A recovered photo won't open at all

Some recovered photos don't open at all: the viewer says the file is damaged, invalid or not supported, or shows nothing. That doesn't always mean the photo is lost. Here is how to tell what is wrong with it, and when it can still be saved.

First: is it really a JPEG photo?

A file can be called IMG_0042.JPG and still be something else. Recovery programs name files by what they guess they are, and some phones and cameras don't save JPEGs at all:

• HEIC photos from iPhones and some Android phones;
• RAW files from cameras (CR2, NEF, ARW and others), or a video;
• a file that is only zeros: the recovery program found the name, but the data was gone or written over.

The free diagnosis on memories.repair tells you what the file really is. For HEIC and RAW files a different program is needed; a file of zeros has nothing left in it, and another scan (or another program) may find a better copy.

The beginning of the file is lost

The first few kilobytes of a JPEG hold the instructions for decoding it: the size of the picture and the tables the camera used to compress it. When exactly that part is lost, no viewer can show anything, even though the picture data after it may be complete.

Those instructions are the same in every photo a camera takes at the same size and quality setting. So they can be borrowed: upload the broken photo, and when the diagnosis says its beginning was lost, add an intact photo taken with the same camera, at the same size and quality. A photo from the same day is the best bet. The repair takes only those instructions from it; the picture is yours.

If the same photo is also on another CD, card or backup, that copy works even better: its beginning may have survived there.

It opens partly, or only its small picture looks right

Some viewers give up on a damaged photo; others show the top and then grey. And sometimes the small picture in your file browser looks fine, but the photo itself won't open: the file browser shows the small preview the camera stores inside the photo, which survived. Either way the picture data is usually still in the file, out of place after a gap: why that happens.

What to keep in mind

• Work on copies and keep the original files as they are.
• Don't let an editor or a "repair" tool save over them. Saving keeps only what the program could read and throws away the rest.
• Keep a few intact photos from the same camera with the broken ones: they help when a beginning is lost.