Support & FAQ

Yes. Formatting only erases the directory structure, not the actual data. Sentry Recovery 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. Sentry Recovery 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 includes full scanning, preview, and 3 free recoveries with no time limit. Pro ($29) unlocks unlimited recoveries — a one-time purchase, no subscription.

No — and you don't need to risk it. We don't offer refunds or discounts. The free trial (full scan, preview, and 3 recoveries with no time limit) is there specifically so you can confirm Sentry Recovery recovers your footage before you pay. Because the $29 Pro 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. Sentry Recovery 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. All clips recorded after the update is installed are encrypted and can only be decrypted via Tesla's authenticated online viewer (dashcam.tesla.com); there is no offline path, and Sentry Recovery cannot currently recover them. Clips recorded before the update remain standard MP4 files and are fully recoverable. We strongly recommend disabling USB encryption in your Tesla's Dashcam settings if you want to keep the ability to recover footage: encryption protects clips from being read on another device, but removes the ability to recover them if the drive is formatted, corrupted, or deleted.

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 Sentry Recovery 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.