Fast Recovery Methods for Photographers to Recover Deleted RAF Files

Accidentally deleted RAF files from your Fujifilm camera? Don’t panic—those precious RAW photos are not necessarily gone forever. This guide covers the fastest and most effective recovery methods for photographers to restore deleted RAF files safely, ensuring you never lose your creative work.

By @Aria
Last Updated November 5, 2025

Overview of RAF Files

RAF is the RAW image format used by Fujifilm digital cameras. Unlike compressed JPEGs, RAF files store unprocessed image data, giving photographers more flexibility in editing exposure, white balance, and other details without losing quality. However, because these files are larger and often stored on camera SD cards, they are also more prone to accidental deletion, formatting, or corruption.

If you’ve ever deleted RAF files unintentionally, don’t panic. RAF file recovery is possible with the right methods and tools.

How to Recover Deleted RAF Files

Before diving into advanced recovery methods, it’s always a good idea to start with the simplest checks. Many lost RAF files can be restored without professional help if you act quickly.

Check the Recycle Bin

If you transferred your RAF files from your camera to your computer and accidentally deleted (not permanently deleted) them, they often go to the Recycle Bin instead of being erased immediately. You can restore them directly from the Recycle Bin.

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

Step 2. Look for the RAF files you wish to recover from the deleted items.

Step 3. Right click on them and choose "Restore" to return them to their original location.

Check for Backups

If the files aren’t in the Recycle Bin, the next step is to see if you have a backup. If you have ever backed up these RAF files using Windows’ built-in backup tool, a cloud backup service, or another hard drive, you can restore the lost files from the backup.

👉File History:

Open File History, locate the folder where the deleted RAF files were stored, choose a desired version based on the backup time to restore, and then click "Restore".

👉Backup and Restore:

Open "Backup Settings" and select "Go to Backup and Restore (Windows 7)", then follow the instruction to restore deleted files.

👉Cloud Backup Tool

Select the "Recycle bin" section and choose the deleted files to restore.

Windows File Recovery

Windows File Recovery is command-line data recovery tool provided by Microsoft, which excels to recover permanently deleted files from local storage device like USB drives, SD cards, HDDs and more. But it requires familiarity with basic Windows File Recovery command and only compatible with Windows 10 and later versions.

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

Step 2. Open Windows File Recovery in the Start menu and run it as administrator.

Step 3. Type the following command "winfr F: E: /regular /n *.raf" and hit "Enter" key. Replace the drive letters "F" and "E" with your actual drive letters.

★Tips:
F: the source drive letter.
E: the destination drive letter.
/regular: the scan mode. If your drive file system is FAT or exFAT, please switch to "extensive" mode.
/n *.raf: the filter command. Only recover the file with ".raf" extension.

Wait for the process to finish. You can check the recovered files in the destination folder by pressing "y".

While Windows File Recovery is a powerful recovery tool, it's not friendly with beginners. Minor errors such as typos and symbol mistakes can lead to data recovery failure. This requires users to learn the basics of the command line before using it.

Recover Deleted RAF Files with MyRecover

If you're not comfortable with command-line tools and are looking for a user-friendly way to recover permanently deleted RAF files, MyRecover comes highly recommended. It features an intuitive interface that allows even novice users to complete data recovery without spending time learning, just click the icons.

Discover the compelling highlights of MyRecover below:

No Command Line Needed – Simple GUI (graphical interface) for easy file recovery.

Higher Success Rate – Advanced deep scan for NTFS/FAT32/exFAT drives.

Smart Filtering – Recover files by type, date, keywords or size with precision.

500+ Devices Support – Recover files from all types of devices like SSD, HDD, USB flash drive, SD card, cameras, game console drives and more.

Handle 500+ Data Loss Scenarios – Recover from deleted partition, formatted hard drive, emptied Recycle Bin, system crash, virus attack, etc.

Step 1. Download and install MyRecover on your computer from Microsoft Store, avoid installing it on the drive with lost RAF files.

Download FreewareWin 11/10/8.1/8/7/Server
Secure Download

Step 2. Launch the program and select the drive including the deleted RAF files to scan, then click "Scan".

Step 3. Under the "Type" tab, locate the "RAF" folder, which collects all the RAF files on your drive. Open it to check if the files inside are the ones you need, then click "Recover".

🌟Tips:

If you can’t find the files you need in the categories, they may have been classified under "Uncategorized Files".

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

Once the process is completed, you'll see the message "Files have been recovered successfully", then you can access the recovered files by clicking on the destination folder path or "Browse" button.

FAQs:

Q1: How to recover raf files?

You can start with the Recycle Bin and backups. If those don’t work, use a specialized raf file recovery tool like MyRecover and Windows File Recovery.

Q2: How to recover deleted RAW files?

RAW files including RAF can be restored using recovery software that supports camera-specific formats. If you have any backups available, you can restore directly from them.

Q3: Can raw drive be recovered?

Yes, if your hard drive shows up as RAW, data recovery tools like MyRecover can scan and extract files before formatting. Then, you can try checking connections or running CHKDSK command to repair it.

Q4: Can you recover permanently deleted files?

Yes, but you’ll need dedicated recovery software like MyRecover or Windows File Recovery since the Recycle Bin can’t help once files are permanently deleted.

Conclusion

Losing Fujifilm RAF files can feel devastating, especially when they contain irreplaceable photos. But as we’ve seen, you have multiple options: Recycle Bin, backups, Windows tools, and professional software. Among these, MyRecover stands out because it offers wider compatibility and higher success rate.

For users with more advanced requirements, MyRecover Professional edition allows unlimited data recovery quota and file content preview before restoration. So the next time you’re worried about how to recover deleted RAF files from Fujifilm camera, remember that recovering RAF files is not only possible but also straightforward with MyRecover.