Digital cameras provide two ways of deleting images from the memory card: formatting or erasing. Often time users are unfamiliar that these two even exist. In this months tip we will demystify the difference between the two, and the importance of both.

Erasing images from a memory card

When images are erased from a memory card, either individually or all at once, space becomes available for more photos. Erasing deletes image and video files, but not other data on the card. It will not remove images that have been protected.

Formatting a memory card

Regularly format a memory card to help prevent it from becoming corrupted. Formatting, also know as initializing, overwrites everything on the card, including protected images, directories and camera data. This sets up new folders and data on the card. To help ensure the integrity of the folders and data, it's important to format the card using your camera and not the computer!

Format a card only after transferring photos to a hard drive or other storage device.

For most digital cameras, erase images or format cards via a menu in Playback Mode. Check your manual for specifics, or give us a call if you need help.

Deleted but not necessarily gone

When a card is formatted, files can still be recovered until they are overwritten. If you've formatted your card and think you've lost your images forever...let us know we can recover most images from memory cards.