Why is the bottom of my photo grey?

Because the photo's data stops, or is damaged, at that point. A JPEG is stored from the top down, so a viewer draws everything up to the damage and fills the rest with grey. The data for the grey part is not in the file - it was lost on the card or in recovery - so it cannot be drawn back. What can be done: save the part that came through, cropped; or use the preview the camera stored inside the photo, which is smaller but often whole.

My recovered photos will not open at all. Can they be fixed?

Often, when the picture data is there but the file's first part was lost or belongs to another file - common with recovery programs. Add a photo that opens normally, taken with the same camera at the same size and quality: its header is the same as the lost one, so it is put in front of the damaged photo's data. If the damage also took the start of the picture data, there is no telling where the rest belongs, and the page says so.

What is the preview inside a photo?

Cameras and phones store a small copy of each photo inside the file, for showing on their own screen and in file browsers: a thumbnail of about 160 × 120, and on many cameras a larger preview of up to 1920 × 1080. It sits apart from the main picture, so it is often undamaged when the photo is not. It is smaller, but it is the whole picture.

Can it fix RAW files or other formats?

This page repairs JPEG photos. Most RAW files - CR2, NEF, ARW, DNG - also hold a full-size JPEG preview; the RAW file opener opens them. For a damaged video, use Video Repair.

Do my damaged photos leave my computer?

No. They are read and repaired by your browser, on your own computer, which matters for personal photos.

Stays on your computer How this works

Repair a damaged or half-grey photo

Photos back from a recovery program or a failing card often come out grey from part way down, cut off, or will not open at all. See what can be saved - the part that came through, the preview the camera kept inside the photo, or the whole photo rebuilt with the header of a good one. Nothing is uploaded.

Drag & drop the damaged photos here, or browse

.jpg · .jpeg · as many as you like · nothing is uploaded

About repairing damaged photos

A JPEG photo is a short header - which says how the picture was compressed - followed by the picture itself, stored as one long stream from the top down. When a card fails, a file is only partly recovered, or a copy stops part way, the stream breaks off or is damaged: everything above the damage still draws, and everything below comes out grey, as a flat colour, or not at all. Recovery programs often hand back a file whose first part belongs to something else, so it will not open even though the rest of the photo is there.

This page shows what can still be saved, as pictures you can compare before saving: the part of the photo that came through, cropped to leave out the grey; the smaller copies a camera keeps inside every photo, which are often whole when the main picture is not; and, when the header is what was lost, the whole photo rebuilt with the header of another photo from the same camera. It is free to use, with no account and no upload limit, and it runs entirely in your browser: nothing is uploaded, and while the page stays open, a feature you have already used keeps working offline.

What you can do

See how much of each damaged photo is really there, and save that part without the grey
Get back the preview a camera or phone keeps inside each photo - up to full HD on many cameras - when the photo itself is damaged
Rebuild photos that will not open because their header was lost or overwritten, using a good photo from the same camera
Repair many photos at once, such as everything a recovery program found, and save the best result of each

How to repair a damaged photo

Drop the damaged photos on the box above.
If some will not open, choose a good photo taken with the same camera at the same settings.
Compare what can be saved for each photo, and save the one you want - or the best of each at once.

Questions

Why is the bottom of my photo grey?: Because the photo's data stops, or is damaged, at that point. A JPEG is stored from the top down, so a viewer draws everything up to the damage and fills the rest with grey. The data for the grey part is not in the file - it was lost on the card or in recovery - so it cannot be drawn back. What can be done: save the part that came through, cropped; or use the preview the camera stored inside the photo, which is smaller but often whole.
My recovered photos will not open at all. Can they be fixed?: Often, when the picture data is there but the file's first part was lost or belongs to another file - common with recovery programs. Add a photo that opens normally, taken with the same camera at the same size and quality: its header is the same as the lost one, so it is put in front of the damaged photo's data. If the damage also took the start of the picture data, there is no telling where the rest belongs, and the page says so.
What is the preview inside a photo?: Cameras and phones store a small copy of each photo inside the file, for showing on their own screen and in file browsers: a thumbnail of about 160 × 120, and on many cameras a larger preview of up to 1920 × 1080. It sits apart from the main picture, so it is often undamaged when the photo is not. It is smaller, but it is the whole picture.
Can it fix RAW files or other formats?: This page repairs JPEG photos. Most RAW files - CR2, NEF, ARW, DNG - also hold a full-size JPEG preview; the RAW file opener opens them. For a damaged video, use Video Repair.
Do my damaged photos leave my computer?: No. They are read and repaired by your browser, on your own computer, which matters for personal photos.