Guide: SD Card RAW Format to FAT32

Why did my SD card become unreadable?

Your SD card can turn RAW if not formatted with any file system. The RAW SD card becomes unreadable by any operating system, and it’s an indication of corruption. Besides, missing or unrecognized file systems also are blamed for RAW SD cards.

You will receive this error message: You need to format the disk in drive H: before you can use it as you double-click your connected RAW SD card in Windows File Explorer.

At the moment, please click the Cancel button instead of the Format disk button because disk formatting can erase all the existing data on your RAW SD card. Then the window will show you another error message:

Is it possible to convert RAW to Fat32 without losing data?

Please don’t worry because it’s possible for you to format SD and Micro SD cards from RAW to Fat32 without losing data.

But you need to rescue deleted & missing files from RAW SD cards, then you can convert RAW to FAT32 using CMD or another third-party tool.

Apart from File Explorer, you can find your RAW SD card via Disk Management. Especially for those users who want to see if there’s a drive letter for their SD cards.

Phase 1. Recover RAW data from SD cards via data recovery software

When it comes to problems regarding how to recover deleted and lost files from RAW SD cards, using powerful data recovery tools like MyRecover could be your top choice because it can avoid many blind spots and tries its best to recover data from RAW drives.

Please avoid writing new files to your SD card after data loss because any newly added files could overwrite the free space that saves your deleted and missing files.   

★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. It will automatically scan your SD card and display all the found files. Filter and preview your needed data according to Document Type (eg: Word documents)

Step 3. Go to the 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 want to recover a large number of deleted & missing files from SD cards.

Phase 2. How do I change my file system from RAW to NTFS?

After salvaging recoverable data from your RAW SD card, you can solve the SD card RAW format to FAT32.

Method 1. Convert RAW to FAT32 using CMD

If your SD card won’t format via File Explorer or Disk Management, this solution is right for you. You can convert RAW to FAT32 using CMD. Please check whether there’s a drive letter for your RAW SD card using Disk Management before referring to the following steps.

▶Convert RAW drive with a drive letter

Please refer to the following steps if your RAW drive has a drive letter.

Step 1. Type “cmd” in the search bar and click “Run as administrator” to open the command prompt window.

Step 2. Type “format F: /fs:fat32” in the window and hit “Enter” to go on. You can replace the letter F with the real drive letter of your RAW drive.

▶Convert RAW drive without a drive letter

If there’s no drive letter for your RAW drive, you need to convert RAW to FAT32 using Diskpart.

Step 1. Type “Diskpart” in the search bar and hit “Enter” to open the command prompt window.

Step 2. Type the following command lines one by one.

• list volume
• select volume n (where n is the volume number of the RAW drive)
• format fs=fat32 quick

Method 2. Format SD & Micro SD card from RAW to FAT32 via AOMEI Partition Assistant

Though CMD is powerful, it can discourage ordinary users from following it. In this case, you can seek help from another freeware, AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. This partition management software offers an intuitive GUI (graphical user interface) and can help you finish disk formatting within three steps.   

★Other highlights of AOMEI Partition Assistant:

Recover deleted & missing NTFS, FAT, EX2, EX3, or Ex4 partitions.

Repair corrupted file systems via CHKDSK.exe, deal with improper partition size, partition creation, resize, etc.

Perform disk conversion between MBR and GPT, OS migration, etc.   

Support Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, and XP (32/64-bit) computers.

Step 1. After running this free demo on your Windows PC, right-click on your selected RAW disk 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.

Related suggestions: How do I prevent data loss on my SD card?

How to solve the SD card RAW format to FAT32 without losing data? You can perform RAW data recovery via MyRecover first. Then you can format and convert file systems.

For the sake of your SD card and its data, please follow one of these pertinent suggestions to prevent data loss.

• Be away from high temperatures or humid environments such as sunlight and water.
• Please don’t eject or remove your SD card as it reads, writes, or transfers data.
• Please think twice before deletion.
• Since only regular backups are the best data loss prevention measure, you can give AOMEI Backupper a chance because this free backup software for Windows offers more flexible backup choices & easier restoration steps than Windows features.

• Run Windows Defender and other latest anti-virus software to protect your computer.