Data Recovery ProWhen part of a file has been overwritten, Data Recovery Pro still recovers everything that is left and marks the file Partly damaged. No recovery software can bring every file back perfectly.
What partly damaged means
The app opens every photo it recovers. If it can only decode part of a photo, the file is labelled Partly damaged. Usually something saved to the card after the photo was lost was written over part of it, or the photo was stored in pieces that the deep scan could not all join.
A partly damaged photo may show a grey or garbled band, shifted colours, or only the top part of the picture. Often the damage is small and the rest of the photo is fine.
When you recover, partly damaged files are saved in a separate folder called Needs Checking, inside the folder you chose. Everything that was still on the card is in them.
What you can do
- Open each oneLook at them in Preview on a Mac, Photos on Windows, or your usual photo app. Many still open, and the damage may be in a corner you can crop out.
- Keep the originalsCopy a file before you edit it and work on the copy. Keep the recovered original as it is, so you can always try again.
- Try AI repair and enhance tools on a copyAI repair and enhance tools in many photo apps can often restore damaged areas or improve quality. Try more than one and compare the results with the original.
Recovery gives you back what was on the card, unchanged, so you decide what to do with it.
Enhance in Data Recovery Pro
On the Done screen, click Enhance Photos. Crop away damaged parts keeps the part of a photo that survived, and Sharpen and upscale and Fix colour and brightness can tidy up the rest. These run on your computer, are free, and save new copies named like “photo (enhanced).jpg”, so the recovered files stay as they were.
Restore with AI goes further. An AI model repairs fading and scratches, and can fill in a grey or garbled band with something that fits the rest of the picture. It uses credits, one per photo. See Restore with AI and what AI credits are.
Why overwritten parts can't be recovered
When new data is written over part of a file, the old data in that place is replaced. It is no longer on the card, so no recovery software can read it back. AI tools do not recover the lost part either: they fill the gap with a good guess. Treat the result as an edited copy and keep the original.
That is why the scan shows every file, with its label and a preview, before you pay, and why it helps to stop using a card as soon as files go missing.
If recovered files don't open
If files you recover after paying don't open, you can ask for your money back within 30 days. See refunds. For video, see a recovered video won't play.
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