It can be heartbreaking when you've captured incredible GoPro or action cam footage, only to find those precious videos are suddenly corrupted and won't play back properly. Perhaps the video freezes, skips, has glitches or is entirely unreadable. Corruption usually happens due to some error during recording, transfer or processing.
While corrupted videos may seem unrecoverable, there are ways to restore and repair your files with the right tools. In this guide, we’ll look at the common causes of corrupt GoPro/action cam videos and review various methods to salvage your invaluable footage.
Causes of Corrupted Videos
There are a few common scenarios that typically lead to corrupted GoPro and action cam videos:
- Using a faulty, damaged or low-quality memory card that cannot properly store video data.
- Improperly disconnecting the camera during video transfer, interrupting the file write process.
- Losing power to the camera during recording, resulting in partial video files.
- Bugs, crashes or errors in the camera firmware interrupting recording.
Before attempting recovery, stop recording to the affected memory card to avoid overwriting and further damaging corrupted videos. Also try viewing the corrupt videos directly on the camera - some may have partially intact segments you can isolate and extract later.
Recovery Methods
1. Use the GoPro Quik app
The free Quik app from GoPro has a handy video repair tool that can fix corrupted files from GoPro cameras. Simply connect your GoPro to your smartphone, import the corrupt videos to Quik, and use the "Repair" option.
2. Employ video recovery software
Specialized video recovery software like ONERECOVERY has advanced recovery algorithms designed to restore corrupted video files from GoPros and other devices. It use advanced scanning algorithms to find and rebuild damaged video data. This works even if the videos are not recognized by your computer. It works for most video file formats like MP4, MOV and AVCHD from cameras and camcorders. Steps to recover deleted or lost video using ONERECOVERY:
- Download and install ONERECOVERY
- Select a location to scan
- Preview recoverable data and start data recovery
- Save recovered video to another location
Only with simple steps can you recover ultra HD 4k/8k video files. This all-in-one software can recover data from usb drive, hard drive, SD card, digital camera and more. Whether it’s deleted, lost, corrupted or formatted, this video recovery software has got you covered! Visit the website for more details!
3. Try online video repair tools
For minor video corruption, an online repair tool may be able to fix the files. GoPro's own video repair service offers a free corruption check and reasonable repair rates if possible.
4. Send to a data recovery pro
For severe corruption from major damage, you may need professional-grade data recovery to reconstruct the videos. This option costs more but offers the best chance for unreadable files.
Video Recovery Tips
- If a video has partially intact segments, try extracting and saving just those portions.
- Always use brand name memory cards and properly eject them to prevent corruption issues.
- Regularly backup videos instead of solely relying on recovery if corruption strikes.
Conclusion
While the causes vary, it is possible to recover and repair corrupted GoPro or action cam videos using specialized software tools, apps, and even professional services when needed. The key is avoiding further damage and using the right method for the corruption type.
With the techniques in this guide, you can rescue those cherished memories - even from the most stubborn corruption. Just stay calm, stop recording, and let the recovery begin!