Can't play .mp4 video recovered from my iPhone 5

Hey, I was wondering if anyone could help me out with recovering a deleted file from my phone.
Yesterday I recorded this 3-minute video (around 270MB), but then I deleted it right away. My plan was to try and pull it back onto my computer using stuff like EaseUS, Recuva, Stellar Data Recovery, or even R-Studio and some other recovery tools. I mostly managed to get the video back from the microSD card onto my PC, but whenever I try to play it, players like VLC or BSPlayer just throw an error. It says something like "error occurred" or that the input format isn't recognized, even though I think all my codecs are up to date.

Does anyone know how I can actually bring this MP4 file back to life? I've tried a few different MP4 repair apps, but nothing seems to be working so far (the video was shot on an iPhone 5).

Any advice or ideas?

Maybe give a video editor like HandBrake a shot http://www.virtualdub.org/.

Personally, I feel like there's not much to be done—recovering files after they've been deleted is always a bit of a gamble, I guess.

You just listed seven different recovery programs and then ended with "etc..."
It’s a long shot getting anything back to a functional state like that. Usually, the more you "mess around" with that specific area of the memory, the lower your chances of success become...

What happened? Did you record something for a little girl, she made you delete it, and now you're trying to undo the damage?

Yeah, I've tried all those programs plus maybe a few others, so probably around 10 total. It looks like the video is just gone for good. I think some new data probably overwrote it, so yeah, nothing's working. I've tried a ton of stuff, but it's been useless; there's zero trace left of the video or audio files

Nah, I was just filming some idiots at work doing stupid stuff...

William Morris13 said:You mentioned using 7 different recovery programs here...
It’s going to be pretty tough to get anything working properly now. I guess the more you "try" things on that specific part of the memory, the lower your chances of success actually become.

What happened, did you film your girlfriend and then she made you delete it in front of her, and now you want it back?

I'm mostly joking here, but honestly... if you've accidentally deleted a file—especially a big one—you really need to stop using that drive immediately. Like, right now. Don't even browse files. Just leave it alone until you attempt a recovery. Even basic usage can overwrite the data you're trying to save. Technically, the file isn't actually gone; the OS just lost the "map" to find it. This means the system sees that space as empty and will start writing new stuff right over your old data. You might get lucky with tiny files, but with anything substantial? It's probably toast. Just a heads-up for next time.

Best, William Morris13

Yeah, you're totally right, William Morris13... everything makes sense now. I kept messing around with that dead mp4 file and actually stumbled onto this Video repair tool (http://www.videohelp.com/software/Video-Repair-Tool). It works by comparing a healthy mp4 against the broken one, and I managed to pull back about 50% of the video. You have to buy the software for the rest, but the full version is over at https://piratebay.to/torrent/1749001...%20+%20Keygen/ if anyone needs it... Thanks!

William Morris13 said:I'm just messing with you, but seriously, if you want to recover a file—especially a big one—once you delete it, you really shouldn't use that drive for anything else until you try a recovery. Even just basic use can wreck it. Since the file itself wasn't technically deleted, just the "path" to it was, the OS might overwrite it if it needs to write something new. You might get lucky with smaller files, but for something like this, it's usually toast. Just a heads up for next time.

Later. William Morris13