Summary: Unable to access data saved in SD card like photos, videos, audios, etc. Is your SD card corrupt? In this article, we will make you aware of SD card corruption issues and ways to fix SD Card corruption and recovery of SD card data.
In terms of data storage in today’s world, people are moving towards paperless era and are using portable storage solutions like SD cards for storage of music, photos, documents, etc.
Having a small SD card provides suitable storage capacities for Android phones, tablets, DSLRs, digital cameras, and other portable devices.
However, SD cards can be corrupt or damaged leading to loss of stored data. Also, memory cards have limited life, they get damaged or corrupt after sometime.
How you know your SD card is corrupt?
Generally, you will get an error message when the SD card is not working properly. This will permanently lose your valuable data and it becomes difficult to recover SD card data. In this case, you won’t be able to access your files and they may not recognized by your system.
Here are some common signs that shows your SD card is failing and you may loss your valuable data anytime.
When SD card is damaged and is unable to format.
SD card is inaccessible. The file is corrupt an unreadable.
Able to view files in SD card but unable to add, delete, copy and save them showing error message “disk is write-protected.’
- Your photos are missing from SD Card
- Unreadable SD Card
- Corrupt Memory Card
- SD Card is not formatted. Do you need to format it?
- SD Card removed unexpectedly
- SD Card has unsupported file system
- SD Card Locked error
- Any other error message in SD Card like SD Card full
Things to check before resolving corruption and SD Card Recovery
Check connecting devices working or not?
Sometimes devices are unable to read SD card due to incompatibility or driver-related issue. In this case, try to connect your SD card to another computer or card reader. May be SD card may not be corrupt.
Is SD card write-protected?
Check if your SD card is write-protected. In this case, users are unable to open, edit, copy, or save photos, videos, etc. Simply slide upward the switch on left side of SD card to disable write-protection.
After checking these things, you may move ahead to fix corrupted SD Card and recover your photos, videos, etc. from it.
Multiple methods to fix SD card corruption and recover its data
- Make unhide all the hidden files stored on corrupt SD Card
When SD card is connected to a system detected virus, it will hide all photos, videos and other files. You won’t be able to see the data stored in it as its attributes changed to hidden. To recover hidden data, follow the steps –
- Connect SD Card to your system.
- Open Windows Explorer, click and follow Tools> Folder option> View
- Mark show hidden files option.
- Uncheck hide protected operating system
- Click OK
Now, you can see the hidden data items in the memory card.
- Check memory card errors with chkdsk command
Connect your SD card with PC and follow the steps to fix errors of SD card using chkdsk command –
- Click on Start option from Windows taskbar and select
- Search for SD card under Devices with Removable storage and note the drive letter assigned.
- Click the Start option and type cmd in search box.
- Right-click cmd and choose Run as administrator.
- Type chkdsk followed by drive letter
- Click Enter and this will check all errors and fix corrupt SD card.
- If your system is not detecting SD Card, assign a new drive letter
If the system does not assign new drive letter when connecting your SD card via card reader. In some cases, the reader may assign a drive letter, you will get the message ‘please insert the disk into drive E.’ This indicates that it is not reading the card. To fix this issue, assign a drive letter to your SD card with the given steps –
- Connect SD card to your PC
- Use Window + R key to open Run dialogue box
- Type msc and click Enter
- Select Disk Management under Storage option
- Right-click the drive assign a letter
- Choose Change Drive Letter and Paths
- Click on Change
- Check in Assign following drive letter
- Choose the letter that you want from the drop box and click OK
- Close Computer Management window and restart the computer. This will make your SD card readable.
- Reinstall the driver
If the drive letter does not help you out, you can try installing the driver using the given steps –
- Go to my computer and right-click on it and go to Manage
- Click the Device Manager option on left side.
- Double-click Disk Drives option and then right-click the name of the removable drive.
- Click Uninstall and click OK
- Disconnect the media storage and restart your system.
- Reconnect your SD card again.
- Fix corrupt SD card with Windows Troubleshooter
Using Windows Troubleshooter, one can fix SD card corruption issue with the given steps –
- Connect SD card to your PC.
- Select Start, settings, update & security and finally on Troubleshoot
- Select Hardware and devices. Click Run the troubleshooter.
- Restart your PC and the SD card issue will be resolved now.
- Use SD Card Repair solution
Few manufacturers such as Samsung, Kingston, SanDisk, etc. provide solutions to repair corrupt SD cards. You can use tools to fix corrupt SD card. To get the tool, visit the manufacturer’s site and contact the customer support.
- Use drive ‘error checking’ feature
For internal and external drive checking, Windows provide ‘error checking’ feature. Below are the steps to repair corrupt SD card with ‘error checking’
- Connect SD card to your system.
- To open Windows Explorer, open Windows + E.
- Right-click on SD card and then open
- Click on Tools
- Click Check
This will scan SD card and fix the SD card corruption issue
- Use Diskpart in CMD command
If your SD card is showing ‘read only’ error message and you have checked the SD card is not write-protected, then fix this issue with diskpart utility in CMD command. Here are the steps with this method –
- Connect SD card to your system.
- Click Start and then Run. Enter cmd
- Type diskpart and press enter.
- Type list volume.
- Type select volume 1. 1 indicates the letter of your SD card drive.
- Enter attributes disk clear read only and click on Enter.
Then, restart your PC and connect your SD card again. This will fix your problem.
- Repair corrupt SD card by format
Formatting helps users to fix most of the issues. This will help you to reuse the card. To recover corrupted SD card with SD card format, follow the steps –
- Connect SD card to your computer.
- Double click This PC to open Windows Explorer.
- Right-click your SD card under Devices and drives and select format. This will open Format window.
- Click the File system You will get three options. Select any one.
- Click
Formatting will fix corrupt SD card and make it reusable.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q – How to know if SD card is corrupt or not?
A – Using Windows in-built check disk utility, users can fix SD card errors –
- Open Windows Explorer and locate the drive assigned to SD card. Right-click on SD card and click on Properties.
- Select Tools tab and click on Check Now in Error-checking section.
- For scanning SD card, uncheck both ‘Automatically fix the file system errors’ and ‘scan for & attempt recovery of bad sectors.’ For fixing system errors, check ‘automatically fix file system errors’ For lower scan of SD card and to fix any errors, check both boxes.
- Press Start to start the scan.
- Click on see details to see details about the scan like scan progress, error fixing and other details.
- To check SD card errors, some free tools are there like H2testw and FakeFlash Test.
Q – I am unable to format my SD card of 16 GB. It is asking to format. What should I do know?
A – Try changing the card reader or connect it with your SD card to a different device. If still there is an issue, your card has become corrupt and you may need software to recover the data.
Q – My camera is showing ‘memory card locked’ when I inserted SD card to it.
A – Check the lock switch on the left side or your SD card. Slide it to unlock.
Q – My SD Card is not recognized by PC. What should I do now?
A – Recheck the device connections. If the problem is not resolved. Follow the solutions provided in this article.
Q – My Mac book is not reading SD card. I have tried various methods but nothing works. What to do?
A – Check the physical connections of your device including SD card slot, USB cable, etc.
Q – Is Cloud better than SD card?
A – Cloud and SD card both have their benefits. Cloud services are free while SD cards have their own cost depending upon size & capacity. There are chances of SD card corruption and data loss on the other hand, you can’t access cloud without internet connection. By business and professionals who have huge data to store, cloud storage is used than SD cards. The portable memory cards are used for storing photos, videos, etc. and accessed at any time without internet connection.
Q – How to move photos from internal memory of phone to external SD card?
A – Android devices have file manager app that can be used to move photos from a phone internal memory to SD card.
Open File Explorer, select Images option. Choose photos you want to move to SD card. Tap Move to option at the lower-right-side of the phone screen. Select SD card from the menu. Select a folder on your SD card where you want to move the photos. In this way, all photos are moved from internal storage to external SD card.