Fixed: SD Card is Blank or Has Unsupported File Systems (6 Ways)

Why does my SD card say 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.

The possible reasons may be RAW file systems, bad sectors, logical damage, improper SD card usage, virus infection, etc. Don't worry too much, there are many ways to fix the "SD card is blank or has unsupported file system" error. We'll show you the steps in the next part.

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 Security to remove ransomware viruses and malware as it constantly scans for malware, viruses, and security risks. Also, it will automatically download updates to keep your device safe and secure.

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. It can also recover hidden partitions in Windows 7, 8, 10, or 11.

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.

How to recover lost data from SD cards efficiently

AOMEI FastRecovery, designed by AOMEI, the leading benchmark of the data security industry, integrates two advanced scanning technologies Quick Scan & Deep Scan to thoroughly scan different types of SD cards, whether it's healthy, damaged, formatted, or RAW, and analyze and classify the data.

It's easy to use and has more flexible recovery options, making this process smoother.

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• Storage compatibility: Support cards formatted in NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, and ReFS file systems and compatible with Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, or servers.
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Now, click the download button to get started.

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

Step 2. It will automatically scan, analyze, and classify the data. You can easily find them in Deleted Files/Recycle Bin/Other Missing Files folder. Or attempt to filter the needed data quickly with the following items:

• Type: Specify one of the data types to target the filter range.
• 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.
• Name/Extension: Type part or the entire filename or extension of desired files to narrow it down.

Step 3. Once found, double-click to preview and select the data you want. Then, click “Recover x files” and select a new location to begin the SD card data recovery process.

 Wrapping up

With the help of 6 useful methods, you can easily fix the "SD card is blank or has unsupported file system" error. To minimize data loss, it's a wise choice to attempt RAW SD card data recovery. The most effective method is to use powerful data recovery software - AOMEI FastRecovery.

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. It supports daily, weekly, monthly, even hourly backup, and backup only changed files every time.