Support & FAQ

Yes. Formatting only erases the directory structure, not the actual data. ClipSalvage scans the raw data on the drive to locate and reconstruct your video files.

Minutes, not hours. Cluster-aligned scanning checks only at filesystem boundaries, resulting in approximately 131,000 times fewer comparisons than a byte-by-byte scan.

A 0–100 score based on 7 factors: MP4 header validity, video data presence, metadata integrity, timestamp consistency, file size plausibility, cluster alignment, and Tesla camera dimensions.

No. ClipSalvage operates in read-only mode and never writes to your source drive. Optional disk imaging creates a safe copy you can work from instead.

Every position, on both Tesla hardware generations. AI4/HW4 cars (2023+) record 6 — Front, Back, Left Repeater, Right Repeater, Left Pillar, and Right Pillar; AI3/HW3 cars (pre-2023) record 4 — Front, Back, Left Repeater, and Right Repeater (no pillar cameras). When the original Tesla filename survives on the drive, the camera is read from that directly. When the filename has been overwritten, an on-device AI vision model identifies the camera from the clip's thumbnail — AI-labelled clips are badged in the preview so you can tell filesystem-recovered from model-predicted.

The free trial has no time limit. It scans your entire drive, previews every clip (encrypted included) with 0–100 recoverability scores, recovers up to 3 clips, and decrypts up to 30 encrypted clips at no cost. Decrypt ($9.99) unlocks batch decrypting and export of encrypted (2026.20+) clips; Pro ($29) unlocks that plus unlimited recovery of deleted and formatted clips — each a one-time purchase, no subscription.

Decrypt handles encrypted clips; Pro adds full recovery. ClipSalvage Decrypt ($9.99) gives you batch decrypting and export of encrypted (2026.20+) Tesla clips — for footage that's still on the drive but locked by encryption; deleted-clip recovery stays at the free tier's 3 clips. ClipSalvage Pro ($29) includes everything: unlimited recovery of deleted and formatted clips plus batch decryption and export. Both are one-time purchases.

In the app, tap "Upgrade to ClipSalvage Pro — $19.99". It opens the upgrade page, where you verify your purchase email and activation code, then pay a one-time $19.99 — the checkout is bound to your existing license. Your activation code never changes; Pro switches on for the code you already have.

Enter your purchase email and activation code. For a new purchase, activate with the email you bought with and the SR-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX code from your confirmation email. After an upgrade, click "I've upgraded — refresh my license" in the app — or re-enter your email and code; either way it's the same code, and even if you do nothing the app's automatic weekly license check picks it up within about 7 days.

No — and you don't need to risk it. We don't offer refunds or discounts. The free trial (full scan, preview of every clip including encrypted ones, 3 recoveries, and 30 encrypted-clip decryptions, with no time limit) is there specifically so you can confirm ClipSalvage recovers your footage before you pay. Because every license unlocks immediately on purchase, all sales are final. EU customers: by completing your purchase you give express consent to immediate delivery and acknowledge you thereby lose the 14-day right of withdrawal (Art. 16(m), Directive 2011/83/EU).

100% local processing. No data leaves your computer. ClipSalvage does not require an internet connection to scan or recover files.

macOS (Apple Silicon) and Windows 10/11 (64-bit) — native builds for both Windows x64 (Intel/AMD) and Windows Arm64 (Snapdragon X / Copilot+ PCs).

Yes — Tesla vehicle software 2026.20 enables USB clip encryption by default: every clip recorded after the update installs is a per-file encrypted container rather than a plain MP4, and the decryption keys are sealed to your vehicle — so a clip recovered by an ordinary tool comes back as an unplayable encrypted blob. ClipSalvage v2.20.0+ recovers and decrypts them. It finds encrypted clips on the drive, previews every one for free (decryption runs in memory, so you see a real thumbnail and each clip's true recoverability before paying), and after a one-time in-app Tesla sign-in to fetch your keys it decrypts, repairs, and exports them as playable MP4s — fully offline from then on. Clips recorded before the update remain standard MP4 files and are fully recoverable as always.

Only once — and only for encrypted (2026.20+) clips. The one-time in-app Tesla sign-in fetches the decryption keys for your own clips from Tesla. The keys are stored locally, so re-scans and future exports need no internet and no repeat logins. All recovery and decryption run entirely on your machine — nothing is uploaded. The login window is Tesla's own: your email and password go straight to Tesla — ClipSalvage receives only the resulting access token, holds it in memory, and never saves it to disk.

Your Pro license is a one-time purchase and is perpetual — there is no subscription and you will never be charged again. The "renewal date" shown in the app is not a billing date. It's part of the software's license-protection mechanism: the app carries a short-lived, digitally-signed license token that it quietly re-verifies with our server whenever your computer is online (about once a week). That's what stops a single purchase from being copied onto unlimited machines. You don't have to do anything — re-verification is automatic and silent while you're online, and the date simply rolls forward each time. You can also use ClipSalvage fully offline for about two months (a 14-day token plus a 60-day grace period); after about two weeks offline the app shows a gentle "reconnect" reminder, but nothing stops working. Only if a machine stays offline past the grace window will it ask you to reconnect once and re-activate with your existing code — still free, no new purchase. Scanning and recovery never need the internet and are always 100% local. The periodic check is only for the license token.