How to Format RAW SD Card/USB Drive in Windows 11/10/8/7 [Latest Tips]

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How to Format RAW SD Card When It Becomes RAW

"I can't format my SD card on the camera. When I connect it to my Windows 11/10 computer, I find my 32gb micro SD card turns into RAW file system. When I try to format the card, Windows fails to do so. How can I format RAW SD card? There are some important photos on the SD card. Can I format RAW SD card without losing data?"

Overview of RAW SD card, USB drive or hard disk formatting issue

Sometimes, when you connect an SD card, USB flash drive, USB stick, or external hard drive to your computer, you get the error "The disk is not formatted" or "You need to format the drive." If you try to run CHKDSK to check and fix the errors, you might receive another message: "File system type is RAW. CHKDSK cannot be used on RAW drive". When the error occurs, the SD card or other USB drive has become RAW and inaccessible.

It is quite a common issue that the file system of a micro SD card, HDD, SSD, USB flash drive, pen drive, or any other data storage device gets corrupted and turns RAW. Possible reasons for a RAW SD card could be:

• The Micro SD card has bad sectors.
• The partition table of the SD card is corrupted.
• Virus or malware attack.

At this point, you need to format it to FAT32, NTFS, or any other file system to use the SD card or USB drive again. Formatting a RAW SD card is not difficult, but the question is how to format RAW USB without losing data? Let's solve this issue with two simple methods.

How to Format RAW SD Card/USB Drive Without Losing Data

Try either of the two methods below to easily fix and format your RAW SD card.

Method 1: Format RAW USB/SD Card/Flash Drive without Losing Data

If the SD card contains important files that you need to recover before formatting the RAW SD card, we highly recommend that you use a professional data recovery program to retrieve the data in advance.

#1. Important: Recover data from RAW SD card first

Quite often, an SD card, USB flash drive, or USB hard drive can become unrecognizable all of a sudden with a lot of important files stored on the device. To fix and format RAW SD card, you need to recover the files first. How to recover data from RAW partition? Resort to tools Data Recovery Wizard, a powerful RAW partition recovery tool to get lost files back with ease.

If your files are less than 2 GB in size, you can use its free version to recover files from RAW SD card for free.

Step 1. Select and scan the RAW partition

If the RAW partition has a partition label, you can directly select it from the drive list and click "Scan" to recover lost files. If the RAW partition loses its label, it will be recognized as "Lost Partition". Just select "Lost Partition" and click "Scan" to perform a full scan on the RAW drive.

Step 2. Preview the data found from the scan results

When the scan is finished, all recoverable files on the RAW hard drive will be displayed. Look through these files and find the one you want to recover. You can sort the data by file type, or use the “Search for File or Folder” bar.

Step 3: Recover Data from RAW Partition

Select all the files and then click on “Recover” to retrieve all the data. Choose another internal or external hard drive to save the recovered data and then hit “OK” to begin the RAW drive recovery process.

#2. How to Format RAW SD Card with RAW SD Card Formatting Tools

To format an SD card, the easiest way is to use a RAW SD card formatting tool. We recommend using AOMEI Partition Assistant Pro as the best RAW SD card formatting software. It can help you easily format RAW SD cards, USB flash drives, pen drives, or external hard drives to NTFS, FAT32, EXT2, EXT3, and is compatible with Windows 11/10/8/7 operating systems.

In addition to formatting partitions, Partition Master also provides you with other comprehensive partition and disk management solutions, such as:

• Resize/Move partitions (the Pro version allows you to directly move space from D drive to C drive, create, format, delete, and merge partitions
• Copy and clone an entire disk to another, even if the target partition is smaller than the source
• Convert a logical partition to primary or primary to logical, FAT to NTFS partition, MBR disk to GPT, or GPT disk to MBR
• Completely wipe all data on a hard drive to prevent information leakage or recovery
• Migrate OS to SSD to speed up Windows upgrade and boost Windows performance

Now, download and install the disk management tool to format RAW SD card with just a few clicks.

Step 1: Launch Partition Master.

Right click on the RAW partition or RAW external hard drive/USB/SD card that needs formatting and select “Format”.

Step 2: Format the RAW partition and reset file system.

Specify a Volume Label for the new partition, set the File System to NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4/exFAT and Cluster Size, then click “OK”.

Step 3: Click “Yes” on the warning window to proceed.

Click “Yes” to allow the program to format the target RAW partition with the file system format you have chosen for the drive.

<Step 4> <strong>Perform the Action</strong>

Click on “Execute 1 Task” button at the bottom right to view all the changes and then click on “Apply” to start formatting the RAW partition/USB/SD/external hard drive.

Method 2: Repair RAW SD Card/USB/Flash Drive without Formatting

If formatting doesn't work, or you don't want to format your RAW SD card for data safety, how can you fix a RAW SD card without losing data? The solution is to seek one-on-one remote manual assistance from a tool with technical experts who can repair RAW SD card, USB flash drive, pen drive, or external hard drive without formatting, ensuring the repaired partition is the same as the original drive and no data is lost. Any complicated data loss issue can be easily resolved.

Video Tutorial - How to Recover Lost Files from SD Card

• 0:30 What to Do When You Lose Files from an SD Card
• 2:58 Connect the SD Card
• 3:43 Step 1. Launch the Data Recovery Wizard.
• 4:15 Step 2. Wait for the scanning process to finish.
• 4:40 Step 3. Select the files and click "Preview" to check your lost files.

In summary

There are two ways to format RAW SD card without losing data:

1. First, use Data Recovery Wizard to recover files from the SD card, then format the RAW SD card or USB drive with a hard drive formatter. After formatting, copy the recovered data back to the formatted storage card.

2. Use a manual data recovery tool to fix the RAW SD card at its original place without formatting. The files on the SD card will remain intact.

Frequently Asked Questions on How to Format RAW SD Card (UTF-8)

Here are four common questions about formatting a RAW SD card, flash drive, or USB flash drive. Check out the brief answers to these queries.

How to format an SD card?

The easiest way to format a RAW SD card or USB drive is by using a simple formatting tool.

Step 1: Download and run Partition Master. Right click on the RAW SD card/flash drive/USB drive that needs formatting and choose “Format”.

Step 2: Specify a new label for the partition, select the file system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3) and cluster size, then click “OK”.

Step 3: Click “OK” on the warning prompt to proceed.

Step 4: Click on “Execute Operation” button at the top left corner to view all the changes and then hit “Apply” to start formatting RAW USB/SD/external hard drive.

What should I do if the SD card cannot be formatted?

You can format the SD card using Disk Management or File Explorer:

1. Format the SD card/USB/flash drive using File Explorer: Right-click on the RAW SD card in File Explorer. Select "Format" > "Set file system to NTFS or FAT32". Click "OK".

2. Format the SD card or USB flash drive using Disk Management: Right-click "This PC" and click "Manage," then "Disk Management." Find your RAW formatted SD card, right-click it, and select "Format." Choose a file system like FAT, exFAT, FAT32, or NTFS, then click "OK."

How to format a RAW SD card to FAT32?

You can format your RAW SD card to FAT32 using the Command Prompt:

Step 1: Connect your RAW SD card to the computer. Right-click the Start button, and select “Command Prompt (Admin)” and hit Enter. Now type in diskpart, and hit Enter again.

Step 2: Type list disk and hit Enter again. Select your RAW SD card and type: Disk F format fs=FAT32 (replace F with the drive letter of your RAW SD card, and FAT32 with exFAT, FAT, or NTFS if you prefer).

Step 3: Hit the Enter key to format the RAW SD card with Diskpart. When it's done, safely eject the SD card and insert it back.

How do I force format an SD card?

To format the SD card, follow these steps.

Step 1: Insert the SD card into the card reader, and then plug the card reader into your computer's card reader slot.

Step 2: Open "My Computer" or "This PC," and find your SD card under "Devices with Removable Storage." Right-click on the SD card, and click "Format" from the drop-down menu. This will open the Format options for your SD card.

Step 3: Click the drop-down menu next to “Format Type,” and select “Quick.”

Step 4: In the "Allocation Unit Size" drop-down menu, select "Default." Click "OK" to begin formatting your SD card manually. When the SD card has finished formatting, a notification will appear showing the available space on your memory card.