SD card got un-formatted, have about 500 shots on the card. The shots aren't showing up on computer nor Snapbridge Can I fix this?

I have a Nikon d5600 and I wanted to download the photos to my phone via Snapbridge but the photos wouldn't show up on the app so I put the SD into my laptop and it says "looks like we don't support this file format". How can I fix this WITHOUT clearing the SD and deleting the photos?

That's not an OS message so it may just be a case of using the wrong software - try using Explorer if you're a Windows user or Finder (?) if it's a Mac. If that doesn't show anything you'll need to try a file recovery program such as Recuva (popular) or PC Inspector File Recovery (I think it's more powerful, but less intuitive) for Windows. I'm not a Mac user so I don't know what runs under OSX.

<edit>
For OSX, try Disk Drill.

Try Recuva.

Put it back in the nikon where it should be kept all of its life. And if you ever feel the ridiculous need to remove it, SLIDE ACROSS THE WRITE PROTECT so that no nasty stupid app won't try and corrupt it because it doesn't have support for the Filing Sytem it was formatted with. Once its back in the Nikon connect up the nikon to a pc using a USB cable and transfer the photos from the camera. Hopefully the card is still intact if it isn't then you need to really use the sdcard makers utilities but if you havnt got those Transcend's RecoverX should work fine(provided the card does mount properly). This can work with the card(PROTECTED by its Write Protect switch) when inserted into a pc. RecoverX will SCAN the data of the card contents and read that data and RECOMPOSE the data into FILES into a folder on the PC hard drive - so it does not FIX THE CARD. You can then put the card back in the camera and re-format it(although it may need low levelREPAIR first). NEVER EVER remove a SDCARD unless you have to and ALWAYS SLIDE ACROSS ITS WRITE PROTECT before inserting it anywhere else.

Agree with Iridflare. Using an external USB card reader is usually the best solution for transferring images from an SD card to your computer. Once in the card reader, use your computer's file search app (e.g. Windows Explorer) to copy the files from the card onto your computer. Once on your hard drive, you can then copy and paste them into a folder on your phone. After that, reinsert the card back into your camera and format the card. Then try to transfer a few test photos via Snapbridge. You could be just having connectivity issues with Snapbridge. Make sure that you're using the latest version of Nikon Snapbridge.

Cards do not become "unformatted." They can, however, become corrupt. Never format an SD card with anything other the exact camera that you plan on using it with.