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4 February 2024  John Weaver  Senior Program Developer
 

Summary
Discover solutions to format an unformattable SD card in this authoritative article. It provides reasons for formatting failure and step-by-step solutions to resolve the issue efficiently.



Table of contents

table iconI. Reasons why the SD card cannot be formatted
table iconII. Please restore the SD card data before repairing
table iconIII. The solution to the problem that the SD card cannot be formatted

I. Reasons why the SD card cannot be formatted

sd card wont format
The SD card expands storage capacity of electronic products like mobile phones, digital cameras, driving recorders, and drones. It is also known as a memory card, but there are various types available. SD card remains the primary choice for portable devices due to its optional capacities and sizes.
SD cards can be categorized into three types based on their dimensions: SD cards, Mini SD cards, and Micro SD cards (formerly TF cards).
● standard SD card are widely used in consumer digital cameras and camcorders. They have a standard “notch” design.
● Mini SD card offers similar performance to a standard SD card due to its smaller size. It is compatible with standard SD card slots when used with an adapter card. With a low power consumption design, it is ideal for mobile communication devices like mobile phones, PDAs, and handheld computers.
● Micro SD card, formerly known as TF card, was invented by SanDisk in 2004 and is primarily used in mobile phones.
Sometimes, formatting an SD card on a computer or Android phone is straightforward. However, there are instances when formatting the SD card becomes impossible.
Common reasons for failure to format are:

● SD card write-protected

● Bad sectors

● Virus infection

● End of service life

TipsIf you cannot format the SD card in your Android phone or digital camera, remove it, reinsert it, and try again. If formatting is still not possible, connect the SD card to a computer for formatting.

II. Please restore the SD card data before repairing

To prevent data loss, use data recovery software to restore SD card data to a safe location before repairing it. If the data is backed up or you want to clear it, you can skip this step.
Renee Undeleter is specialized software for data recovery. It can retrieve lost data from accidental deletion, emptying the recycle bin, or disk/storage formatting. The software offers four modules, including Fast Partition Scan, Whole Partition Scan, Whole Disk Scan, and image creation, providing comprehensive solutions for all data loss issues. Additionally, it utilizes powerful fingerprint technology and file system reconstruction to bypass damaged blocks in SD cards and recover intact data files. Overall, Renee Undeleter is a convenient tool for data retrieval.
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① After installing Renee Undeleter, run the program and connect the SD card to the computer using a card reader or the SD card slot.
② Select the recovery mode based on the situation: Fast Partition Scan, Whole Partition Scan, and Whole Disk Scan. Let’s use Whole Partition Scan as an example.
Data recovery function:
Fast Partition Scan – Quickly retrieve files lost due to accidental deletion or emptying the recycle bin.
Whole Partition Scan – Quickly recover files lost due to inaccessible or formatted partitions.
Whole Disk Scan – Analyze and get partition information and perform a full scan of the entire partition.
Image Creation – A mirror can be created for a partition to back up the current partition state, after which data can be restored from the mirror file.
select whole partition scan in renee undeleter to recover deleted video from sd card
③ Please select the SD card partition, and then click (Next).
Renee Undeleter Whole Partition Scan
④ Wait for the scan to complete, choose the desired file for restoration, and click the (Recover) button. Save the recovered files on different disks to prevent data overwriting on the original storage location (SD card).
preview and select the files to recover in renee undeleter
After the data in the SD card is successfully recovered, you can start to fix the problem that the SD card cannot be formatted.

III. The solution to the problem that the SD card cannot be formatted

If the SD card cannot be formatted, you can try to solve it by using the following methods.

1. Delete the read and write protection on the SD card

The SD card cannot be formatted if it is set to read-only or write-protected. To resolve this, remove the write protection on the SD card or computer. Many SD cards and card readers have a write protection switch. Please unlock the SD card using this switch.
Remove SD card read and write protection
If the SD card is still in the write protection state even when the write protection switch is turned off, you can try the following methods.
① Connect the unformattable SD card to the computer. Search for “cmd” in the lower left corner search box and open the command prompt tool as administrator.
run as administrator
② In the opened command prompt window, enter the following commands in sequence:
(DiskPart) and press the (Enter) key to start executing the command;
(list disk) and press the (Enter) key to list all disks;
(select disk 2) (2 is the number of target disk) and press the (Enter) key;
(attributes disk clear readonly) and press the (Enter) key.
Unlock SD card read and write protection
After clearing the read-only attribute of the disk, attempt to format the SD card again. If the issue persists, the disk may not be write-protected. Refer to other methods outlined below.

2. Use Disk Management to format the SD card

To manage your system’s disks and partitions, you can use Windows’ built-in Disk Management. It can be used for partition creation, deletion, and disk formatting. Here’s how to use it to format an SD card when you cannot do so on your phone.
① Connect the SD card to the computer and press (Windows+X) keys simultaneously. Select the (Disk Management) option from the pop-up list.
open windows disk management
② Next, find the SD card that needs to be formatted, right-click it, and select the (Format) option.
format sd
③ Select the required file system: FAT32, NTFS or exFAT. Check (Perform a quick format). Click (OK) and follow the instructions to complete the formatting process. Restart the computer after the formatting operation is complete, and then reconnect the SD card to the computer or mobile phone to check whether the problem is resolved.
  • NTFS is the default Windows operating system format;
  • FAT32, suitable for SD cards with small capacity;
  • exFAT, suitable for memory cards of 64 GB and above.
Select the required file system

3. Check and repair SD card bad sectors

One common reason for formatting issues is bad sectors on the SD card. After fixing these sectors, you should be able to format the card normally. Bad sectors can make it difficult to access the device and use files. Formatting the disk is a common troubleshooting method, but if that isn’t possible, you can repair SD cards using Command Prompt.
① Connect the SD card to the computer, and make sure the device can be found in “Disk Management“.
② Directly search (cmd) in the search box in the lower-left corner of the computer screen, and select (run as administrator) to open the command prompt tool.
run as administrator
③ In the command prompt window, enter the command chkdsk F: /f /r /x (replace F with the SD card drive letter) and press Enter to fix errors. Check if the SD card can be formatted after the repair.
chkdsk command

4. Format SD card via command prompt

If none of the above methods can help you solve the problem that the SD card cannot be formatted, then you can try to use the diskpart command to format the SD card.
① Connect the SD card to the computer through a card reader, enter (cmd) in the search box, right-click (command prompt), and select (Run as administrator).
② Next, enter the following commands in sequence in the command prompt window, and press the (Enter) key after you input each command:
● diskpart
● list disk (To display the disks on the computer. Identify the SD card by its capacity.)
● select disk 1 (1 is the disk number of the SD card)
● clean (The disk partitions and volumes will be deleted, and all information will be cleared. However, please note that the cleared data will only be marked as deleted and may potentially be recovered.)
diskpart command
Then please continue to enter the following command:
● create partition primary (Use this command to create a primary partition. If needed, include the assign letter H parameter in the next command line, replacing H with the desired drive letter for the newly created partition.)
● format fs=fat32 quick (fs=fat32 refers to format the SD card as a FAT32 file system, and quick refers to quick format.)
● exit (quit)
SD card format partition command

5. Use third-party formatting tools

Use Renee Undeleter to recover/extract important data. Then, utilize a low-level format tool for repairing the SD card. This tool will reset all information on the SD card/removable disk, including file data and control information. Keep in mind that all lost data cannot be recovered after low-level formatting. We recommend using SD Memory Card Formatter software as it has a simple interface and easy operation.
SD Card Formatter software download link: https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter/
① Connect the SD card to the computer with a card reader, and run the SD Memory Card Formatter application.
② Select the letter of the SD card and the format scheme. You can choose Quick format or Overwrite format.
SD Memory Card Formatter
③ Finally, click (Format) to start formatting.
SD Memory Card Formatter
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