How to recover deleted photos with EXIF ​​metadata

Losing data is a pain, but once you have recovered the lost data, categorizing them is more "painful" because it takes time. If you delete random partitions on your computer hard drive, data will be lost and you will have hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of images to filter.

Now, you can only start from scratch. However, you have gathered a personal image archive but have not been backed up or synced to the cloud, this is when you need to roll up your sleeves and do it.

But is it as bad as you think? Fortunately, thanks to EXIF ​​metadata stored in the image file, you can arrange all the recovered and searched images relatively quickly.

You have recovered the data, so what is the next step?

You have discovered your error and used some tools like Piriform Recuva, PhotoRec or any data recovery solution to find lost images on your hard drive.

1. Recover deleted data with Recuva Portable in Windows 7
2. Instructions for finding and recovering deleted data

Computer hard drives may still be active, or almost 'dead'. You can use an external storage device or recordable DVD to recover them. (If not, you will overwrite the data before it is restored).

See the directory you have restored the data to. Due to the 'indiscriminate nature' of the data recovery tool, you will usually receive additional 'uninvited' data. There is no effective solution for this, many people have to delete each data so you have to focus on the image files you want to keep.

Two basic steps to organize data:

1. Organize data by type.
2. Delete internet graphics / temporary applications.

We will go into details.

1. Classify recovered data

With lots of images to categorize, you need to reorganize the restored data.

First, sort by file type in Windows File Explorer. You can do this by switching to the Detals view (via the View tab ) , then left-clicking on the Type column. Depending on the speed of the computer, this will take some time to arrange, so be patient.

Next, create a new folder for each type of image file: JPG / JPEG, NG, GIFs, etc. Make sure this folder is saved in external (or secondary) memory.

Once completed, left-click + Shift to select a series of images from the list of recovered files. Select, cut and paste images into the appropriate folder. Repeat this step for all types of images.

Images have been sorted by type, but you should also classify them by year. Repeat the steps above, this time creating a subfolder, labeled by year. Arrange the restored images in File Explorer according to the data, and select a series, cut and paste into the appropriate folder.

2. Delete browser temporary files

You need to consider deleting or skipping image files because most are the temporary internet files of your browser.

As a general rule, digital photo capacity will often grow to 250 KB - a quarter of a megabyte, quite light in size. This means that most files smaller than this file can be deleted. This is images from the web and other applications.

Simply put these files in size, select the batch and hold down the Shift key when deleting to permanently delete these files.

If you just click Delete in the normal way, the data will be put into the Recycle Bin and be able to overwrite the data you want to recover.

End the data organization, consider the metadata of the image.

So what is metadata?

In short, metadata is information about your information. Metadata is linked to a public profile for the purpose of tracking, for example where you live, where you shop, what you like.

When it comes to photos, metadata will be information about how to create files, camera settings, file types / compression types, and manufacturer information and camera models. This data is stored in EXIF ​​format.

Metadata can help you thoroughly understand recovered images on the system, filter web images and help identify the images you need.

How does metadata recover photos?

Normally, you will not see metadata in File Explorer, but can display it. With the folder in Details view, right-click on the column header, then select More . Here, you will choose additional options.

These options include file sizes and dates related to file creation and modification, information ("metadata") related to file creation. In the case of image files, you can select Camera maker and Camera model to mark the photos you take. This makes it instantly easy to distinguish between temporary Internet images and other graphics.

With a large number of images collected at one address using free data recovery software, you can recognize the names of digital or smartphone cameras on the list and even about Sort the list according to this information.

All you need to do now is select the image, and copy it to a new address. Unwanted photos and graphics can be deleted, and the recovery of personal images is restored!

Must remember to always back up photos!

Restoring photos is always the last resort. If your data is regularly backed up on an external drive and / or synced to a cloud account, the steps above are not necessary.

However, if recovery is your only option, then with metadata, restoring photos will save hours if not daily.