How to Backup SanDisk SD Card on Windows 11/10/8/7

Why Need to Backup SanDisk SD Card? There are several reasons why backing up your SanDisk SD card is crucial: 1. **Data Loss Prevention**: Accidents happen, and your data could be lost due to accidental deletion, formatting, or corruption. Backing up ensures you've got a copy of your files in case of unexpected incidents. 2. **Hardware Failure**: Like any storage device, SD cards can fail over time. Regular backups minimize the risk of losing valuable data if your SanDisk card goes bad or becomes unreadable. 3. **System Updates and Software Compatibility**: Updating your camera, phone, or computer software might impact SD card compatibility. A backup guarantees your files stay safe during these transitions. 4. **Virus or Malware Attacks**: If your SD card gets hit by viruses or malware, important files could be compromised or erased. Backups safeguard your data from such threats. 5. **Multiple Copies for Editing**: For those who work with photos, videos, or documents needing frequent edits, having a backup lets you experiment without risking the original files. 6. **Free Up Space**: By backing up your SD card, you can clear it for more storage space, ensuring room for new content. 7. **Preserve Memories**: If your card holds cherished photos, videos, or personal files, backups are vital to protect these precious memories from accidental loss. Remember, it's key to store your backups in a different location or on another device to guarantee they're safe and accessible when needed.

If you're a SanDisk SD card user, you ought to appreciate the significance of backing up your SD card. An SD card is a compact device utilized to augment storage capacity in electronic gadgets like phones, digital cameras, and more. It serves as an ideal solution for storing data such as photos, audio, and videos. Accidentally deleting content from the SD card or having it compromised by malware or viruses can be a disastrous situation for you.

In such cases, data recovery software can be a means of retrieving your data, but backing up your SD card should be your top priority. Another advantage of backing up an SD card is that it can free up storage space for other data storage. Hence, it is crucial to back up your SD card regularly.

Three Possible Ways to Backup SanDisk SD Card

There are various methods to back up your SanDisk SD card. In this guide, I'll share three practical and user-friendly approaches to assist you in creating a backup of your SanDisk SD card. Let's explore how to back up a SanDisk SD card step by step.

1. Method 1. Backup SD Card using SD Card Backup Software
2. Method 2. Backup SD Card to Cloud Storage
3. Method 3. Manually Copy SD Card to External Drive on Computer

Method 1: Backup SD Card using SD Card Backup Software

When you connect an SD card to your computer, it will be treated as part of the computer's local storage. Consequently, you can utilize third-party SD card backup software, such as Todo Backup, to create a backup of the SD card.

Todo Backup Home is a versatile backup software designed for Windows 11/10/8/7. It features an intuitive and streamlined interface that makes the backup process straightforward. With this tool, you can create a system backup, file backup, disk backup, and partition backup, among others. It also allows you to set up scheduled backups, automatic backups, and perform differential and incremental backups. Most notably, it provides 250GB of free cloud storage space.

You can follow this guide to perform a SanDisk SD card backup:

Step 1. Begin by selecting the backup content.

Step 2. There are four backup categories: File, Disk, OS, and Mail. Click on Disk.

Step 3. You can choose to back up the entire disk or a specific partition. Select what you need and click OK.

Step 4.  Choose the location where you want to save the backup.

Step 5. For disk/partition backup, you can choose to save the backup to a local drive or to a NAS.

Step 6. Once the backup process is finished, your task will be displayed on the left. Right-click on any task to manage your backup further, such as recovering it, creating an incremental backup, and more.

Method 2: Backup SD Card to Cloud Drive

Cloud drives, such as OneDrive and Google Drive, have increasingly become popular lately. This is due to their immunity from computer problems and natural disasters like system crashes, computer viruses, or water damage, allowing users to access their data anytime and anywhere. Consequently, many users wish to back up their data from an SD card to a Cloud Drive. In this explanation, I'll use Google Drive as an example to demonstrate how to create a backup of a SanDisk SD card. If you have a Google account, you automatically get 15GB of free cloud storage.

You might be wondering how to back up an SD card to Google Drive. The steps below detail how to back up a SanDisk SD card, so you can use this guide to perform the backup.

Step 1. Connect your SD card to your computer.

Step 2. Open File Explorer and locate your SD card.

Step 3. Copy and paste the data from the SD card to the Google Drive folder.

Note: It's recommended to create a new folder in "Google Drive" to save the backup. The backup data will be synchronized to Google Drive automatically.

Method 3: Manually Copy SD Card to External Drive on PC Step 1: Connect the SD Card Reader to your PC Insert the SD card into a USB SD card reader, and then plug the reader into one of your computer's USB ports. Step 2: Connect the External Drive Connect the external hard drive to your PC using a USB cable. Step 3: Open File Explorer Click on the File Explorer icon usually located on the taskbar or press the Windows key + E on your keyboard. Step 4: Locate the SD Card and External Drive In the left pane of File Explorer, under "This PC," you should see both the SD card and the external drive listed as separate drives (e.g., "SD Card" and "External Drive"). Step 5: Copy Files from SD Card to External Drive - Select the SD Card by clicking on it. - Press and hold the Ctrl key, then click on the external drive to select it without unselecting the SD Card. - Right-click on either selection and choose "Copy." - Navigate to the external drive, right-click anywhere within the window, and choose "Paste." Step 6: Wait for the Transfer to Complete The copying process may take some time depending on the size of the files. Do not remove either the SD card or the external drive until the transfer is finished. Step 7: Safely Remove the Drives Once the transfer is complete, go to the system tray (usually at the bottom-right corner of the screen) and click on the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon. Select the SD card reader and external drive, and then click "Eject" to safely remove them. Now, you have successfully copied the contents of the SD card to the external drive.

Another method to back up a SanDisk SD card is by copying its contents to an external hard drive connected to a computer. It's crucial to make sure the data copying process isn't interrupted to prevent file loss in case the procedure doesn't finish successfully. However, this manual method can be time-consuming and is more suitable for smaller amounts of data. Here are the steps to copy and paste data from the SD card to the external disk: 1. Connect the SanDisk SD card to your computer using a card reader or built-in slot. 2. Connect the external hard drive to your computer via USB. 3. Ensure both the SD card and external hard drive are properly recognized by your computer. 4. Open File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac). 5. Navigate to the location of the SanDisk SD card, usually under "Devices" or "This PC" (Windows) or "Devices with Removable Storage" (Mac). 6. Select all the files and folders you want to back up by pressing "Ctrl+A" (Windows) or "Command+A" (Mac). 7. Alternatively, you can manually select specific files and folders. 8. Right-click and choose "Copy" or press "Ctrl+C" (Windows) or "Command+C" (Mac). 9. Navigate to the external hard drive in File Explorer or Finder. 10. Right-click within the empty space and choose "Paste" or press "Ctrl+V" (Windows) or "Command+V" (Mac). 11. Wait for the copying process to finish. This may take some time depending on the size of your data. 12. Once completed, safely eject both the SD card and external hard drive from your computer to avoid any potential data corruption. Remember, this method may not be efficient for large datasets; in such cases, using specialized backup software might be a better option.

Step 1. Connect the SD card and an external hard drive to your computer properly.

Step 2. Open File Explorer and locate the SD card.

Step 3. Press Ctrl + A to select all files on the SD card, right-click, and choose "Copy".

Step 4. Open the external hard drive, right-click on an empty space, and select "Paste."

Step 5. Wait for the process to be completed.

The Best Method for SanDisk SD Card Backup

Backing up a SanDisk SD card is essential for safeguarding against data loss. Briefly, you can backup your SD card using tools like Todo Backup, Google Drive, or by manually copying its contents. Feel free to choose any method to create a backup of your SD card. For versatility, reliability, and security, we recommend using Todos Backup. This tool enables you to perform various backup and recovery tasks, clone a hard drive, and execute a universal restore. Most notably, it offers the convenience of automatic file backup.

In short, Todo Backup is a good and reliable SD card backup tool for all SD card users.

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

1. Why do SD cards become corrupted?

Some common causes of SD card corruption may include improper usage, accumulation of bad sectors, manufacturing defects, malware infections, and physical damage. Fortunately, in most cases, SD card corruption can be resolved without the need for formatting.

2. What happens when an SD card is formatted? When an SD card is formatted, the process involves erasing all data stored on the card and preparing it for new data to be written. Here's what typically occurs during formatting: 1. **Data deletion**: All files, photos, videos, and other information saved on the SD card are marked as deleted, effectively removing them from the file system. The actual data remains on the card until new data overwrites it. 2. **File system reset**: The format process removes the existing file system (FAT, FAT32, exFAT, or NTFS) and creates a fresh one. This structure organizes how data is stored and accessed on the card. 3. **Allocation table creation**: A new allocation table is established, which keeps track of where new files will be placed on the card and which sectors are available. 4. **Volume label and cluster size**: The format may allow you to set a new volume label (name) for the SD card and choose the cluster size, which affects how efficiently space is used. 5. **Checksum verification**: Some formatting tools might perform a quick check of the card's integrity and verify the health of its memory blocks. 6. **Finalization**: Once the formatting is complete, the SD card is ready to use, with a clean slate and no existing data. Remember that formatting an SD card usually results in permanent data loss, unless specialized data recovery software is used. Always back up important data before formatting.

Generally, formatting an SD card means erasing all existing data entries and preventing you from locating and using any file on the SD card. The files present on the card will be lost. Additionally, it may assign a new file system, such as FAT32, exFAT, or NTFS, to the SD card. You should have a storage device ready to back up your data beforehand.

3. Why can't I see the files on my SD card?

If your SD card files are not visible on your Android phone but show up on your computer, it could be due to an incompatible file system between the two devices. The Android phone does not recognize the NTFS file system; instead, it supports FAT32, Ext3, and Ext4 file systems.

4. What happens if I insert my SD card into another phone?

To reuse the SD card, you'll need to reformat it. Even if another phone lets you utilize the SD card as adoptable storage, reformatting is still necessary. You can do this through the dialog that appears when you first insert the SD card; the system will prompt you to choose how you want to handle it.