Camcorder Video Recovery Software: Easily Restore Deleted Videos from Handycam

Common Reasons for Camcorder Video Recovery

A camcorder is a handheld digital device used to record high-quality videos. It’s popular among families, vloggers, journalists, and filmmakers for capturing memorable moments like weddings, trips, and interviews. Most modern camcorders — such as those from Sony, Canon, Panasonic, and JVC — save videos to SD cards, internal hard drives, or flash memory in formats like AVCHD (.MTS/.M2TS) or MP4.

Unfortunately, even reliable camcorders can experience data loss. You may suddenly find that your recorded clips are missing or inaccessible due to issues like:

• Accidental deletion of videos from the camcorder or memory card.
• Formatting the SD card or internal storage without backing up data.
• File system corruption, which causes videos to become unreadable.
• Camcorder errors such as “Memory card error” after sudden shutdowns or improper ejection.

• Virus or malware infection that hides or removes video files.
• Physical damage to the camcorder or memory card, leading to data inaccessibility.

When any of these problems occur, camcorder video recovery becomes crucial.

Camcorder Video Recovery Software-MyRecover

With reliable camera video recovery software, you can often retrieve deleted or lost videos safely — as long as you act before the data gets overwritten. Today, we would like to share you with a professional data recovery tool named MyRecover.

It stands out for its strong compatibility and high recovery success rate. Whether your videos were deleted, formatted, or lost due to a corrupted memory card, this tool can efficiently bring them back without damaging the original quality.

Step 1. Remove the memory card (like an SD card) from your camcorder and connect it to your computer using a card reader. Alternatively, you can connect the camcorder directly to the PC with a USB cable. Your computer should recognize the camcorder or its memory card as a removable storage device.

Step 2. Download the MyRecover software and follow the installation instructions. Once installed, open the program.

Step 3. In the MyRecover main interface, you should see a list of all the drives connected to your computer. Select the drive that represents your camcorder's memory card. Click the "Scan" button.

Step 4. MyRecover offers two scanning modes (Quick Scan for recently deleted files and a more thorough Deep Scan for files that have been lost for a longer period or from a formatted drive). If the Quick Scan doesn't find your videos, proceed with a Deep Scan.

Step 5. After the scan completes, the software will display a list of recoverable files. You can usually filter the results by file type—select "Videos" to narrow down the list. Additionally, you are allowed to preview the videos before recovery, which is very helpful for confirming the file is intact.

Step 6. Select the videos you want to retrieve and click on "Recover" button.

Step 7. Now, choose a location to save the recovered files, and remember it is crucial to save them to a different drive (like your computer's hard disk) and not back to the camcorder's memory card. This prevents overwriting the lost data.

When the camcorder video recovery is completed, you will see a notification summarizing the total number and new path of successfully recovered files. By clicking the path or "Browse" button, you can directly access and check the recovered videos.

MyRecover has a free version, but it has a data recovery limit (500MB). If you just need to recover a few short videos from handycams, it might be enough.

Other Camcorder Video Recovery Tools

Apart from using paid third-party software to recover deleted videos from Sony or other brands of handycams, some users may prefer to take advantage of some free (open-source) tools. Now, let’s explore together.

PhotoRec: A Powerful Open-Source Tool

PhotoRec is a free, open-source data recovery tool designed to recover lost files from hard drives, digital cameras, and CDs/DVDs. It canignorethe file system and scan the underlying data, making it particularly effective even if the file system is severely damaged or the storage has been formatted.

Step 1. Download TestDisk &PhotRec based on your Windows edition, extract it, right click the "testdisk-6.13/photorec_win.exe" and select "Run as administrator".

Step 2. Available media are listed. Use up/down arrow keys to select the disk that holds the lost files. Select "Proceed" and press Enter to continue.

Step 3. Then select the target partition from the chosen disk. Choose "Search"and hit on Enter.

Step 4. Now, PhotoRec needs to know how the data blocks are allocated. Unless it is an ext2/ext3/ext4 filesystem, choose "Other".

Step 5. Select "Whole" to extract all files from the entire partition, not only just the unallocated space.

Step 6. Use the arrow keys to select a destination directory to save the recovered files.

Step 7. The recovery process will start and the number of recovered files is updated in real time.

Step 8. Recovered files are written in recup_dir.1, recup_dir.2... sub-directories and you can access them even if the recovery is not finished.). When the recovery is complete, a summary is displayed.

Windows File Recovery: The Official Microsoft Utility

Windows File Recovery is a free command-line tool from Microsoft that allows you to recover lost files on Windows 10 and 11. It's a versatile utility that can recover files from various storage devices, including HDDs, SSDs, USB drives, and camera SD cards- perfect for recovering deleted Handycam or camcorder videos.

Step 1. Download Windows File Recovery app from Microsoft App store and install it.

Step 2. Press "Win + S", type "Windows File Recovery", and select "Run as administrator". A Command Prompt window will open with the tool ready to use.

Step 3. Learn basic command: winfr source-drive: destination-drive [/mode] [/switches]

• Source drive = where the deleted camcorder videos were stored (e.g., SD card or D: drive).
• Destination drive = where recovered videos will be saved (must be different from the source drive).

For example, if your deleted videos were on E: (camcorder SD card), you can save the recovered files to F:, and run the command: winfr E: F: /extensive /n *.mp4 (/extensive: Deep scan mode, recommended for corrupted SD cards or FAT/exFAT card, use /regular: if the card is of NTFS and healthy)

Step 4. The scan progress and number of recovered files will appear in real time. Depending on the storage size and scan mode, this may take several minutes to hours. When finished, Windows File Recovery creates a folder named Recovery_ in your destination drive. Open the folder to view and check your restored camcorder videos.

Conclusion

Losing precious camcorder videos can be frustrating, especially when they capture once-in-a-lifetime moments. Fortunately, camcorder video recovery is often possible as long as new data hasn’t overwritten the lost files. Whether your videos were accidentally deleted, the SD card was formatted, or the file system became corrupted, several tools can help.

MyRecover offers an intuitive, beginner-friendly solution with a high success rate, supporting various video formats and camera brands. It’s ideal for users who prefer a visual interface and preview options. On the other hand, PhotoRec and Windows File Recovery provide free alternatives. PhotoRec excels in deep data scans and works across platforms, while Windows File Recovery offers reliable command-line recovery for Windows users.