Quickly Solved: Unable to Format SD card RAW

Do you meet the unable to format SD card raw issue on your computer? There are some useful solutions to fix it. Keep reading to learn more about them.

By @Zoey Last Updated October 17, 2024

How do I fix my raw SD card that won't format?

SD card, also known as Secure Digital card, is a type of small flash memory card. It can be a convenient storage device for your data on the computer, smartphone, camera, music player, vehicle navigation system, and more. Nowadays, SD card is playing an important role in our daily life and work.

However, you may encounter such an issue: your SD card turns RAW and your device can not read it. Then, you will get this message: You need to format the disk before using it. But when you want to format the RAW SD card, a window will pop up and say “Windows was unable to complete the format” in SD card RAW.

 

Since formatting is an effective method for fixing RAW SD card but you are unable to format SD card RAW, we provide some effective solutions and make sure that your SD card data will not get lost in the following part.

Recover data from RAW SD card with ease

Formatting an SD card will delete everything on your SD card. Thus, before you learn something about how to fix the RAW SD card won't format, you need to recover data from the RAW SD card. Choosing a reliable data recovery tool can do a big favor for you. Here comes the professional data recovery service - MyRecover.

You can see many powerful features in MyRecover:

  • Recover data from RAW SD card without formatting at a high speed and high rate.
  • Use multiple scanning methods including Quick Scan and Deep Scan.
  • Support to recover more than 200 types of files, containing texts, pictures, videos, audio, compressed files, and more.
  • Recover data from many other kinds of storage devices like USB flash drives, SSDs, HDDs, etc.

Now, follow the brief guideline here to recover data from a RAW SD card with MyRecover.

1. Get MyRecover software on your computer. And connect your RAW SD card to your computer properly.

Download Software Windows 11/10/8/7/Server
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2. On the first page, hover the mouse over your RAW SD card icon and then click Scan.

3. MyRecover will perform Quick Scan and Deep Scan automatically. All the lost and deleted data will show up in this window. You can preview them directly.

4. Choose the files that you need to recover. Then click on Recover x files at the bottom to perform the SD card recovery task. And you need to choose a new safe path to save them.

Fixed unable to format SD card RAW effectively

If you meet the RAW SD card won’t format issue, you can try to format it in these ways after getting your data off the RAW SD card.

Fix 1. Format the RAW SD card with Disk Management

There is a useful program in the Windows operating system: Disk Management. If you can’t format RAW SD card, you can seek help from it. Here is the easy guideline to try it.

1. Make sure that you have connected your SD card to the computer properly. Press the Windows and X keys on your keyboard together to choose the Disk Management option.

2. Locate your RAW SD card here and right-click on it to select Format.

3. Next to the File system, choose NTFS, and then click on the OK button.

Fix 2. Format RAW SD card via CMD

If the Disk Management tool cannot solve your problem, you can try to use CMD to format RAW SD card. Please check if there is a drive letter for your RAW SD card, then choose the suitable solution for it.

  • If your RAW SD card has a drive letter, you can follow the stepwise tutorial here.

1. Find Command Prompt in the Windows operating system, and choose Run as administrator.

2. Input the command format F: /fs:fat32 (F represents the drive letter of your RAW SD card), and press the Enter key.

  • If your RAW SD card does not have a drive letter, the guideline here is more suitable for it.

1. Search for Diskpart and run it on your computer.

2. Input the command below in turn:

list volume

select volume 4 (4 is the volume number of the RAW drive)

format fs=fat32 quick

FAQs about RAW SD card