GoPro Video Damaged? Fix it with Simple Steps

The GoPro videos are gaining more popularity because of its ability to capture adventure videos on the go. Apart from this, you can also capture aerial visuals using the GoPro device like the Karma drone.  Professional stuntmen, photographers, and even sportsmen rely on GoPro cameras, as it can capture high definition 4K videos. This is very useful in tracking their performance and progress.

Accidents are quite common during an adventure or a sporting event. These GoPro cameras can get damaged during such incidents. In the worst-case scenario, the captured video can get corrupt or deleted from the storage drive. When such incidents happen, you need to know what has to be done to recover and fix the damaged videos on GoPro. Here are a few solutions and tips to help you fix corrupted GoPro videos and avoid any corruption in the future.

Why do GoPro Videos get Corrupted?

  • Interruptions while recording the video such as the insufficient charge in the battery, can turn off the camera. This can lead to unfinalized videos that cannot be played
  • Insufficient storage could again cause incomplete or unprocessed videos that are unplayable.
  • The use of an incompatible SD card would cause errors while recording the video. This can also lead to the corruption of the videos in the camera.  
  • If you have connected your GoPro cameras to an untrusted or a virus-infected computer, there are chances that the virus could have damaged the video
  • SD card that is damaged during a crash might have corrupted the existing videos within them

Apart from the listed reasons, your GoPro videos can get damage due to many other factors. Nevertheless, corrupted videos can still be fixed regardless of any reason. Here are a few troubleshooting steps that you need to follow to fix the videos.

Fix Corrupted GoPro Videos with SOS Feature.

SOS is an inbuilt utility in the GoPro camera that is specifically developed to fix damaged videos. This feature automatically scans the entire storage drive to find and fix the corrupted videos. When there a faulty video detected, you can see an SOS icon displayed on the LCD screen of your GoPro device. Press any button on the device to start fixing the corrupt GoPro videos. 

Not every time does the GoPro videos show SOS. At times you need to manually initiate this feature. To do this, you need to switch off the device and remove the SD card from it.

Now reinsert the card and turn on the device. Wait for a minute or two, for the device to detect the corrupted video. Once the SOS is displayed, press any button to repair the video.

Use a Data recovery tool to retrieve any lost videos during a crash.

In certain cases, the GoPro camera and its SD card could be severely damaged due to an accident. This could make it difficult for you to access the videos even after connecting the camera to the computer. But there is a solution, a professional recovery tool such as Remo Data Recovery Software that makes your task easy to recover the data from the GoPro SD card safely.

Make Use of GoPro Video Repair Tool

You cannot rely on SOS to fix the corruption all the time, especially if the video is severely damaged and showing symptoms such as muted audio, frozen or choppy video output, videos with audio sync issues, etc. However, a dedicated video repair tool can address any type of corruption and fixes the video regardless of the severity of corruption.

 Inculcate these Preventive Measures to Avoid GoPro Video Corruption

As they say, prevention is better than cure, it is always better to be on a safer side by avoiding corruption in the future. Here is a checklist that should follow to prevent GoPro video corruption.

Charge the battery completely: – Always charge the batteries to its fullest before recording the video. This way you can film lengthy videos without interruption and corruption.

Use SD cards that are recommended by GoPro: The GoPro cameras work efficiently with specific SD card brands. Make use of only the recommended SD cards to avoid the corruption of GoPro MP4 videos.

Clear the storage: frequently back up your videos and clear the storage. By clearing the SD card before recording, you can film more videos without interruption.

Format the SD card only in GoPro camera: Do not format the GoPro SD card on the computer. Due to compatibility issues, the videos might not get recorded at all. Hence, always format the SD card only after inserting it into the GoPro camera.

Always protect your GoPro cameras with a case: Using a case is highly recommended when recording adventurous videos. It will definitely protect your GoPro camera and its videos from any damage.

Final thoughts

Make sure you primarily follow the preventive tips to avoid GoPro MP4 video corruption. You can also try using the VLC media player to fix corruption. But it is still an unreliable method. The only best way is either by using the SOS feature or a professional tool as recommended in the above article.

Note: This guest post was written by Molly Owen, a media recovery and forensic specialist solving the worldly problems of file corruptions. With experience of restoring various media files like videos, she gained vast knowledge about media formats and cameras which she is never shy to write about. Loves photography and Technology.

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