Why does my video file show 0 bytes?

A 0-byte file means the file's name was saved but its contents were not: the copy, transfer or recording was interrupted before the data was written, or the file system's record of the file was damaged. The 0-byte copy itself is empty, but the original video data is often still on the source card or drive.

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Video file shows 0 bytes or won’t open after copying?

Q: Can a 0 KB video file be repaired?

The 0 KB file itself can't be repaired because it contains no video. What can be recovered is the original data, which is often still on the card or drive the video came from, as long as nothing has been recorded over it.

You copied videos off a camera, phone or card, and one of them shows 0 KB, or has a normal size but won’t play. The file you’re looking at may be empty or broken, but the original video is often still sitting on the card or drive it came from.

The short answer. A 0-byte file has no video inside it, so there’s nothing in it to repair. Go back to the source: the SD card, camera or USB stick. Stop using it, and scan it with recovery software that reads the card directly. If you already deleted the originals, they’re usually still recoverable from there too.

Why videos end up as 0 bytes

The copy was interrupted. The cable came loose, the phone locked, or the PC went to sleep mid-transfer. Windows created the file’s name, but the contents never arrived.
The recording was interrupted. The battery died or the card was pulled while the camera was still recording. The file was started but never properly closed.
The card’s file list is damaged. The file system says the file is empty even though the video data is still on the card.
Sync or cloud apps. Some apps create placeholders that show 0 bytes until the video downloads. Check the app before assuming the worst.

If the file has a size but won’t play

When a video has a normal size but players say it’s corrupt, or show errors like “moov atom not found” or 0xc00d36c4, the video data is usually there but its index is missing or damaged. That’s a different problem with its own fix: see “moov atom not found”: fixing a video that won’t play.

Getting the original back

Stop using the source card or drive. Don’t record on it, delete from it or format it. If you already formatted it in the camera, that’s usually still fine.
Connect it to a Windows 10 or 11 PC. For cards, use a card reader instead of the camera’s USB cable.
Download Keepsake and open it, then pick the card or drive. It only reads from it and never writes.
Scan. Keepsake finds videos by their own index rather than by file names, so it doesn’t matter that the file list says the file is empty. Each video gets a score showing how much of it is intact.
Preview for free and save the ones you want to a different drive. A license is $49 once.

If the recording itself was cut off by a dead battery, the video may have no index at all. Keepsake can still rebuild those from the raw frames for common formats (H.264, HEVC and MPEG-4), though they may have no sound. See GoPro video corrupted after the battery died?

Questions

Can a 0 KB video file be repaired?

Not the 0 KB file itself, because it holds no video. What can be recovered is the original data on the card or drive the video came from.

I deleted the videos from the card after copying. Too late?

Usually not. Deleting only removes the card’s list of files. As long as nothing new was recorded on it, the videos are still there.

The source was a phone. Can I scan it?

Not its internal storage, which is encrypted. If the phone saved videos to a removable SD card, scan the card.

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