How to Fix SD Card Showing Full but Actually Empty on Windows 11/10/8/7

How to Format an SD Card When It Says It's Full (Quick Access)

Most of the time, formatting is resorted to fix SD card errors or disk-related issues. If your SD card is empty but shows full, it could be due to a problem with the file system, and formatting the SD card would be best to restore it to its normal state.

• Launch the Partition Master tool. • Find your SD card, then right-click on the partition… Read more >>

How to Fix an SD Card That Shows as Empty but Is Actually Full (6 Tips)

"I'm trying to take photos with my Canon camera, but it's telling me my SD card is full. I inserted the card into my computer, dragged four photos to my desktop, and then deleted the '100 CANON' folder. I usually do this when downloading and clearing my SD card, but I'm not sure if that's correct since I've never been taught! Any help would be greatly appreciated!"

According to many SD and memory card users, the problem of an SD card showing full when it's empty seems to be a common issue. If you're experiencing the same problem with your SD card, try the solutions below. You don't have to try them all; work your way down the list until you find what works for you.

A request to translate from English to Chinese requires the specific English content for translation. Please provide the English text you would like translated.

Solution 1: Show Hidden Files via CMD if the SD Card Shows Full

As mentioned above, if the user has deleted the files but the SD card still shows as full, there might be hidden files on the SD card. In many cases, data that doesn't show on the SD card is due to hidden files. If your SD card is empty but shows as full, follow these steps to display hidden files:

Step 1. Press Windows + X, and open “Command Prompt” (CMD) as an administrator.

Alternatively, click the “Windows” icon, type “cmd,” and then right-click “Command Prompt.” Select “Run as administrator.”

Step 2. Identify the SD card or storage device where the file is hidden.

Step 3: Type in attrib -h -r -s /s /d G:\*.* and press "Enter." (If your device is drive D:, replace G: with the letter of your device.)

You can also apply this command to show hidden files on USB drive, and so on.

Solution 2: Use the CMD Alternative to Show Hidden Files

While power users might be comfortable issuing commands directly via the command prompt, incorrect commands can do more harm than good. For safety and convenience, we highly recommend trying an automated Command Prompt tool like CleanGenius. This handy utility lets you check and fix file system errors, toggle write protection, and update your system with a single click – no need to memorize complex commands.

With this one-click repair tool, you can unhide files with these simple steps.

Step 1: Download the CleanGenius tool for free.

Step 2: Launch CleanGenius, and then choose “Optimize” from the left pane. Next, click on “File Visibility” from the right.

Step 3: Select your hard drive and click Perform.

Step 4: Once done, click on this link to view the hidden files.

Solution 3: Check for SD Card Errors to Fix Full SD Card Showing Up

If you have file system errors on your memory card, you may also encounter the “SD card full but empty” issue. You can run CHKDSK to fix SD card errors. Here's how to do it:

Step 1: Press Windows + R to open the Run dialog box. Type cmd, then press Enter.

If your SD card still shows full when it's empty, check for errors on the SD card

Step 2. In the Windows Command Prompt, type chkdsk [drive letter]: /f /r /x. Replace the drive letter with the one that corresponds to the affected drive, such as F: in our case.

Then, check your SD card to see if the problem is fixed.

Solution 4: Recover Data from SD Card Before Formatting

Also, you can run a reliable SD card recovery software to scan your card for more lost data. Then, save the wanted files to another location. What you need is the Data Recovery Wizard tool. With it, you can recover photos, Word documents, Excel files, and videos from any device.

Step 1: Select the SD card to scan

• Download and install the Data Recovery Wizard tool on your Windows computer.
• Connect your SanDisk/Lexar/Transcend SD card to the computer using the appropriate method.
• Launch the SD card recovery software. On the left side, select "SD Card Recovery." All connected drives will be displayed here. Choose your SD card and click "Scan."

Step 2: Review the scan results

Wait for the scan to complete. Select a file type, like pictures or videos, to display. Click "Preview" to check if they're the files you want.

Step 3. Recover Data from SD Card

1. Preview your recovered files, then click "Recover." 2. Choose a location different from the original SD card to save your recovered files.

Solution 5: Format the SD Card to Fix “SD Card Empty but Says Full” Issue

To resolve the "SD card is empty but says it's full" issue, a straightforward option is to format the SD card. This helps reclaim lost or unallocated space and safely restore the SD card to its maximum capacity/original size. We recommend using the Partition Master tool, a powerful disk management utility that allows you to format hard drives and multiple removable storage devices.

Now you can try the following guide to reformat SD card and restore its full capacity with simple steps by using this tool.

Step 1: Right-click on the SD card and select “Format” from the partition you wish to format.

Step 2. Set a new volume label, file system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4/exFAT), and cluster size for the selected partition, then click “OK”.

Step 3: Click “Yes” in the dialog box to continue.

Click the “Do It!” button in the toolbar, then click “Apply.” This will begin formatting your SD card.

Fix 6: Use CMD to Recover Full Capacity of SD Card

If formatting the SD card doesn't fix the “empty SD card showing full” error, run this command to restore the SD card to its maximum capacity.

Step 1. On Windows 11/10, press Windows + X, choose “Search,” then type Command Prompt, right-click it, and select “Run as administrator.”

Step 2: In the black Command Prompt window, type diskpart, and then press Enter.

Step 3: Type list disk and press "Enter."

All disk drives will be listed, including any external drives connected to your computer.

4. To view the disk list information, type select disk + disk number, for example: select disk 2, and press Enter.

You are instructing DiskPart to locate and lock Disk 2 so that it can proceed with the cleanup and formatting operations.

After that, you can use the Disk Management tool in Windows 11/10 or any other Windows PC to create a new partition on the SD card and restore its full capacity for data storage.

Conclusions

You've learned various methods to handle an SD card that shows empty but full without losing data. If your SD card is empty but shows full, a data recovery software and a partition manager tool can be of great assistance.

"Frequently Asked Questions: 'SD Card Shows Full but Actually Empty'"

If you have other questions about SD cards, read on.

Why does my SD card show full when it's actually empty?

Here is why:

• The SD card does have files on it, but they are invisible or hidden, thus making the SD card appear full even though there are no visible files.
• The SD card is incorrectly formatted.
• There is an issue with your camera.

How do I know if my SD card is full?

If you have an Android device, check your storage space like this:

• Touch the Home screen. • Press the Menu key. • Touch Settings. • Touch SD card & phone storage. • Under SD card, you will see the total capacity and available space for your SD card at the top.

How do I determine the speed of my SD card?

The speed class is marked right on the SD card itself – look for a number inside a circle. You'll also see this speed class listed in online store listings or on the packaging when you buy it.