SD cards are often small and fragile, which can lead to them being easy to lose and stop working. They also have a high chance of corrupting your data.

If you have a corrupted SD card, we can help you recover data.

If you’re having trouble transferring files or photos from your SD card, be sure to check out our YouTube channel for tips on how to troubleshoot corrupted SD cards. ..

Is My SD Card Actually Corrupt?

  1. The SD card is not reading or writing correctly.
  2. The SD card is full or has low capacity.
  3. The SD card is not accessible from your computer.
  4. The SD card is not showing up in your computer’s storage options.

You can’t see the files on the SD card, but can see the files on the computerThe SD card shows up as empty even though you know there are files thereYou can see files such as photos, but when you open them they are corruptedCopying from the card shows an impossible completion time, usually ending in copy failureThe Windows 10 Disk Management Tool shows the drive, but says it’s empty or unreadable

If you’re seeing this behavior on your device, it’s likely that your SD card is corrupted or the card itself is in trouble. Before you proceed, you may want to check our troubleshooting guide for when SD cards can’t be read at all.

Basic Diagnostics

If your device is not responding to basic commands, such as turning it on or resetting it, then it is likely that the device has crashed and needs to be replaced. However, if you are able to access the device’s files through a computer, there are a few things you can try before resorting to data recovery or formatting the SD card. ..

Try reading the SD card with a different reader Try reading the SD card via the original device using a cable

If you have an SD card in your computer, it’s important to know how to properly remove it from the device. Here are some tips:

  1. Remove the battery first. This will help stop the card from turning on and causing any damage.
  2. Remove the card using a Phillips-head screwdriver or a flathead screwdriver if the card is encrypted.
  3. Use a vacuum cleaner to suck out all of the data and any dust that may have built up on the card over time. Be sure to empty any storage space on your computer before you start removing data from an SD card!

SD Card Issues Vs Corrupted Writes

If your SD card is not working, you can try to reformat it to make it usable.

Fake SD Cards

If you’re having trouble loading your photos or videos from your SD card, it’s likely that you’ve bought a fake SD card. The capacity on the card may not be what you thought it was.

Since small-capacity SD cards are so cheap but larger ones are many times more expensive, scammers create cards that report false capacities. So, for example, your “128GB” SD card might only have 16 GB of actual capacity. What happens is that when that 16GB SD card fills up, the card just starts overwriting the first data in a loop. This problem is especially rampant with Android devices because Android apps and games often require large files to work properly. So if someone creates an app or game that requires a 128GB SD card and you only have a 16GB SD card, the app or game will start overwriting your data even if you don’t ever use it to store any photos or videos. ..

This can fool us for a long time since we’re likely to check only the most recent files we’ve saved or might not reach the maximum capacity of the real SD size for quite some time.

If you’re not sure if your SD card is real or not, it’s a good idea to try using one of the many fake SD card testers available for download. FakeFlashTest is one popular solution that will tell you if your SD card is just broken or actually counterfeit.

Use a Disk Checker Tool

  1. Open the Start menu and type “cmd”.
  2. Type “netstat -an” and press Enter.
  3. Look for the line that says “Ports: [Your computer name or port number] open”. If it says “0” then the card is not corrupted, but if it says “1” then the card is corrupt and needs to be replaced

Open Windows Explorer and right-click on the drive in question. Click on Properties. Select the Tool tab and click on “Check”. Follow the instructions.

If your SD card is not working properly, the disk checker will let you know.

Using Specialized Recovery Software

If none of your DIY diagnostics yield any results and the SD card still at least shows up when you insert it, then consider using specialized data recovery software. ..

The brute force method of recovering data from an SD card can be successful in some cases, but it’s usually better to use standard drive management methods to avoid losing all of your data. ..

Despite the software’s best efforts, data cannot be recovered if it has been physically destroyed or inaccessible.

Recuva is a great data recovery tool that has saved our own data many times in the past. It is easy to use and can recover any type of data, including files that have been encrypted or password protected.

Hire A Data Recovery Specialist

If you have important footage on your SD card that you want to keep safe and accessible, it’s important to make sure that you can access it no matter what. If the SD card doesn’t work or the data is unreadable, it could be a problem for your project. Make sure to check if there’s any way to access the footage even if the SD card isn’t working properly.

If your SD card is corrupted, you may be able to recover data by hiring a data recovery specialist. These companies have access to specialized equipment and software that most consumers do not have. They can often rebuild broken hardware components and directly read data from the media. ..

This includes not only common corruption errors but electronic failure, memory chip failure, fire damage, water damage, physical damage, and just about anything you can imagine.

Engaging the services of these specialists is expensive, so the data in question has to be worth it to you. ..

Prevention Is Better Than The Cure

If you’ve lost data on your SD card, there are a few things you can do to try and recover it. However, sometimes data is simply lost forever. If this is the case, there are a few services that can help you find and restore your files. ..

  1. Make sure you have a data loss prevention plan in place.
  2. Keep your data backed up and accessible.
  3. Use common sense when it comes to passwords and other personal information.

Cloud storage can help you back up your SD card data, such as photos or videos. You can also use services like Google One, DropBox or OneDrive to move SD card contents from devices like drones and cameras to your computer. You should keep at least two copies of irreplaceable data in two separate places. Only buy high-quality SD cards from reputable brands if data integrity is critical.

SD cards are fairly robust, but they still seem to fail more often than other types of solid-state storage. Especially if you use them in applications where they are written to constantly. Using your SD cards in a way that acknowledges their weaknesses will help you prevent losses in the first place.