Unable to format SD card on Windows PC? Don't worry! Here are 6 practical solutions to help you fix SD card won't format issue, and you can also learn how to recover SD card data.
A Secure Digital card is a small flash memory card designed for high-capacity memory and portable devices such as vehicle navigation systems, cellular phones, smartphones, digital cameras, music players, digital video camcorders, and personal computers.
In brief, SD cards are indispensable to our lives and careers. But careless treatment can cause errors or data loss.
About one week ago, I tried moving files from the SD card onto the computer, but that was impossible. I thought there was something wrong with this SD card, so I attempted to format it via Disk Management and CWM. But I kept getting the same error: can’t format SD card. And I also placed the SD card in a USB card reader and SD card reader to format it through computers. It seems to me that this SD card is locked in a previous state and is write-protected. What’s worse, it won’t let me format it. So how do you fix an SD card that won’t format? Thanks.
- A user from XDA-developers
For instance, if you attempt to access your inaccessible drives by disk formatting, you may receive the following error warning: Windows was unable to complete the format.
When your SD card displays as RAW, you might receive the invitation to format your SD card before using it.
So why can’t I format my SD card? In this case, write protection, bad sectors, corrupted or damaged file systems, and virus attacks can prevent users from formatting their internal or external hard drives via File Explorer.
Though disk formatting or disk initialization is an efficient way to open your previously inaccessible SD card, this action will erase all the existing data on your SD card.
Thus, if your SD card cannot format, you have the possibility to recover deleted and lost files from unformatted drives. Or, if your SD card is still stuck on the “cannot format” error and want to get your lost data back, don’t worry. With the help of powerful data recovery software like MyRecover, everything is possible.
🔥 MyRecover can recover up to 500MB of data for free. Don't hesitate, download MyRecover and give it a try!
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. You can filter and preview 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.
My Micro SD card won’t format, so how do I fix SD card that won’t format? According to the possible reasons, there’re four feasible fixes for you to solve this issue.
Sometimes, we unable to format SD card because the SD card is not accessible. To ensure your Windows OS can recognize and display your SD card, you’d better check whether there’s a drive letter for your SD card or not. Let’s show how it works.
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 choose the “Change Drive Letter and Paths” option.
Step 3. If there’s no drive letter, select “Add” to assign a new drive letter to your SD card.
Step 4. Select the “Assign the following drive letter” option. Please ensure the newly selected drive letter is different from all the existing drive letters.
If you’re unable to format external hard drives from RAW to NTFS using File Explorer, diskpart is another feasible fix because it can manage your PC’s drives (disks, partitions, or volumes). Those users who can’t format SD cards also can refer to this solution.
Step 1. After connecting your SD to the computer, press “Win + R” and type “diskpart” in the Run box. Then hit “Enter” or click “OK” to open it.
Step 2. Type the following command prompt in the window one by one and hit “Enter” after each line.
If you can’t format SD cards with diskpart, you can seek help from another handy utility, Disk Management because this system tool is good at executing advanced storage tasks.
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.
Besides, this powerful partition recovery software-AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard also can help you format and convert file systems without paying.
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.
As mentioned above, write protection is among the possible factors for unformatted SD cards. Write protection indicates that your SD card is set to read-only mode.
To write new data or modify your SD card, you need to refer to the following steps to unlock SD cards and remove write protection.
Step 1. Insert your SD into the Windows. Then press “Win + X” and select “Windows PowerShell (Admin)” from the pop menu.
Step 2. Type the following command prompt in turn. Please remember to hit “Enter” after typing each command line.
Step 3. After seeing Disk attributes cleared successfully, you can type “exit” in the window to end this process.
Bad sectors on your storage device can be hidden yet significantly hinder your ability to access files and use your SD card effectively. One common approach to fixing bad sectors is to format the disk. By running this command, you can identify and repair any bad sectors that are causing the "unable to format" error.
Step 1. Type cmd in the search box, select Run as administrator.
Step 2. Type chkdsk d: /f /r. Replace d: with the drive letter of your SD card.
If you’ve already removed the write protection from your SD card and are still encountering issues, using a third-party SD card formatter may help. These third-party tools can assist with various SD card problems, so take the time to find the best option for resolving the "SD card won't format" issue.
Undeniably, data loss is inevitable in our lives and careers, but data loss can bring great inconvenience for us. So how do I secure my SD card data? At this point, there’re some practical data loss prevention measures for your reference.
This free backup software for Windows protects your data via different types of backups such as File Backup, Disk Backup, Partition Backup, etc.
In this scenario, valuable backups created by AOMEI Backupper can exempt you from disk formatting. And you can get your desired SD card data from File Backup directly.
Step 1. Launch AOMEI Backupper on your Windows PC and select the “File Backup” option.
Step 2. Click “Add Folder/Add File” to add the folder or files you want to back up.
Step 3. Click “Schedule Backup” to enable Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Event triggers or USB plug as you prefer. Then click the “Start Backup” button.
Your SD card might be in a RAW state as you need to format it before using it. Are you interested in RAW data recovery? Please read this part to get RAW data recovery & SD card tips.
RAW data refers to the inaccessible files saved on your internal or external hard drives. Before disk formatting, it’s possible for you to recover data from RAW drives.
How to recover data from a Micro SD card not detected? You can try to update/reinstall your Micro SD card device driver or repair the corrupted file systems to fix this problem.
AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard contains a feature named AOMEI Partition Recovery Wizard, which can recover lost partition SD cards within four steps.