK command? It analyzes and repairs damaged sectors in storage media, thereby enabling us to resolve the issue.

1. From Windows, open the "Start" menu.

2. Type "cmd."

3. Use the right-click button to open the command prompt.

4. "Run as Administer" from the menu bar that appears.

5. Sign in as administer.

6. After CMD is launched, type CHKDSK X: /f and press Enter to execute the command. You should replace X with the drive letter of the target device.

7. After the process is concluded, restart the system.

Method 2. Convert the NEF File to another format

If you are unable to open the NEF files, you may attempt to convert them to a more prevalent format, such as JPG or PNG. There are numerous online file format converters, including iLoveIMG, Raw.pics.io, and CloudConverter. You are free to select any option that you desire, provided that it is compatible with the NEF file format.

Method 3. Open with NIKON ViewNX2

An additional alternative is the utilization of the Nikon ViewNX2. For the most part, the corrupted NEF files are inaccessible through the built-in image viewer in Windows or other third-party applications. However, the Nikon ViewNX2 is available for trial.

After downloading and installing this application from its official website, attempt to open the corrupted NEF file with it.

Conclusion

After reading this text, you should be aware of the method for recovering deleted NEF files, particularly with professional data recovery software such as AOMEI FastRecovery. This would be the case if you have read this document. It is also possible to make an effort to repair the corrupted NEF files by utilizing the three procedures that are explained in this post.