2021 Solved: Unable to Format SD Card, SD Card Won’t Format on PC/Android

Unable to Format SD Card That Needs Formatting

«I need help with my SanDisk 64GB SD card, which I use in my Samsung phone for music and pictures. The card seems to be corrupted or perhaps infected with viruses, or somehow when I connected it to a computer, Windows says the card needs to be formatted. I tried so, but failed due to the error message Windows was unable to complete the format.»

SD card won’t format, SD card not formatted error or let it be Windows was unable to complete the format SD card, are becoming more and more popularly discussed these years. We are all looking for a response for a reason why we can’t format an SD card and an answer to how to format a memory card that cannot be formatted.

General Causes for SD Card Won’t Format

When a memory card runs into problems and needs to be formatted to function again, to a large extent, something goes wrong with the file system.

For example, only the FAT32 SD card can be used on some specified devices; the SD card file system suddenly turns raw, and Windows cannot recognize it; the SD card does not show up as a mass storage device but unallocated space, etc.

However, it says formatting SD card will fix problems like these, but why did we fail to format the SD card eventually? We arrived at some simple conclusions that may cause the issue of SD card won’t format.

• SD card is write-protected so that Windows is not allowed to make changes to it;
• SD card is with bad sectors on it, so it becomes corrupted. Windows can’t format a corrupted SD card.
• Using the portable SD card storage media across multiple computers or card readers can be easily infected with a virus, it makes Windows hardly be able to format the card to eradicate the virus.

How to Fix SD Card Won’t Format Error on Windows 10/8/7 Computer (6 Methods)

So, what are the solutions to unable to format an SD card? How to format an SD card that won’t format? Altogether, we introduce six quick fixes that are supposed to solve the problem. When you’re facing a similar case that a memory card won’t format on a Windows PC or an Android phone device, feel no hesitate to troubleshoot the error using the suggested methods.

Method 1. Format SD Card in Windows Disk Management

For many of us who are unable to format the SD card for the first time is using the Windows File Explorer. It’s a quick access for us to perform a quick format of a removable hard disk and a hard drive partition, however, with chances of Windows was unable to complete the format. At this moment, you need to turn to a more advanced disk formatting method. Here, try to format your SD card in Windows Disk Management, the other Windows default program that is able to format a disk.

Step 1. Open Disk Management in Windows 10/8/7 by going to This PC/My Computer > Manage > Disk Management.

Step 2. locate and right-click on the SD card, and choose Format.

Step 3. Choose a proper file system like FAT32, NTFS, exFAT, and perform a quick format. Click «OK».

Method 2. Run Diskpart to Clean SD Card That Won’t Format

Step 1. Press Windows key + R keys at the same time, type cmd in the Run box, hit Enter to open the command prompt(cmd.exe).

Step 2. Type diskpart to run Diskpart Utility.

Step 3. Type list disk to list the drives on the computer.

Step 4. Type select disk 2 (The number should be replaced by the exact drive number of your SD card).

Step 5. Type clean to run the clean utility (this will wipe all data on the SD card so make sure you saved a copy or backup of the card data).

Step 6. Type create partition primary to create a new partition on the SD card.

Step 7.В Type format fs=ntfs пј€or format fs=fat32пј‰to format the partition to the desired file system.

Method 3. Format SD card Using Third-party SD Card Formatter

Alternatively, if you didn’t overcome the SD card won’t format error in Disk Management, and you’re afraid of the command prompt complexity, another way out is to utilize a third-party free partition manager. EaseUS Partition Master is a reputable third-party SD card formatterВ that works flawlessly in formatting a memory card that is corrupted, damaged, inaccessible, and won’t format in all Windows platforms.

Comparing with the Diskpart utility, it’s more like an intuitive, wizard-based, simple, and straightforward SD card formatting software that makes every ordinary user with little computer knowledge troubleshoot the SD card won’t format error without much effort.

• Right-click the external drive or USBВ you intend to format and choose «Format».
• Set the Partition label, File system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4), and Cluster size, then click «OK».
• Click «OK» to continue.
• Click the «Execute Operation» buttonВ and click «Apply» to format the hard drive partition.

Method 4. Change Drive Letter and Paths to Detect The SD Card

Sometimes, we are unable to initiate the format due to SD card is not showing up at all. To resolve such kind of SD card won’t format issues, we need to make it recognizable at first. To do this, here is the procedure:

Step 1. Connect the won’t format SD card to PC.

Step 2. Right-click on This PC/My Computer> Manage > Disk Management.

Step 3. Locate and right-click on SD card, select Change drive letter, and paths.

Step 4. Re-select a new drive letter for your SD card and click OK to confirm.

Method 5. Remove Write Protection from Not Formatted SD Card

Once a hard drive, memory card, or USB flash drive is write-protected, it means that you can no longer use the storage devices like before nor formatted it. Write protection is responsible for most of the SD card won’t format error in Windows PC and mobile devices. If this is the case you’re faced with, try to remove write protection from the SD card using cmd, or the easiest method recommended here.

If you are not professional in computing management and not familiar with command lines, don’t worry. EaseUS R&D team has promoted a fresh kit for helping you resolve the write-protection issue on your hard drive, external hard drive, USB or SD card, etc., devices.

EaseUS Tools M is a practical computer fixing tool that is safe and light-weighted. It’s a perfect alternative to the command line.В

Use this one-click tool to solve the write-protection issues on your own:

Step 1: оњљ DOWNLOADВ and install EaseUS Tools MВ for free.

Step 2: Run EaseUS Tools M on your PC, choose the «Write Protection» mode.

Step 3: Select the device which is now «Write-Protected» and click «Disable» to remove the protection.

Method 6. Check and Repair Bad Sectors

Bad sectors on your storage media are invisible, but they will prevent you from smoothly accessing your device and using the files. One of the common troubleshooting to fix bad sectors is to format the disk. What if you cannot directly format the SD card with bad sectors in Windows? You need to run command lines to check how many bad sectors are there, and then repair them all. After removing bad sectors from the SD card, you can easily format it by any means.

Step 1.В Press Windows key + R keys at the same time, type cmd in the Run box, hit Enter to open the command prompt(cmd.exe).

Step 2. In Command Prompt, enter the command: chkdsk E: /f /r /x. Replace E with your SD card’s drive letter.

The Other 3 Cases for You Can’t Format SD Card

#1. How to Fix The RAW SD Card Won’t Format

When you checked the SD card showing as RAW in Disk Management, you must convert the RAW file system to a usable file system like NTFS or FAT32 for normal use. To convert a RAW SD card to NTFS or FAT32, you need to perform a disk format. You can easily troubleshoot the RAW SD card won’t format error in Disk Management by using the other recommended ways:В

• Format RAW SD card using Diskpart cmd
• Format RAW SD card using EaseUS Partition Master

#2. How to Repair SD Card Won’t Format on Android/Cannon Camera

First of all, remove the card from the mobile phone or camera, and re-insert it again.В

Still can’t format the SD card? This time take out the SD card and connect it to a Windows PC or laptop. choose one of the methods to format the SD Card on Windows 10/8/7 computer:

• Format Android SD card using Disk Management
• Format an external SD card using cmd
• Format a not formatted SD card using EaseUS Partition Master

#3. How to Fix SD Card Won’t Format to FAT32

Windows won’t allow you to format an SD card over 32GB to FAT32, which is due to the file system limitation. The only approachable and simple way to let you format a 64GB, 128GB or 512GB SD card to FAT32 is using EaseUS Partition Master, which can achieve a successful formatting result, at the same time, won’t affect the usable storage on the SD card.

Top 5 SD Card Formatter Free Download | Format SD Card on Windows 10/8/7

You will need to format SD card on Windows 10 for various reasons, such as convert file system to FAT32, remove write-protection, convert FAT to NTFS, restore SD card back to the original size, remove unknown virus or malware, fix corrupted SD card issues, etc. So what’s the common way to format the SD card without a hitch? Use Windows 10 SD card formatter that’s good at formatting your SD card of all capacities to any file system you want.

No matter what reason you want to format the SD card in Windows 10, a reliable SD card format tool can guarantee an easy and successful formatting process. Here, we carefully selected the five best SD card formatter for Windows 10/8/7 that’s free to use. The former two recommendations are from the third parties so you need to download and install, while the latter three are built within the Windows operating system. Both the third-party tools and the native ones have their own pros and cons. Read on or jump to the one you’re interested in.

2021 Top 5 SD Card Formatter for Windows 10/8/7:

1. EaseUS Partition Master — Best SD Card Formatter

Serving in the market for over a decade, EaseUS Partition Master enjoys a long and high reputation in the field of computer disk & partition management. It’s developed based on Windows Disk Management & Windows Command Prompt but comes with more practical and advanced management solutions, including disk formatting.

The free partition manager is treated as a comprehensive hard drive management and hard troubleshooting solution to all Windows-compatible devices. One of the universally utilized functions is «Format». You can easily use the format option to resolve file system incompatibility or corruption issues on SD card, SDHC card, SDXC card, USB flash drive, pen drive, HDD, SSD, and all the popular storage drives. What makes it the top one choice to format an SD card on Windows 10 include the following benefits:

• Simple design and user-friendly
• Be able to format SD card over 32GB to FAT32
• Be able to solve the problem of Windows was unable to complete the format on SD card

Pros:

• Format SD card in every way that native tools can
• Format SD card when Windows cannot format due to limitations in FAT32
• Include but not limited to disk formatting, it offers the most disk management functions than many rivals: Migrate OS to HDD/SSD, delete partition (s), resize partition, wipe partition, convert between GPT and MBR/dynamic and basic, convert to NTFS without erasing data.

Cons:

It doesn’t support a Mac version

Guide: How to Format SD Card on Windows 10 with EaseUS Free SD Card Formatter

• Right-click the external drive or USBВ you intend to format and choose «Format».
• Set the Partition label, File system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4), and Cluster size, then click «OK».
• Click «OK» to continue.
• Click the «Execute Operation» buttonВ and click «Apply» to format the hard drive partition.

2. SD Memory Card FormatterВ — Windows & macOS SD Formatter

Developed by the SD Association (SDA), the SD Memory Card Formatter is universally adopted for formatting SD memory card, SDHC memory card and SDXC memory card. It’s a trustworthy brand that particularly resolves SD card issues by formatting, at the same time, keeps the original performance.

Instead of offering auxiliary features in the program, the SD Memory Card Formatter is a dedicated formatting tool for SD card and USB flash drive.В

Pros:

• Support to install on Windows OS and macOS
• Easy-to-use but powerful enough to format different types of memory cards
• Offer «Protected Area» for SD card security purposes. It does not format the protected SD card

Cons:В

• Serve as an SD formatter tool only
• Lack of regular software optimization

Guide: How to Format SD Card on Windows 10 with SD Memory Card Formatter

Step 1. Run the SD Formatter Application

Step 2. Select the drive letter for the SDHC/SDXC card and then select format.

Step 3. Click yes to confirm format process.

Step 4. Once format is complete the SD card will be properly formatted.

3. Windows File Explorer — Easiest SD Formatter

Press Windows + E in Windows 10, you’ll quickly evoke the File Explorer window. Windows File Explorer can’t be more familiar to us Windows users since it’s the place where we can check and view Photos, Downloads, Music, installed hard disk partitions, and basically all the basic computer settings there.

In Windows File Explorer, you can make some essential changes to the local disk partitions and removable disks like a memory card, one of which is «Format».

Pros:

• An inbuilt formatting tool for SD card in all Windows PCs and laptops
• Incredibly easy to access and simple to use
• Allow users to perform a quick format SD card to exFAT, FAT32 or NTFS
• Perform a quick format by default

Cons:

• Too basic to deal with some sophisticated formatting issues
• Windows cannot complete the format on SD card very frequently

Guide: How to Format SD Card on Windows 10 with Windows File Explorer

Step 1. Right-click on the connected SD card and select «Format».

Step 2. On the format window, select a proper file system among NTFS, FAT32 or exFAT.

Step 3. Click «Start».

4. Windows Disk Management — Windows Built-in Formatter

Not all computer users know Windows Disk Management like professionals. Windows Disk Management is the other native Windows program that is available in Windows 10/8/7. It enables users to undertake many more tasks to manage a disk as they want.

It comes with the option of «Format». Chances are when you need to format a RAW SD card that is not showing up in the File Explorer, you can dive into the Disk Management to do the format.

Pros:

• Very useful when SD card is not showing up in File Explorer
• Include but not limited to format SD card, and users can extend/shrink/delete a volume as well
• Change a drive letter and paths

Cons:

• Comparatively sophisticated to operate than other programs
• It can hardly format SD card that is corrupted or damaged

Guide: How to Format SD Card on Windows 10 with Disk Management

Step 1. Right-click on This PC and navigate to Manage > Disk Management.

Step 2. Right-click on the SD card, and choose «Format».

Step 3. On the format window, check the box of «Perform a quick format», and in the same way, you need to choose a file system and allocation unit size.

Step 4. Click «OK» to start formatting the SD card.

5. Windows Diskpart Command Prompt — Admin SD Formatter

Among all the five, only the Windows Command Prompt is suggested as an administrator’s choice, who has a solid computer skill.

Windows Command Prompt is a built-in tool in Windows that can troubleshoot all kinds of computer problems with various commands. You can use the diskpart command, for example, to format an internal or external hard drive, USB drive, SD card, etc. This method is somewhat higher-leveled, but so far the most utilized way to tackle some tricky issues.

Pros:

• Each command aims to fix a specific hard drive problem
• The diskpart command works at a pro-level that it can check and format SD card that is corrupted or damaged

Cons:

Kind of risky for average users to use some complex commands, which can affect computer data or performance

Guide: How to Format SD Card on Windows 10 with Diskpart Command

Step 1. Type cmd in the search box in Windows 10, and then you’ll get the best match Command Prompt. Right-click on it and choose «Run as administrator».

Step 2. In the command prompt, type diskpart and press «Enter».

Step 3. Type list disk to list all the available drives and press «Enter».

Step 4. Type select disk + disk number ( for example, select disk 2) to select the SD card you want to format and press «Enter».

Step 5. Type list volume and press «Enter».

Step 6. Type select volume + volume number (or example, select volume 10) and press «Enter».

Step 7. Type format fs=ntfs (or format fs=exfat) and press «Enter» to format the drive with NTFS or exFAT.В В

Conclusion

Regarding the topic «how to format SD card on Windows 10», we introduced five of the best SD card formatter for Windows 10В computers, include two third-party tools and three local Windows programs. Formatting an SD card is not hard, but knowing how to react to the failure of formatting an SD card is also important. Each SD card formatter here can be used as a complementary solution to remove a virus or restore a full capacity.

To convert a file system between FAT32 and NTFS, or troubleshoot a RAW, corrupted, and inaccessible SD card, EaseUS Partition Master Free should come to the first place.