AMWTCompatibility
What AMWT Desktop works with
Search for your card, drive, camera or file type to see whether it can be recovered, and how. The full lists are below.
The checker runs in your browser, so nothing you type is sent anywhere. Scans run on your computer too, and your files never touch our servers.
Names keptThe quick scan reads the card's file table, so files come back with their original names, folders and dates. The deep scan runs as well.
Deep scanThe file types listed under File types are found block by block, even after a format, but come back without names.
PartlySome files, or only in some situations. The notes say which.
Not yetVersion 1 can't do this.
Cards and drives
If your Mac or Windows PC can see it as a card or an external drive, it can be scanned. What matters most is the file system, and nearly every card uses FAT32 or exFAT.
| Card or drive | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| SD (up to 2 GB) | Names kept | FAT16. Older cameras. |
| SDHC (4–32 GB) | Names kept | FAT32. A built-in SD slot or any USB reader. |
| SDXC (64 GB–2 TB) | Names kept | exFAT. Most cards sold today, including UHS-I and UHS-II. |
| SDUC (over 2 TB) | Names kept | exFAT. Few readers can read SDUC yet; if your computer shows the card, it scans like any exFAT card. |
| microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC | Names kept | In an SD adapter or a USB reader. Same file systems as SD by size. Includes cards from phones, drones, action cameras, dashcams and consoles. |
| CompactFlash (CF) | Names kept | FAT32 or exFAT, in a USB CF reader. |
| CFast 2.0 | Names kept | exFAT, in a CFast reader. |
| CFexpress Type A and Type B, XQD | Names kept | exFAT, in a USB or Thunderbolt reader. The card shows up as an external drive. |
| Memory Stick, xD-Picture Card | Names kept | FAT16 or FAT32, if you have a reader your computer can see. |
| USB flash drives | Names kept | When formatted FAT32 or exFAT, as most are out of the box. Reformatted NTFS or for Mac: deep scan only. |
| Card readers | Works | A built-in SD slot or any USB card reader. USB 3, plugged straight into the computer, is fastest. |
| External hard drives | Deep scan | Most are APFS, Mac OS Extended or NTFS, so the deep scan finds the listed file types without names. exFAT or FAT32 drives keep names. |
| External SSDs | Partly | Scanned like hard drives, but SSDs may clear deleted blocks soon after a delete (TRIM), so results vary by drive. |
Brands
The brand doesn't change anything: what matters is the type of card and its file system. These are some of the makers you are most likely to have; others work the same way.
| Type | Makers and product lines |
|---|---|
| Memory cards | SanDisk (Extreme, Extreme PRO, Ultra, High Endurance), Lexar (Professional, SILVER, PLAY), Samsung (EVO Plus, PRO Plus, PRO Endurance), Kingston (Canvas Select, Go!, React), Sony (TOUGH, Memory Stick), ProGrade (Cobalt, Gold), Angelbird (AV PRO), Delkin, Transcend, PNY, Verbatim, Integral, Kioxia, Gigastone, Silicon Power |
| USB flash drives | SanDisk (Cruzer, Ultra Flair, Ultra Fit, Dual Drive), Kingston DataTraveler, Samsung BAR and FIT, Lexar JumpDrive, PNY, Verbatim, Integral |
| External hard drives | Seagate (Backup Plus, Expansion, One Touch), WD (My Passport, Elements, My Book), LaCie (Rugged), Toshiba Canvio |
| External SSDs | Samsung T5, T7 and T9, SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD, Crucial X6, X9 and X10, LaCie Rugged SSD, WD My Passport SSD |
Cameras and devices
What came out of the device is what we scan: the card. Here is what that means for common devices.
| Device | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Canon (EOS R, EOS DSLR, PowerShot) | Names kept | After a format, JPEG, CR2, CR3, MP4 and MOV are found by the deep scan, without names. Older CRW files come back by name only. |
| Nikon (Z series, DSLR, Coolpix) | Names kept | After a format, JPEG, NEF, NRW, MOV and MP4 are found by the deep scan, without names. |
| Sony (Alpha, ZV, RX, Handycam) | Names kept | After a format, JPEG, ARW, MP4 (XAVC S) and AVCHD .MTS are found by the deep scan, without names. |
| Fujifilm, Panasonic Lumix, OM System and Olympus, Leica, Pentax, Ricoh | Names kept | After a format, JPEG, MP4, MOV and the RAW files from these cameras (RAF, RW2, ORF, PEF and DNG) are found by the deep scan, without names. |
| GoPro | Names kept | MP4 and JPEG are found after a format too. Long, chaptered clips may come back partly damaged. |
| DJI drones and Osmo cameras | Names kept | MP4, MOV, JPEG and DNG are found after a format too. Long clips may come back partly damaged. |
| Insta360 | Partly | .insv and .insp are found only through the file table, not after a format. Long 360° clips may come back partly damaged. |
| Dashcams | Names kept | Loop recording overwrites old clips constantly, so take the card out straight away. MP4, MOV, .TS and .AVI clips are found after a format too. |
| Trail and wildlife cameras | Names kept | JPEG, MP4, MOV and AVI are found after a format too. |
| Android phones (microSD card) | Names kept | As portable storage. Cards formatted as internal storage are encrypted to the phone and can't be read. |
| Nintendo Switch (microSD card) | Names kept | Album screenshots and video captures. Game data on the card is encrypted by the console. |
| Steam Deck, Raspberry Pi | Deep scan | Usually ext4, so the deep scan finds the listed file types, without names. |
| Cinema cameras, camcorders, audio recorders | Names kept | MP4, MOV, AVCHD .MTS, WAV, MP3 and FLAC are found after a format too. BRAW, R3D and MXF come back by name only, before a format. |
File systems
| File system | Support | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| FAT16, FAT32, exFAT | Names kept | Quick scan reads deleted entries for names, folders and dates; deep scan runs as well. Almost every camera card. |
| NTFS (Windows) | Deep scan | The listed file types, without names. Plain text, CSV and other files with no recognisable start are not found. |
| APFS, Mac OS Extended | Deep scan | The listed file types, without names. Encrypted APFS is not supported. |
| ext4 and other Linux file systems | Deep scan | The listed file types, without names. |
| Damaged or unreadable (“initialise” prompt) | Deep scan | Click Ignore when macOS offers to initialise, or Cancel when Windows offers to format. The deep scan finds photos, video, documents and the other listed types without the file table. |
File types
Two ways to find a file: by name through the file table (FAT and exFAT only, any file type), or by its contents with the deep scan (any file system, the types below). Then each file is checked, and only a file that has been decoded or fully checked is marked Intact.
| Type | How it's found | How it's checked |
|---|---|---|
| JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, WebP | By name, and by deep scan after a format | Decoded by the app: Intact or Partly damaged |
| HEIC / HEIF | By name, and by deep scan after a format | Decoded with macOS's own decoder. On Windows: recovered, no preview yet, stays Not checked |
| Camera RAW: Canon CR2 and CR3, Nikon NEF and NRW, Sony ARW, Fujifilm RAF, Olympus ORF, Panasonic RW2, Pentax PEF, Samsung SRW, DNG | By name, and by deep scan after a format | macOS's own RAW decoder. On Windows: preview from the embedded JPEG, stays Not checked |
| Other RAW (Canon CRW, Sigma X3F, Minolta MRW, Phase One IIQ) | By name only; not after a format | Not checked |
| Photoshop PSD and PSB | By name, and by deep scan after a format | Structure checked: a broken file is marked Partly damaged, a sound one stays Not checked |
| MP4, MOV, M4V, 3GP | By name, and by deep scan after a format | Structure checked: a broken file is marked Partly damaged, a sound one stays Not checked. Long clips may be partly damaged |
| AVCHD and MPEG-TS (.mts, .m2ts, .ts), MKV, WebM, AVI, WMV, FLV, MPEG (.mpg, .vob) | By name, and by deep scan after a format | Structure checked: a broken file is marked Partly damaged, a sound one stays Not checked. Long clips may be partly damaged |
| Insta360 INSV and INSP, BRAW, R3D, MXF | By name only; not after a format | Not checked |
| FLAC | By name, and by deep scan after a format | Every frame's checksum and the audio fingerprint are checked: Intact or Partly damaged |
| Ogg Vorbis, Opus | By name, and by deep scan after a format | Every page's checksum is checked: Intact or Partly damaged |
| MP3, MP2, AAC, M4A, WAV, AIFF, WMA, MIDI | By name, and by deep scan after a format | Structure checked: a broken file is marked Partly damaged, a sound one stays Not checked |
| Word, Excel and PowerPoint (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx), OpenDocument, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, EPUB | By name, and by deep scan after a format | Every part is unpacked and its checksum compared: Intact or Partly damaged |
| PDF, older Word, Excel and PowerPoint (.doc, .xls, .ppt), Visio, Publisher, Outlook .msg, RTF | By name, and by deep scan after a format | Structure checked: a broken file is marked Partly damaged, a sound one stays Not checked |
| ZIP (also .jar and .apk) | By name, and by deep scan after a format | Every part is unpacked and its checksum compared: Intact or Partly damaged |
| 7-Zip, RAR, CAB, MSI, SQLite databases | By name, and by deep scan after a format | Structure checked: a broken file is marked Partly damaged, a sound one stays Not checked. RAR archives with encrypted file names are found by name only |
| Plain text, CSV, HTML, gzip and tar, Access databases, Outlook PST, CAF, AMR | By name only; not after a format | Not checked |
| Anything else | By name only; not after a format | Not checked |
Not supported
| What | Why, and what to do instead |
|---|---|
| Your computer's internal drive | Version 1 scans cards and external drives only. Restore from Time Machine or Windows File History if you have it; if the files came from a card, scan the card. |
| Encrypted drives | FileVault, encrypted APFS, BitLocker, VeraCrypt, and Android cards formatted as internal storage. |
| Phones' and tablets' built-in storage | iPhone, iPad and Android internal storage can't be read. Check Recently Deleted in your photo library or cloud. |
| RAID, NAS and network storage | One directly connected card or drive at a time. |
| Linux computers | The app runs on macOS 13 or later and on Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit, early access). A Linux version is not available yet, and there is no release date. |
| Physically damaged cards and drives | Clicking, not spinning up, not detected, keeps disconnecting, dropped, wet or snapped: not a software job. Stop powering it on and contact a data recovery lab. |
| Repairing files | Files come back exactly as they are on the card. Partly damaged files are recovered with everything that is left, but not repaired. What you can do. |
Not sure? If it plugs in as a card or USB drive and shows up on your computer, the free scan will tell you what it can find before you decide anything. Supported formats in the help centre · Ask us
Try the free scan
Scanning and previewing are free. macOS 13 or later on Apple silicon and Intel; Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit (early access).