Applies to: SanDisk memory cards and memory cards from other brands
Normally, when your memory card gets corrupted, you need an SD card repair tool. There are many ways an SD card can get damaged. You can classify this damage into two categories: logical damage and physical damage. If your SanDisk SD card is physically damaged, no repair tool can help you but manual repair service. If your memory card is logically damaged, check if your SD card falls under any of the situations below:
Of course, there could be other reasons that make your SD card inaccessible. But these are the most common ones, and you need an SD card repair tool to fix a corrupted SD card. An SD card repair tool can fix file system errors, formatting errors, read errors, and other logical damages. However, as some SD card repair tools fix a damaged SD card by restoring the flash drive to its factory default settings, you would lose data after the repair. In this case, you need to back up your data before using the repair tool.
If the files on the SD card are still accessible, you can copy the files and folders to another location for backup. But most of the time, when your SD card is corrupted, you cannot open and access the files on it. This is when you need to use an SD card recovery tool like the Data Recovery Wizard to retrieve your data before fixing it. Whether it's SanDisk, Toshiba, Sony, Kingston, or any other brand, as long as the SD card is detectable but not accessible, it can easily recover the data.
Use this SanDisk recovery tool to retrieve data from your SD card.
Step 1. Select the SD card to scan
Step 2: Check the scan results
Step 3. Recover Data from the SD Card
After recovering data from a damaged or inaccessible SD card, you can use the Data Recovery Service offered here to fix the damaged SD card.
Hard Drive Repair and Data Recovery Services
Contact our experts for a free evaluation.Get personalized consultation with our Data Recovery Specialists for manual recovery services. After a free diagnosis, we offer the following:
There are many reasons that can cause SD card damage, so there are also various methods to fix a corrupted SD card. You can try the free partition manager – AOMEI Partition Assistant, which also works as an SD card repair tool, to fix your SD card with ease.
With this SD card recovery software, you can recover files from SD card in 3 ways:
When there's a drive letter conflict between your SD card and a partition on your computer, you won't see the SD card in File Explorer. Hence, changing the drive letter of the SD card should help. Download and launch the SD Card Repair Tool, right-click on the SD card, and choose Change Drive Letter. From the drop-down, select the drive letter you want to assign to the card and hit “OK” to finalize the process.
With the help of partition manager software – MiniTool Partition Wizard, you can check and fix SD card errors including file system error, bad sectors, etc.
Formatting the SD card can be helpful when you see it turn into a RAW file system. Since formatting will lead to data loss on the storage medium, make sure you have backed up the files on your SD card using the methods mentioned above.
There is a video tutorial guide below that you can follow to fix and repair your damaged SD card yourself. It also includes some extra fixing methods that might get your SD card working again. Let's check it out:
The built-in Windows repair tool, Diskpart, can help you easily remove write protection and fix a corrupted SanDisk memory card, USB drive, hard drive, or any other device. The built-in Windows troubleshooter can also assist you in finding and resolving issues with your devices and hardware. Hence, you might want to try these methods to fix the damaged SD card.
When your SD card is write-protected, you can't edit the files on it. You'll need to remove the write protection to fix the SD card.
Step 1: Press "Win + R," type "cmd," and press "Enter" to open the Command Prompt.
Step 2: Type diskpart, and press Enter to open Diskpart.
Step 3: Type list disk and press "Enter".
Step 4: Type select disk 0 (replace “0” with the number of your damaged SD card) and hit Enter.
5. Type attributes disk clear readonly and press Enter to remove the write protection from the storage device.
Step 6: Close the Command Prompt window once the write protection removal process is complete.
As mentioned, the Windows Troubleshooter can address issues with devices and hardware. You might want to give that a try.
Plug your SD card into your computer using an SD card reader.
Step 2. Click the Start button, type troubleshoot, and then select Troubleshooting.
Step 3: Click on "Hardware and Devices" under "Find and fix other problems."
Step 4. Click on “Run the troubleshooter.”
When your SD card is corrupted, you first need to identify the reason and then solve it accordingly. Sometimes, you don't need an SD card repair tool because inbuilt solutions can help you fix the SD card. If you're unsure about the cause, try all the above hacks one by one to see if the card gets fixed.
Read through the questions and answers below for more help with SD card recovery.
1. How to fix a damaged SD card that can't be formatted?
Below are the effective ways to repair a damaged SD card without formatting:
What happens if an SD card is not formatted?
If your SD card says it's unformatted, the files are still there, but your computer isn't able to read them.
How to fix a corrupted SanDisk SD card on Android?
Follow the steps listed in this guide to repair and format a corrupted Android SD card.
< strong > 4. Can undetected SD card be fixed?
Yes, you will need to format the SD card on your computer. However, before doing so, it's recommended to try recovering any files that might still be present on the SD card using a data recovery tool.