The battery died mid-clip.
Now the file won't play. Repair rebuilds clips and photos that won't open, using one good file from the same camera, and shows you the result before you pay. It also joins recordings your camera split into pieces, and rescues the picture from RAW photos.
Or get all five apps in the Suite for $129.
It looks useless, but the video or photo is almost always still inside it. Copy it off the card before you use the camera again, and copy one clip or photo that does open, shot on the same camera.
How it works
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Download Repair
Free to download and preview repairs. Open the file and drag Repair into Applications. Needs macOS 14 or later.
Download Repair -
Drop in the broken files
Add the clips and photos that won't open, plus one that does from the same camera. A whole folder works too. Repair figures out which good file goes with which broken one, and spots recordings the camera split into several files.
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Check the preview
Each file is repaired and shown to you right away: the first 15 seconds of a clip, or the whole photo at reduced size. If it didn't work for your file, you'll know before paying.
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Save full-quality copies
Buy a license and save the repaired files wherever you like. Repair never changes the originals.
What it fixes
Clips that won't open
The camera stopped before writing the file's index. Repair rebuilds it from a good clip.
Clips cut short
The index is there but the end of the video isn't. Repair trims the clip to what was saved.
Photos cut short
Shows the part that was saved, with the rest in gray, in apps that refused to open it.
Photos that won't open
A damaged header is rebuilt from a good photo, and the picture itself comes back intact.
Recordings split in pieces
GoPro and DJI cameras cut long recordings into 4 GB files. Repair joins them back into one clip without re-encoding, keeping the date, GPS and telemetry.
RAW photos that won't open
Saves the picture the camera stored inside the RAW file, with its date and settings. Most Canon, Nikon and Pentax cameras store it at full size.
Video formats
MP4 MOV M4V with H.264 or HEVC video
Photo formats
JPEG, and the picture inside CR2 CR3 NEF ARW DNG RAF ORF RW2
How it compares
Most repair tools are subscriptions that cover dozens of formats. Repair covers the camera formats most people shoot, on a Mac, for one price.
| Shutterkit Repair | Stellar Repair for Video | Repairit | untrunc | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $39 one-time | From $49.99/yr; lifetime from $89.99 | $69.99 perpetual (video only), or $49.99/yr | Free |
| Try before buying | Preview the repaired clip free | Preview up to 20% | Preview part; saving needs a paid plan | Free |
| Uses a good file from the same camera | Yes, matched automatically | Yes | Yes | Yes, chosen by hand |
| Several files at once | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not listed |
| JPEG photo repair | Included | Higher tiers only | Full toolkit only | No |
| Sound | Uncompressed (PCM) recovered; AAC reported | Audio sync fixes | Lists "no audio" fixes | Uncompressed (PCM) |
| Video formats | MP4, MOV, M4V with H.264 or HEVC | Many, incl. AVI, MKV, MTS | Many, incl. MXF, BRAW, R3D | MP4, MOV, M4V, 3GP |
| Computers per license | 3 Macs | 1 | Not listed | Any |
| Interface | Mac app | App | App, or upload online | Command line (build it yourself on Mac) |
From each company's website on October 7, 2026, in US dollars. Several of them show sale prices against higher list prices, and those change often. "Not listed" means we couldn't find it on their product pages, not that it's impossible. Spot something out of date? Tell us and we'll fix it.
Questions
Why does it need a good file from the same camera?
A clip that won't open has lost its index, the part that says where each frame is and how to decode it. A working clip from the same camera, recorded at the same resolution and frame rate, has an index Repair can learn from. Photos work the same way: a good photo supplies the decoding tables a damaged one lost.
Will I get the sound back?
If your camera records uncompressed sound, as many mirrorless and cinema cameras can, yes. Most phones, drones and action cameras compress sound as AAC, and without the index there's no reliable way to rebuild it. Repair brings back the video and tells you plainly that the sound couldn't be recovered.
Does it work with my camera?
Repair works with clips that store H.264 or HEVC video in MP4 or MOV files, which covers most phones, mirrorless cameras, drones, action cameras and dashcams. The free preview shows whether it worked on your clip before you spend anything.
Will it change my original file?
No. Repair only reads the files you add and saves repaired copies with "(repaired)" in the name.
My GoPro or DJI recording is split into several files. Can Repair join them?
Yes. Cameras split long recordings to stay under the 4 GB file limit of most cards, so a 20-minute GoPro clip arrives as GX010123, GX020123 and so on. Repair spots the pieces by their names, shows you a preview across the join, and saves one clip. The frames and sound are copied as they are, with no re-encoding, and the recording date, GPS and telemetry are kept. For other cameras, choose File ▸ Join Clips and pick the pieces.
Can it fix a RAW photo that won't open?
It can save the picture inside it. Cameras store a JPEG in every RAW file for their own screen, and it usually survives when the RAW data is damaged. Its size depends on the camera: most Canon, Nikon and Pentax models store it at full size; Fujifilm and Olympus somewhat smaller; Sony, Panasonic and DJI drones much smaller (Sony's is about 1,600 pixels wide). Repair copies it out unchanged, with the date and camera settings. It's the camera's processed picture rather than the RAW data, so it can't be edited like a RAW file.
What can't it fix?
Video or photo data that was never written or has been overwritten is gone, and no software can bring it back. Repair doesn't handle ProRes or RAW video. For RAW photos it saves the picture the camera stored inside the file, not the RAW data itself, so white balance and exposure can't be adjusted the way they can with RAW.
I got a file back with Shutterkit Recover and it won't play.
That's a common case. A clip that was being recorded when the card filled up or the camera died often comes back from Recover without its index. Add it to Repair along with a good clip from the same camera.
See your repaired file for free.
Pay $39 only if the preview shows what you were hoping for. One license covers three Macs.
macOS 14 Sonoma or later. Apple silicon and Intel.