Latent

Latent is a free photo and video recovery app for Mac and Windows, coming soon. It brings back RAW files, photos, video clips, audio and XMP sidecars that were deleted, lost to a quick format in camera, or left on a card the camera says is corrupt. It works on your own computer, with no account and no subscription, and you do not need a Meridian Photographers plan to use it.

Getting it

Latent is not out yet. When it is, open Products in the menu at the top of the Meridian Photographers website, choose Latent, and pick the version for your computer under Download. Until then, its buttons say Coming soon.

• Mac: macOS 11 or later, on Apple silicon and Intel.
• Windows: Windows 10 and 11.

Recovering a card

1. Stop using the card. Every new photo can overwrite one you want back.
2. Open Latent and choose the card. Only memory cards and external drives are listed. On a Mac, Latent asks for your password each time you open a card: this is Apple's own prompt, and it lets Latent read that one card. On Windows, Latent asks for administrator permission when it starts, because reading a card directly needs it.
3. Watch the files appear. Latent reads the card from start to end. Photos and clips show up as they are found, with previews, the camera and the date taken. The strip at the top shows where each file sits on the card.
4. Choose what to keep and click Recover. Pick a folder on your computer or another drive. Latent will not save onto the card it is recovering. Files are sorted into RAW Photos, Photos, Video, Audio and Sidecars, and each file's date is set to when it was taken.

Then open the recovered folder in Proofsheet to cull and edit the shoot.

How long a scan takes depends mostly on the card's size and your card reader.

Names and dates

Latent finds files by their structure rather than through the card's file system, which is why it still works after a delete or a quick format. Where a FAT32 or exFAT card still has a file's entry, Latent gives it back its original name and date. A deleted file on a FAT32 card can come back with the first letter of its name replaced by an underscore (_MG_0627.CR2): the card itself forgot that letter when the file was deleted. Files with no surviving entry are named from the date taken and the camera, where the file records them.

What Partial means

A file marked Partial was found, but its end could not be confirmed. This is most often a clip that was still recording when the battery went flat. Partial files are saved in a folder of their own, and a clip usually needs a video repair tool before it will play.

Why some files can't come back

No app can bring back data that is gone:

• Shot over. If the camera kept shooting after the delete or format, new files may have replaced old ones.
• Full format. A format that erases the whole card (some cameras offer it as a separate option) cannot be undone. A quick format usually leaves the photos in place.
• External SSDs. Many SSDs connected over USB or Thunderbolt erase deleted files themselves within seconds (TRIM). SD, CFexpress and CF cards and spinning hard drives do not.
• Deleted files in pieces. Cameras write each file in one piece, so this is rare on cards. It is more common on drives used for editing.

Formats

• RAW: Canon CR2 and CR3, Nikon NEF, Sony ARW, Fujifilm RAF, Adobe DNG (including DJI, GoPro, Leica and Pentax), OM System and Olympus ORF, Panasonic RW2, Pentax PEF, Samsung SRW, Hasselblad 3FR, Epson ERF, Kodak DCR, Mamiya MEF.
• Photos: JPEG, HEIC and HEIF, AVIF, PNG, TIFF, WebP, camera THM thumbnails.
• Video: MP4, MOV, Apple ProRes, AVCHD, MXF, AVI, 3GP, DJI, GoPro and Insta360 clips, Sony XAVC, Blackmagic RAW, Canon CRM, RED R3D.
• Audio: WAV, Broadcast WAV, RF64 and BW64, M4A.
• Sidecars: XMP, and LRF, LRV and THM proxies where the card still has their names.

Blackmagic RAW, RED R3D, Canon CRM and Sony XAVC are recognised by their structure but have not yet been tested with clips from real cameras. Panasonic RW2 files come back at an estimated length unless the card's folder still lists them.

What Latent never does

• It never writes to the card. Cards are opened read-only, and recovered files cannot be saved back onto the card being recovered. On a Mac, macOS itself may write small housekeeping files (for Spotlight, for example) to any card it has mounted; Latent never does.
• It never lists your computer's own disk. The disk your computer starts from never appears and cannot be opened. On some Windows PCs whose settings mark internal disks as hot-pluggable, a second internal data disk can appear in the list; it is opened read-only like a card.
• It makes no network connections, and needs no account.

Privacy

Latent works only on your computer. It sends nothing to us or anyone else, and we never receive anything about your cards or the files you recover. On a Windows PC that does not have Microsoft's WebView2 yet (Windows 11 and up-to-date Windows 10 do), the installer downloads it from Microsoft. See our privacy notice. Latent's licence and the open-source software it uses are listed in the app, under About.

Something not working?

Raise a ticket and say which computer you are using, which kind of card or drive, and what Latent showed.