Troubleshoot | SD Card is Blank or Has Unsupported File Systems

Why does my SD card says blank or unsupported files?

SD cards have gradually become one of the most preferred storage media to save and transfer data among smartphones and laptops. However, if you receive the above error message, which suggests there’s something wrong with your SD card.

RAW file systems, bad sectors, logical damage, improper SD card usage, and virus infection also are responsible for this error message.

How do I fix my SD card blank or has unsupported file systems?

There’re six feasible fixes for your reference to fix the SD card is blank or has unsupported file systems.

Fix 1. Restart the device

The easiest way is to reboot the device first. Rebooting the device will solve most of the problems and may also fix the SD card blank.

» Please turn off the device > reboot the device and see if the SD card starts working.

Fix 2. Show hidden files, folders, and drivers

If you’ve inserted the SD card into another device, you may have left some hidden files on the SD card. This could be incompatible with the current system. To fix this problem, please check and delete these hidden files via the following steps.

Step 1. Type “Control Panel” in the search bar to open it. Then go to Appearance and Personalization.

Step 2. Under the Folder Options tab, select the “Show hidden files and folders” option.

Step 3. Tick Show hidden files, folders, and drivers and click “Apply” to save these changes.

Step 4. If there’re hidden files, please remove them from your SD card.

Fix 3. Run CHKDSK on SD cards

If there exist bad sectors on your SD card, it also may become blank or has unsupported file systems. Please run CHKDSK with /f, /r, /x, or /b parameters to repair errors on the volume because CHKDSK can only display the volume status and cannot fix any errors. Then you can perform SD card recovery.

Step 1. Connect your SD card to the Windows via the SD card reader. Then type “cmd” in the search bar and select “Run as administrator” to open the window.

Step 2. Type “chkdsk F: /f /r /x” in the command prompt window. Please remember to replace F with the real drive letter of your SD card.

Please wait to see this notice: Windows has made corrections to the file system.

Fix 4. Run the Disk Check utility

If your SD card is blank or has unsupported file system, you can also run the Windows Disk Check utility to scan and repair errors on your SD card.

Step 1. Connect the SD card to your Windows PC. Open This PC or My Computer and right-click on your connected SD card > select Properties.

Step 2. Under the Tools tab, click the “Check” button.

Step 3. Click the “Repair drive” button.

Fix 5. Run a full scan to remove detected viruses and malware

Malware or virus is also blamed for this issue. So you can make good use of Windows Settings to remove ransomware viruses and protect your PC.

Because Windows Settings constantly scans for malware, viruses, and security risks. In addition to this real-time protection, updates are automatically downloaded to keep your device safe and secure from threats. After that, you can perform blank SD card recovery.

Step 1. Press “Win + I” to open Windows Settings and go to Update > Security > Windows Security > Virus & threat protection.

Step 2. Click the “Scan options” button.

Step 3. Select “Full scan” and click “Scan now” to begin scanning.

Fix 6. Format the SD card via Disk Management

If the above fixes are useless, you can format the SD card via Disk Management because this Windows system tool is good at executing advanced storage tasks. Disk Management also can help you recover hidden partitions in Windows 7, 8, 10, or 11 PCs.  

Step 1. Connect your SD card to the Windows. Then press “Win + X” and select “Disk Management” to open this utility.

Step 2. Right-click on your SD card and click the “Format” button.

Step 3. Select the NTFS file system and click “OK” to save your changes.

Step 1. After running this free demo on your Windows PC, right-click on your selected SD card and select the “Format Partition” option.

Step 2. Select the FAT32 file system and click the “OK” button.

Please click “Apply” to save these changes and wait patiently.

Further reading: Recover data from RAW SD cards directly

If you receive the error message: SD card blank or has unsupported file system, which implies your SD card becomes RAW because these are the signs of RAW drives.

Please remember not to format your SD card if it saves important files. After disk formatting, all the existing data on your SD card will be wiped out.

“So how can I recover data from my RAW SD card for free?” At the moment, there’ll be no better way than using professional data recovery software like MyRecover.

Supported by AOMEI Tech, MyRecover can help you recover deleted & lost files from RAW and healthy SD cards and other local storage devices.   

★Key features of MyRecover:

All-inclusive: Apply to a variety of data loss scenarios such as deletion, disk formatting, system crashes, or virus attacks.

High-efficiency: Recover 200+ types of files such as MS Office and WPS files, folders, compressed files, photos, audio, songs, videos, websites, etc.

Advanced scanning method: MyRecover runs Quick Scan & Deep Scan automatically to search all the recoverable files. Specify the filename, saved path, date, or size to filter your needed files.   

Convenience: Retain the original filename, path, and format for the deleted files.

Excellent compatibility: Support NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, and ReFS file systems.

Don’t hesitate to download MyRecover on your Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, or Server PC!

Step 1. Connect the SD card to your Windows. After launching MyRecover, hover the mouse over your connected SD card and click Scan.

Step 2. Filter your needed data according to Name, Date, Document Type, or Path.

• Name: Type the filenames of your desired files to narrow the search area.
• Date modified: Set the date (today, yesterday, last 7/30 days, and so on) according to your situation.
• Size: Filter the file size (<128KB, 128KB~1MB, 1MB~ 512MB, etc) based on your needs.

Step 3. Go to the Deleted Files/Recycle Bin/Other Missing Files folder and select the data you want. Then click “Recover x files” to begin the SD card data recovery process.

Notes:✎...

After recovery, you’d better store these retrieved files in another partition instead of the original SD card.   

Upgrading MyRecover to the Professional or Technician edition is a more cost-effective solution if you need a large number of deleted and missing files from SD cards or other local drives.

Wrapping up

The SD card is blank or has unsupported file system! At this point, how to recover data from RAW SD cards? Please get the corresponding ways from the above content.

Moreover, if you don’t want to suffer the second damage, you’d better make regular backups via this free Windows backup software, AOMEI Backupper.