How to Fix "Memory Card Not Formatted" Error in 2024

Using Diskpart to Quickly Fix the 'Memory Card Not Formatted' Issue:

• Press the Windows + R keys.
• Type cmd into the prompt, then click OK.
• Enter the following commands:

  Diskpart > list disk > select disk 1 > clean > create partition primary > format fs=ntfs quick

• Learn more details >>

When you try to access a device or data, the memory card or SD card might unexpectedly show "you need to format the disk" or "unformatted disk" RAW issues. This usually happens when your device is corrupted. On this page, we'll provide you with step-by-step tutorials on how to fix a memory card showing "unformatted" error without losing data. These solutions can also address formatting errors on other removable devices like SD cards, external hard drives, USB flash drives, and more.

"Reasons for Memory Card Being Unable to Format"

• The memory card has bad sectors. (You can use Partition Master to perform a surface scan detection.) • The memory card is write-protected. (You can only read from it but cannot write data to the card.) • The memory card is attacked by a virus. • Incorrect installation. • Sudden power outage during data reading, editing, or writing.

First of all, recover data from an unformatted memory card

When you get the “SD card not formatted” error, you should try to recover the data from the device first if it contains something important. The Data Recovery Wizard is an excellent tool that can help with this.

If you're wondering how to fix a memory card without formatting it to preserve your data, try this safer method instead. It can help with data recovery in all the following situations:

• The memory card displays a "Not Formatted" warning and prompts you to format the card.
• The memory card turns into RAW format with 0 bytes of storage.
• The SD card is corrupted. Try reformatting it.
• You receive an error message stating "Memory card format operation failed."
• You get an error message saying "Card cannot be accessed. Please reinsert/replace the card or format the card using the camera."
• You encounter an error message that reads "File system is RAW. CHKDSK cannot run on a RAW drive."

Before rectifying the error, recover data from the 'Memory Card Not Formatted' state with the help of tutorial videos and step-by-step guides.

Step 1: Plug the USB drive into your computer. Launch the Data Recovery Wizard. Select the formatted SD card, USB flash drive, or Pen drive from which you wish to recover lost files, and click "Scan."

Step 2: After the scan, all found files will be displayed on the screen. You can use the "Filter" or "File Type" feature to locate your target file.

Step 3. Select the files you wish to recover from the formatted external drive and click on “Recover.” A new window will appear, where you need to choose a different location to save your recovered files. Click “OK” to confirm.

Data Recovery Service

Click here to contact our experts for a free assessment

Consult with professionals from Data Recovery Tools for personalized manual recovery services. After a free diagnosis, we offer the following:

• Rebuild damaged RAID configurations, unbootable Windows OS, and corrupted virtual disk files (such as .vmdk, .vhd, .vhdx, etc.)
• Restore/recover lost partitions and repartitioned drives
• Unformat hard drives and repair original drives (including BitLocker encrypted drives)
• Fix disks converted to GPT protective partitioning

Secondly, fix the 'Memory card not formatted' error.

After data recovery, you can format the memory card in Windows to fix the format error. However, sometimes you may encounter the problem that Windows is unable to complete formatting the memory card or other error messages. At this time, you can download the free partition software, a powerful solution to memory card formatting issues. It can well fix the "memory card not formatted" error.

Method 1: Fix the 'Memory Card Not Formatted' Issue with a Partition Tool:

- Right-click the external drive or USB you want to format, and select "Format." - Set the Volume label, File system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4/exFAT), and Allocation unit size, then click "OK." - Click "Yes" to continue. - Click the "Perform 1 task" button, then click "Apply" to format the hard drive partition.

Method 2: Fix the Unformatted SD Card Using Diskpart

Diskpart is a powerful utility that you can use to format an SD card with Windows 10 CMD and formatter. However, the formatting process is more complicated than Method 1. Please follow the Diskpart steps patiently:

1. Press the Windows and R keys.

2. Type cmd in the box that appears, then click OK.

Type diskpart > list disk > select disk 1 > clean > create partition primary > format fs=ntfs quick.

Method 3: Fix Memory Card Error via Disk Management

1. Press the Windows key and X at the same time.

2. Select “Disk Management.”

3. Locate your memory card on the right.

4. Right-click on the memory card and select “Format.”

5. Specify the label, file system, and allocation unit size.

6. Click “OK” to complete the quick format.

Method 4: Fix the Memory Card Using Windows File Explorer

1. Open File Explorer.

2. Select "This PC"

3. Right-click the memory card and select “Format.”

4. Set appropriate partition labels, file systems, and allocation unit sizes.

5. Click “Start.”