Deleted photos and videos may exist in the Recycle Bin, a cloud version history, a camera import folder, a backup, or unallocated storage. Begin with existing copies because they preserve quality and metadata without scanning the source. If no copy exists, stop using the affected storage before new data or background activity replaces it.
Check existing copies first
Open the Recycle Bin and restore the correct items to a different location. Check OneDrive, Google Photos, iCloud, camera-vendor software, File History, external backups, memory cards, editing proxies, exported projects, messages, and shared albums. For synchronized folders, inspect version history before allowing further sync changes.
Confirm that a found photo is full resolution and that a found video contains its full duration and audio. Thumbnails and preview proxies are useful clues but may be smaller than the original.
Protect the source
Do not install recovery software on the affected drive or save new files to it. If the loss occurred on the Windows system SSD, shut the computer down when practical and scan the disk from another Windows installation or as a secondary device. SSD TRIM and garbage collection can remove deleted content even without an obvious new file occupying the same space.
For an SD card or USB drive, disconnect it after the deletion is noticed. Do not format, initialize, run CHKDSK, or create a new folder to test whether it works. Prepare a separate destination with enough free space for the recovered media.
Scan with XRecovery on Windows
XRecovery 3.1.6 runs on Windows and can scan partitions, disks, and external devices recognized by Windows. Select the source by its capacity and connection, then start scanning by double-clicking it or using the scan button. Quick scan runs first and deep scan begins automatically.
Review file-system results for original names and folders, then inspect signature-based results that may find media after directory records are missing. Use file-type filters to narrow the result, but remember that support covers common photo and video formats rather than every camera or codec format.
Preview representative files where supported. A preview can help prioritize candidates, but it is not a complete integrity test. Recover a small sample to another physical device before exporting a large result set. XRecovery warns against selecting the scanned source as the destination; do not override that warning.
The free allowance is 2 GB in total. If the source has unreadable regions, reads can time out and scanning can continue beyond them. Files whose content crosses an unreadable region may be incomplete.
Verify recovered photos
Open photos at full resolution. Zoom into different regions, check orientation and color, and compare dimensions with expected camera settings. Where metadata matters, inspect capture time, camera model, lens information, and GPS fields, but do not reject a photo only because metadata was lost. Signature recovery often cannot reconstruct the original directory entry or metadata sidecar.
For RAW photos, open the file in software that supports the specific camera format and render more than the embedded preview. A visible JPEG preview inside a damaged RAW file does not prove that the raw sensor data is intact.
Verify recovered videos
Play each important video near the beginning, middle, and end. Seek across the timeline, confirm audio, and watch for frozen frames, corrupted blocks, or an incorrect duration. Long videos and camera recordings may be fragmented, so a recognizable header or thumbnail can coexist with missing later segments.
Use a media analysis tool or editing application when the file is valuable. Confirm the codec, resolution, frame rate, audio tracks, and duration. Keep damaged candidates because a specialist repair workflow may use a healthy reference file from the same camera, although repair cannot recreate missing recorded content.
Understand the limits
Later writes can overwrite deleted clusters. SSD TRIM can make logical blocks return no previous data. Fragmentation can separate video segments from their headers. Encryption can make intact storage unreadable without its key. Physical or controller faults can prevent Windows from exposing a stable source.
If the device disconnects, overheats, reports an implausible capacity, or is not recognized as a physical disk, stop scanning and assess it as a hardware case. If the media is unique or commercially important, preserve the source and consider a professional service before repeated attempts.
Keep the source unchanged until validated photos and videos exist on two independent destinations. Recovery is complete only when the exported files open, play, and match the content you expected.