RSV Rescue › Guides › What is an .RSV file?

What is an .RSV file?

A .RSV file is the temporary recording file a Sony camera writes while it’s filming. You normally never see it, because the camera turns it into an .MP4 the moment you press stop.

Why you have one

If recording ends without a proper stop, the camera can’t finish the file. The usual causes are:

• the battery dies or is pulled out while recording
• the memory card fills up
• the camera overheats and shuts down
• the card is removed, or the camera crashes or is dropped

The .RSV is left in PRIVATE/M4ROOT/CLIP/ on the card, usually with a size of several gigabytes.

Is my footage still inside?

Usually, yes. The picture and sound were written to the card as you filmed; only the final index is missing. That’s why a normal-sized .RSV can almost always be rebuilt. A .RSV that shows 0 bytes is different: see RSV file is 0 bytes.

Which cameras make .RSV files?

Sony cameras that record XAVC S, XAVC HS or XAVC S-I to an .MP4, such as the a7S III, FX3, FX30, a7 IV, a1, a7R V, a7C II, ZV-E1 and a6700. See Sony cameras and .RSV files.

How do I open it?

You can’t open it directly in a player or editor because the index is missing. It needs rebuilding first: how to recover a Sony .RSV file.

Try the free preview → Drop your .RSV and watch the first 15 seconds of your recovered clip before you pay anything.