Recover Deleted MOV Files—Do This Now Before It's Too Late

Overview about MOV Files

MOV is a multimedia file format developed by Apple, commonly used for storing video, audio, and subtitles. Known for its high quality and versatility, MOV files are widely used in video editing and playback, especially on macOS and iOS devices. They’re also compatible with Windows through various media players.

However, MOV files can be easily lost or accidentally deleted due to human error, formatting, or system issues. In such cases, knowing how to recover deleted MOV files becomes essential. In this guide, we'll offer several methods to recover deleted MOV files from Windows, SD Card and Mac.

How to Recover Deleted MOV Files on Windows

If you’ve accidentally deleted MOV files on your Windows system, take it easy. As mentioned earlier, MOV is also compatible with Windows. You can recover lost MOV files using the same methods for other file types. There are several ways to recover them, starting with the simplest and moving toward more advanced methods.

Check the Recycle Bin

It's a correct practice to check the Recycle Bin immediately after losing files, and MOV files are no exception. The Recycle Bin keeps deleted files until they are permanently removed.

Step 1. Double click the Recycle Bin icon to open it.

Step 2. Locate the deleted MOV file in the recoverable lists, right click it and choose "Restore".

Recover from Backups

If you can't find the deleted MOV files in the Recycle Bin, unfortunately, it may mean they have been permanently deleted. However, if you have ever used any backup tools to back up these MOV files, there's still a chance to retrieve them.

Windows offers two primary backup tools: "File History" and "Backup and Restore", while numerous cloud backup services can also be used to safeguard files. If you have any of these backups available, recovering the deleted MOV files can be done effortlessly.

Option A. Restore your Files with File History

If you have enabled File History before the MOV files were lost, you can restore the folder where the MOV file was stored to previous version. The MOV file within it can be retrieved directly.

Step 1. Navigate to the folder containing the deleted MOV file in File Explorer.

Step 2. Right click on it and choose "Restore previous versions" from the context menu.

Step 3. Select the version you wish to recover and click "Restore".

Option B. Recover from Backup and Restore (Windows 7)

"Backup and Restore" can back up the entire Windows system, including personal files. You can restore deleted MOV files through an existing backup.

Step 1. Open "backup settings" and choose "Go to Backup and Restore (Windows 7)".

Step 2. Click "Select another backup to restore files from" and choose a created backup.

Step 3. Select the files you want to recover and click "Next".

Step 4. Choose a location to save the recovered files and click "Restore" to start the process.

Once the process is finished, you can check the recovered files by clicking “View restored files".

Option C. Recover from Cloud Backup

Using cloud backup tools like OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc., to sync local files to the cloud is an effective way to ensure data security. Even if you accidentally lose local files, you can still find them in the cloud backup tools. Here we take OneDrive as an example:

Step 1. Sign in to OneDrive with your account.

Step 2. Select the "Trash" section, browse through the deleted files.

Step 3. Select the files you want to recover and click "Restore" to return it.

Tips: 

The methods in “Resore from Backups" will only work if the files were backed up before they were lost.

Run Windows File Recovery Command

When no backups are available, if you're proficient in command-line tools, Windows File Recovery is the ideal recovery method for you. However, note that it only runs on Windows 10 and 11. Follow these steps to recover deleted MOV files using Windows File Recovery command:

Step 1. Download and install Windows File Recovery on your computer from the official Microsoft channel.

Step 2. Type "Windows File Recovery" in the Start menu, right click and select "Run as administrator".

Step 4. Enter the command "winfr H: E: /extensive /n *.mov" and press "Enter". Replace the drive letters "H" and "E" with your actual drive letters.

When the process is completed, you can press "Y" to check the recovered files in the destination folder.

Recover Deleted MOV File via MyRecover

Although Windows File Recovery is a powerful recovery tool, in reality, the commands are difficult for most non-professional users to master and understand. To meet the needs of non-professional users without backups, we recommend MyRecover—a professional data recovery software.

It adopts a user-friendly GUI that simplifies the data recovery process, allowing users to complete recovery by clicking icons. MyRecover is completely reliable because it does not write data during the recovery process, fundamentally avoiding the risk of data overwriting. Follow these steps to recover deleted MOV files on Windows:

Step 1. Download and install MyRecover, avoid installing it on the drive with lost files.

Step 2. Select the drive where the deleted MOV files were deleted to scan and click "Scan".

Step 3. Choose the files you wish to recover from the recoverable lists and click "Recover".

Step 4. Select a safe location (not the original location) to save the recovered files.

When the process is completed, the message "Files have been recovered successfully" will pop out. You can access and check them by clicking the destination folder.

How to Recover Deleted MOV Files from SD Card on Windows

Many cameras and drones save videos in MOV format by default. Unlike Windows systems, these devices don’t have a Recycle Bin—once you delete a MOV file, there’s no "undo" option. But even in such complex scenarios, MyRecover makes data recovery a breeze. This powerful tool handles all kinds of data loss situations: recovering files from SD cards, formatted USB drives, crashed systems (only available for paid versions), and more.

Step 1. Download and install MyRecover on your computer. Connect the SD Card to your computer with a card reader.

Step 2. Launch it and select the SD Card to scan for lost files, then click "Scan".

Step 3. Select the files from the recoverable lists and click "Recover".

Step 4. Choose a secure location to save the recovered files.

Upon completion of the process, you can check them by clicking the designated folder.

How to Recover Deleted MOV Files on Mac

Recovering deleted MOV files on a Mac is generally similar to the process on Windows, allowing recovery from the Trash and backups (if enabled). Additionally, Mac offers a unique and powerful feature for lost file recovery—Time Machine, which makes file recovery simple if it was set up beforehand.

Step 1. Connect the external drive containing the backups to you Mac.

Step 2. Open the folder where the deleted MOV files were stored.

Step 3. Click the Time Machine icon and select "Enter Time Machine".

Step 4. Scroll through the timeline on the right to find the version of the file you want to recover.

Step 5. Select the MOV file and click "Restore".

Summary

MOV files are commonly used for high-quality video storage but are vulnerable to accidental deletion or loss. Thankfully, whether you're using Windows, SD Card or Mac, there are multiple recovery options available for recovering deleted MOV files.

If you don't want backups to occupy too much disk space, you can use reliable data recovery software like MyRecover to protect data security. Unlock advanced capabilities like pre-recovery file previews and unlimited data recovery quota—upgrade to MyRecover Professional edition today.